Sunday – 2nd Week of Lent – A

In the first reading, we are brought face to face with a huge Old Testament personality, and that is Abraham, father in the faith, the one who believed God and trusted him even to the point of shedding the blood of his only son, his only legitimate son, Isaac. And we recall that God blessed Abraham for his faith. And in fact, in today's first reading from the 12th chapter of Genesis we hear: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you” (Genesis 12:2–3). “And Abraham went as the LORD directed him” (Genesis 12:4).

Now we remember that Israel was God's chosen people, and they were steeped in this faith of Abraham. They prided themselves upon calling themselves sons of Abraham. And yet some of them did not receive Christ. And so they shunned the God of Abraham, so that what God was trying to do by ushering in through his chosen people, through Israel of old, the salvation that would be extended to the world, those who rejected Christ no longer had a claim to being sons of Abraham. For Abraham saw the glory of Christ, who would succeed him in time and generations. But more importantly, Jesus saw Abraham. When Jesus said to the Jews, standing before you is somebody greater than Abraham, they said, you're not even fifty years old. How can you be greater than Abraham? Older than Abraham? And Jesus replied: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). And they picked up stones to stone him to death.

Now, my brothers and sisters, this is something we once again really need to be clear on. That now it's no longer Jew or Gentile, male or female, Greek, slave, pagan. All these different classes of people are now of secondary importance, because what's of primary importance is not whether we are male or female, that doesn't give us precedence when it comes to our standing before God. For God is not a respecter of persons. In other words, because of your dignity in the eyes of the world, God is going to judge you one way. No. Now whoever receives Christ and tries to live by his Spirit, that is the true son of Abraham. And so Jesus is the fulfillment of all the patriarchs, the prophets, and the law.

And so that's why in today's Gospel we have a beautiful reminder of this. “Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him” (Matthew 17:1–3). Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, Lord, it is good that we are here. And the story goes on. So they're so shocked at what they are seeing. But as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus charged them: “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead” (Matthew 17:9). Now, we usually speak of the secrecy of the Gospel of Mark, where Jesus would command either people he healed or demons he had cast out of people to remain silent as regards his identity. And here we're seeing it at play in the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus is telling those three pillars of the early Church, Peter, James, and John, to not say anything about this vision. Why? Because it proved that he was not just a good man, but that he was the Divine Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity in our midst.

My brothers and sisters, trust in Jesus. Embrace the Lord. Call upon his name and know that you are his. And this is the true Israel of God, those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes and sing his praises, praises which will endure and echo into eternity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.