March 4, 2012 - II Sunday of Lent

We have readings that focus on sacrifice and seeing. Abraham goes to the mount of Vision (which is what Moriah means in Hebrew), with a sacrifice in mind--his son, Isaac--only to "SEE" that that is not what God wants. The disciples SEE something deeper, more profound about Jesus on the Mountain of Vision and they want to "make some sacrifice" or "build a booth." They want to understand what God is asking of them through what they see.

 

The readings suggest that there is a relationship between "seeing" and "sacrifice." We have to first see what God wants of us before we blindly rush in OR we'll end up destroying what is most precious to us, only to find that such is not what God had wanted at all. Catholics need to hear this! We are so often filled with guilt, and think that whatever is the most obnoxious, difficult path possible is the very thing God want of us, and we often waste a lot of energy trying to do the difficult thing, when maybe that is not what God wants at all.

 

I suggest to you that there are two words in that dominate the discourse in the Bible about what God wants of us--God wants us to "LISTEN" and to "LOOK". We are to see and hear. Moses had to "look" for a long time at that bush before he realized it just wasn't an ordinary fire, but God beckoning to him. Elijah had to listen to lots of noise before he could distinguish the "still small voice." The work of spirituality--SOUL WORK--if you will, is cultivating the ability to see and to listen for God.

 

And to cultivate these skills, one does NOT go to a desert. One goes to where the sound is! We listen for those who REALLY need something--over the whines we all make! Most of spend a lot of time Kvetching about life--complaining about this or that--but now and then, we instinctively KNOW--we "hear" or "see" something to which attention MUST be paid. A child whose "crying" is off, or a spouse whose "silence is not normal," or a parent whose fear seems different, a co-worker whose desperation is too real to be ignored. THIS is how God beckons us--and it responses to LIFE that God wants of us.

 

I know you've always given up chocolate for Lent, and you've lost weight every year--it's been a wonderful diet plan-------------------but have you learned a thing about God or you? God wants our hearts--our ATTENTION... Did Abraham finally "get it" in today's reading? I don't think so.

 

Abraham always "heard" God asking him to do something "exterior"--go away from your nation, your people and your father's house to a land I will show you." And, so "off Abraham went." But the Hebrew could also mean "Abraham, go INSIDE, beneath the values of your nation, beyond the prejudices of your people, beneath, beyond and besides the expectations of your parent's and family--to find the REAL YOU." (But, Abraham couldn't hear that--so he took off for Canaan, and the rest is religious history.)

 

Here, he knows God wants him to sacrifice that which is so precious to him--so he thinks of his son--but God didn't want that--God wanted ABRAHAM--but, again, instead of asking "What do you want of ME?" Abraham hears a  ram caught by its thorns, and says, "AHA! THAT must be it!" But was it? The text is silent. I feel he, again, missed the opportunity to sacrifice his own will--his own heart. Had he "listened" deeply and "SAW" clearly, what would he have seen? He'd have seen his own family divided--he and Sarah apart from Hagar and Ishmael. He would have seen jealousy, bitterness--and he would have known what God wanted him  to heal.....but he settled for a ram that couldn't get away! Sort of like us, each Lent, settling for giving up chocolate or coffee or Diet Coke!

 

This season of repentance--of a gentle turning of the soul to its God--we are asked to Listen and Look at what is happening in our lives to see what God truly wants of us. My prayer is that we will have insight and wisdom so that our lives may be benedictions of goodness in our world. And may God bless you all.+