Obedience
Second Sunday of Lent
“From the cloud came a voice: ‘This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.'” Mark 9:7
Transfiguration by Alexandr Ivanov, 1824
God tested Abraham by asking not for an ordinary sacrifice, which would have been a partial burning with the meat divided between God and the people and eaten by those who sacrificed, but for a holocaust, a total burning of the sacrificial animal. This type of sacrifice consecrated the entire offering to God alone. This is what God was asking of Abraham in offering his only son, Isaac. When Abraham demonstrated his obedience, that was enough.
This story from today’s scriptures foretells the completion of the blood sacrifices of the old covenant in the new covenant: the blood of God’s own Son, offered to us on the cross and in the Eucharist. Abraham’s obedience foreshadows the obedience of Jesus to God’s promise of salvation. The obedience of Abraham is rewarded in the birth to him, through Isaac, of many nations. The obedience of Jesus is rewarded in the salvation of all people for all time.
Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.
Readings for the Week
Monday: Dn 9:4b-10; Ps 79:8, 9, 11, 13; Lk 6:36-38
Tuesday: Is 1:10, 16-20; Ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21, 23; Mt 23:1-12
Wednesday: Jer 18:18-20; Ps 31:5-6, 14-16; Mt 20:17-28
Thursday: Jer 17:5-10; Ps 1:1-4, 6; Lk 16:19-31
Friday: Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a; 17b-28a; Ps 105:16-21; Mt 21:33-43, 45-46
Saturday: Mi 7:14-15, 18-20; Ps 103:1-4, 9-12; Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
Sunday: Ex 20:1-17 [1-3, 7-8, 12-17]; Ps 19:8-11; 1 Cor 1:22-25; Jn 2:13-25
Alternate readings (Year A): Ex 17:3-7; Ps 95:1-2, 6-9; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn 4:5-42 [5-15, 19b26, 39a, 40-42]
Saints & Special Observances
Sunday: Second Sunday of Lent; Penitential Rite for Candidates for Full Communion
Wednesday: Purim (Jewish observance) begins at sunset
Friday: Abstinence; First Friday; World Day of Prayer
Saturday: St. Katharine Drexel; First Saturday