Gospel commentary MK 9:2-10
Today's first reading about Abraham sacrificing his only son
— the son of promise, the son who would carry the future of Abraham's
descendants to be as numerous as the stars or the sands on the seashore — may
strike us as brutal, savage, primitive and shocking. A little background may
cause the dark clouds that envelop this reading to dissipate.
We remember that Abraham was called by God to leave his
homeland among the Chaldeans and go to a place God has destined for him, what
we could call a new world. Abraham obeys God's call and began a physical
journey of perhaps a thousand miles. It also was a spiritual journey that would
change Abraham forever. He is faithful to God's call despite the apparent
impossibility of what God promises.
Abraham walked "by faith and not by sight." The
culmination of that journey is Mount Moriah.
A number of years ago, archaeologists did some excavations
in the area of the Chaldeans. During those excavations, they came across a
gruesome discovery. They came upon evidence that the Chaldeans were involved
with child sacrifice. The Chaldeans were not unique in this.
In the light of this discovery, Abraham's climbing Mount
Moriah loses some of its puzzlement. God called him up the mountain to teach
him, in a very dramatic way, that human sacrifice would never be part of
fidelity to the God of life. At the top of Mount Moriah, Abraham finally and
completely left behind all the old gods and practices of the Chaldeans. After
this event, the cycle of Abraham stories in Genesis comes to an end. There, on
Mount Moriah, Abraham is finally and fully free. There he became our father in
faith.
During Lent, we are called to abandon the worship of the gods
of our culture. We are called to leave behind the promiscuity of our age. We
are called to leave behind the commercialism that sees material accumulation as
the antidote to spiritual anemia. We are called to leave behind the fixation on
political positions that ignore the common good. We are called to look to Mount
Calvary as the place of true inner healing rather than the pharmaceutical
substitutes that promise release from pain but not from sin.
The call of Mount Moriah demands a great deal from us. It is
so much easier to fit in than to stand out. The call of Mount Moriah demands
honesty and obedience. The call of Mount Moriah is that we face the truth about
ourselves and what we have become. The call of Mount Moriah is not to rely only
on rational planning for our future, but to have faith in God and to trust the
Gospel. To answer that call requires that we leave behind the cultural drivers
that are steering us toward cultural collapse. Then, like Abraham, we will
truly be free.
We all would like to dwell on Mount Tabor and absorb the
glory of Christ. But we cannot arrive at Mount Tabor unless we first follow the
haunting and healing call of Mount Moriah.
Fr. Krempa is pastor of St. Bridget of Ireland Church in
Berryville.