In the first reading today at Holy Mass, Abraham bound Isaac to the altar. Abraham is ninety-nine years old, and Isaac according to Jewish tradition is believed to be an adult in his twenties or even thirties. Isaac allowed himself to be bound. He showed respect, trust, and obedience to his father, mirroring Abraham’s respect, trust, and obedience to God the Father. Then, God sees the evidence of Abraham’s love and spares his son through an angel’s message. God wanted to test Abraham’s faith, and Isaac’s sacrifice would be the means to test that faith, obedience, and trust. As Abraham’s hand is stayed, he spotted a ram in the thicket and offered that as the acceptable sacrifice to God. So, that sacrifice on Mount Moriah (which is modern day Golgotha) was a male lamb covered in thorns. There is a connection to the sacrifice that took place between the Genesis account of the Testing of Abraham and the Lord’s Passion and Death. Abraham, Isaac, and Christ all showed a level of respect, trust, and obedience to God. In this Lenten journey of forty days, do we display that same level of respect, trust, and obedience to God? In other words do we have faith in God?
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Fr. Wayne