Abraham and Isaac

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

Yesterday was an extremely busy day for me; so I never got around to posting a blog entry for the Second Sunday of Lent. I hope you will bear with me if I "back up" a little and write a few words about the first reading from Sunday's liturgy, the story of Abraham's sacrifice of his son Isaac.

As we read this story, I am sure that those of you who are parents could never imagine doing such a thing as offering your child as a human sacrifice to a god. However, it is important for us to remember that this practice was not uncommon among the pagan peoples of the Middle East at the time when Abraham lived. In fact, it was this practice that was part of the motivation which led Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees and away from the pagan god worshiped in that country. He embraced the God who would become the God of Israel wholeheartedly because he abhorred this practice. So his distress upon hearing God ask this sacrifice of him was tremendous. However, because Isaac had been given to him in his very old age by God, he felt he had no recourse but to obey and be faithful to his covenant relationship with God.

The story reminds us of the tremendous sacrifice that God makes thousands of years later in sacrificing his Son, Jesus, for the sake of our sins. It was no easier for God to do this than it was for Abraham.

I also wish to point out that Isaac, who would have been old enough and strong enough to resist his elderly father if he had chosen to do so, does not question his father's actions. He willingly allows himself to be bound and placed on the altar. Isaac prefigures Jesus, the one who willingly goes to the cross for the sake of our sins. Notice that the reading from Genesis tells us that he bore the wood for the sacrifice on his back just as Jesus carried the instrument of his death on the way to Calvary. (This detail is excerpted from the lectionary reading!)

The story is disturbing and yet fills me with amazement. God loves me, God loves you, this much! May that thought keep you true to your Lenten journey throughout the week.