Second Sunday of Lent B
We had "Children's Church" again this Sunday, so I don't have a word-for-word homily for you...but below are a few notes that guided my chat with the kids.
What's most precious to you?
What would it feel like if God asked you to give it up?
Isn't that what happened in the story were heard about Abraham and Isaac?
(By the way: we grown ups find that to be a pretty terrible, scary story, too.)
What did God really want from Abraham?
To know that Abraham loved God more than anything else.
To know that he would obey God in everything.
Who are some of the people you have to obey?
Who are some of the people grown ups have to obey?
(By the way: we grown ups like obeying other people even less than you do.)
When we obey other people, they can sometimes make mistakes--but not God.
God only ever asks us to what's good for us.
When we obey other people, we usually understand what they're asking--but not God.
God is mysterious, and that means we have to trust him.
Even (especially!) when we don't understand, we must obey God.
Why? Because God loves us.
Because we're precious to God--even more precious than Isaac was to Abraham.
Because God only asks us to do things because he wants us to be happy.
God loves us so much he gave up his precious Son, Jesus, for our sake.
We hear another story today: Jesus is on the mountain with his friends.
They see Jesus in all his glory, and God's voice is heard.
What does God say? This is my beloved Son; listen to him.
Where do we still hear Jesus speaking?
In the Bible. In the Church. When we pray. Through other people. In our hearts.
If Jesus is still speaking, and he wants what's best for us, shouldn't we listen very carefully?
We listen carefully, we trust completely, and we obey even when we don't understand
because we know we're very, very precious to God.
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