Homily For The Second Sunday Of Lent Year B.

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Genesis 22:1-2.9-13.15-18; Psalm 116:10.15-19; Romans 8:31-34; Mark 9:2-10.

“LENT MEANS SACRIFICE!”

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

·      Today is the second Sunday of Lent. Every day, we grapple with the various definitions of what our expectations for the Lenten season should be. We all agree that it is a season of grace and mercy, it is a season to detach from the world to attach to God, it is a season of sacrifice!

·      If we agree that it is a season of the sacrifice of vices for higher virtues, then we must ask ourselves what are we sacrificing this Lenten season? The good thing about sacrifice is that what we think we may lose in sacrifice, we gain in a better and sanctified form.

·      In the first reading (Genesis 22:1-2.9-13.15-18), God tested the strength of the sacrifice and love for God by his servant Abraham. He was asked to sacrifice his only son. It was a difficult thing knowing the number of years that went by before God gave him Isaac. But Abraham rather than hesitating knew for sure that the God who gave him Isaac in old age could still give him another if not more at any time.

·      Like Abraham, this Lenten season, the Lord God is calling us to make some sacrifices that cost us something (2 Sam. 24:24). We should be ready to discomfort ourselves to give comfort to someone else, to sacrifice our food so that the hungry will eat, sacrifice our clothes so that the naked will be clothed, to sacrifice our drink so that the thirsty will drink, etc. that is the spirit of Lent.

·      The pillars of lent readily come to mind again which are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Prayer deals with God, fasting deals with self, and almsgiving deals with others. We must deal more with God through constant prayers, and deal more with our passions and inclinations through fasting and mortification, deal more with others through compassionate generosity and almsgiving.

·       In the second reading (Romans 8:31-34), St. Paul encourages us that if God is for us, who can be against us? But for God to be for us, we must be ready to make some sacrifices, the sacrifice also including renouncing sin and keeping his commandments.

·      The fear of the sacrifice we have to make makes us most times offend God, God tells us that we must not be afraid, but to continue to please him and do his will. When people rise against you, they will never succeed because if God is for you no one can be against you. Jesus is always interceding for you at God’s right hand.

·      The Gospel reading (Mark 9:2-10), is the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain. The story of the transfiguration is the revelation of an image of what we stand to gain for our sacrifices not to sin against God. It is an imperfect expression of the joys of the kingdom of heaven.

·      Friends in Christ, the experience was so deep that the apostles never wanted to leave the presence of God. They desired to continue to enjoy this eternal bliss. That is exactly if not more, what the Lord has prepared for us his children who keep his commandments despite the temptation to sin.

·      The voice from heaven thundered that we must continue to listen to the voice of Jesus to live a good and holy life. To make a worthwhile sacrifice we must listen to the voice of God, to enjoy the benefits of the sacrifice we have made, we must listen to the voice of God too.

·      It took faith for Abraham to accept to sacrifice Isaac but that faith is the precondition to enjoy that eternal beauty that the gospel reveals to us. We reach transfiguration by first passing through the way of the cross and by placing ourselves in God’s hands.

·      To enjoy the beauty of God’s presence, then like the psalmist we must “walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living” (Ps. 116:9). So, in all we do and say today and throughout this season, we must do things that keep us in the presence of the Lord.

·      May God give us the grace to continue with our Lenten sacrifices as to enjoy the eternal promises the Lord has made to those who love him and obey his commandments through Christ our Lord, Amen!

·      Happy Sunday!!!

 

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