SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

From the bright cloud the Father’s voice was heard:
‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’ MT 17:5

GENESIS 22:1-2,9-13,15-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

All God's promises made to Abraham, our father in faith, have been fulfilled however, they have been fulfilled even more fully in You. 

Beloved, when You call me may my response always be, 'Here I am. I am here.' Lord, God, when I am put to the test may I never doubt Your immense love for me. All testing when endured in the right spirit helps our faith to strengthen and grow. Because we have faith we believe in Your promises and are never disappointed for Your Word O Lord is true.

God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac and he obeyed. He did not question how all His promises to him would be fulfilled. He just did as God asked trusting God to keep His Word. 

God had no intention of permitting Abraham to offer his son as a burnt offering - it was a test of his faith and having trusted in God, his faith is held up as a model to all generations. This was only a prefiguration of what God, our Father would actually do when He gave You up, His only Son, for our redemption. You are the Altar, the Priest, and the Sacrifice immemorial offered as a perfect offering to God for the salvation of the world.

Having poured out Your life in perfect obedience to the Father's will, He has put all things under Your feet. You are seated at the right hand of the Father and are far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else. At Your Name, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to the glory of God, that You O God are Lord. Thank You, Lord, for dying for me, for giving me life, and the assurance of a glorious future with You, the Father, and the Holy Spirit in the life to come. 

PSALM 115(116):10,15-19 ©

I trusted, even when I said:

‘I am sorely afflicted,’
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.

Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;

you have loosened my bonds.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.

My vows to the Lord I will fulfil

before all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.

I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.

ROMANS 8:31-34 ©

With God on our side who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give. Could anyone accuse those that God has chosen? When God acquits, could anyone condemn? Could Christ Jesus? No! He not only died for us – he rose from the dead, and there at God’s right hand he stands and pleads for us.

MARK 9:2-10 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Unless we give the Holy Spirit complete freedom to direct our lives we will, like  Peter, James, and John who were privileged to witness so many astounding miracles, continue to have a very small, flickering faith. Before the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles You told them time and time again who You were. They witnessed extraordinary signs and miracles. You demonstrated to them Your power over nature, life, and death, over the spiritual realm.  You told them why You came into the world. You spoke of being given up into the hands of evil men and of being put to death. You also revealed that You would rise again three days after Your burial. 

Peter James and John witnessed Your transfiguration. The veil was parted and they were given a glimpse of Your glory as the Son of God and yet when their faith was tested they all fled and You were left alone to face the Enemy, grapple with evil, and conquer death. 

They can be excused, Lord, for the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon them. We have none for we have received the Holy Spirit at Baptist. We are children of God. We belong to the household of God. We have the Sacraments. We eat Your Flesh and drink Your Blood and yet our faith is vacillating, weak, and at the first moment of the testing of our faith we become despondent, we complain, we whine, and we forget every grace and blessing that You have poured out upon us. We receive grace upon grace through the Sacraments and yet we forget so easily that You truly are the beloved Son of the Living God and we must always at all times listen to You and do just what You say. 

‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’