Jesus gives us a model to follow so that we may do what he does.  We only need to walk with him to learn to walk before the Lord.

One can guess that Abraham cannot help to walk sometimes with nearby peoples.  It would be odd, then, if he does not know that they make burnt offerings of their children (see Dt 18, 10).

Maybe it is due to this that he does not question the Lord who asks him to offer his dear son as a holocaust.  For if the gods of the Gentiles ask them to sacrifice their children, then, why not the Lord?  He also has power over life and death.

But what better explains why Abraham stays calm is his faith.  Faith makes him obey and walk before the Lord and be ready to do his bidding.

Yes, Abram obeys what the Lord tells him to do.  So, then, he leaves the land of his kinsfolk and his father’s house (Gen 12, 1. 4).  Due to his faith, God counts him as one who has done what is right (Gen 15, 6).  And to return to today’s topic, his reply to God, “Here I am!” shows clearly that he is ready.

So, early the next morning, he starts to get ready to do what the Lord has asked.  He reasons that God can raise even from the dead (Heb 11, 19).  Hence, the test proves him true (Sir 44, 20).

To walk with Jesus, our leader (SV.EN XI:43), so as to walk before God

Abraham, yes, believes, against all hope, that he will be the father of many nations (Rom 4, 18).  Never mind that he is asked to sacrifice his only son.  His faith does not break in the midst of hopelessness.

And this is the faith that those with the mission to bring the Good News to the poor should have, too.  These missionaries shall stand on the truth that the one who gives them his word never deceives (CRCM II:1).

Hence, we are to be quite sure that the Lord will fulfill his promises.  Even when it seems we are about to lose everything (CRCM II:2).  No, God does not let anything happen for no reason (SV.EN VII:304).  If God does not spare his only Son, how can he deny us anything?

And to have faith to the full means to walk with Jesus.  He is “God-with-us.”  That is why those who see him see the Father; he is in the Father, and the Father is in him.  All this means that to be with him is to walk before God.

Jesus also embodies what to walk in the sight of Lord means.  He is the leader and perfecter of faith (Heb 12, 2).  And like Abraham, he believes that God can raise the dead.

And this belief is quite personal to him.  That is to say, he believes and prays to the one who can save him from death.  And on the strength of this faith, he gives his body up and sheds his blood for us who are poor.  He carries out, then, what God does not let happen to Abraham’s only son.

And he shows us, too, what it means to live, grow up and be transfigured to the full with him.

Lord Jesus, make us walk on the path that leads us to be at the Father’s beck and call.

28 February 2021
Second Sunday of Lent (B)
Gen 22, 1-2. 9a. 10-13. 15-18; Rom 8, 31b-34; Mk 9, 2-10