25/02/2024

The three readings for this morning's mass are all chosen for us to reflect not only on them in themselves but also for us to consider how we are to understand scripture as the record of God's dealings with the world.

Is IAMIAM asking Abraham to kill his son and burn him on an altar because total obedience is the only way to "know " the Glory of God? If true and this is our God what hope do we have in finding meaning in our lives?

St Paul who is a Jew faithful to the Law and the total message of the Old Testament has been immersed in the "Glory of the Lord" on the road to Damascus and now knows that the Jesus whose followers he has been persecuting is in fact the Son of IamIam and that the perfect everlasting sacrifice has been made for the benefit of all.

Peter, James and John have the Glory that is the being of Father, Son and Holy Spirit revealed to them. They want to be held in that wonder for ever, they don't want to move from that place but they have to ask themselves what meaning could be hidden in the words "rising from the dead".

We have to believe in the Bible for everything we "know" about God starts in that record of revelation. In the Old Testament God seems to approve of trickery. Jacob got the blessing and kept it by deception. God tests us to the limit as he did  Abraham for in this world we have freedom; he has not strait-jacketed us into virtue, we must choose for ourselves.

The story of Abraham is harsh and cruel but God chose to reveal to his chosen people that the  sometime human sacrifices made by the civilisations surrounding them could never be lawful. The Transfiguration of Jesus is a glimpse of the reality of Heaven. St Paul a true son of Abraham answers for all time the question of Peter, James and John. The meaning of "rising from the dead" is that "He not only died for us, he rose from the dead and there at God's right hand he stands and pleads for us".  

Dear Lord, help me not to be overcome by the vastness and beauty of the world that mankind has built from your creation. Help me to see the one path in the tangle of possibilities afforded by each second of life that keeps me following your will. May the prayers of Mary and all the Saints continue to bring the hope of your mercy that can sustain us all in life even though the possibilities for sin are immense. May my sins and the sins of the whole world find forgiveness if not in this world then in purgatory. Save us all from eternal damnation. Amen.