Reflection on Today’s Readings, 2nd Sunday of Lent C, March 13th, 2022
Texts: Genesis 15: 5-12.17-18; Psalm 27: 1.7-9.13-14; Phil.
3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36
We are called, today, to examine our faith. What is the
truth of my faith in God? What is the truth of your faith in God? Put
differently, what do we believe in God? It is always good to examine our faith
now and then to purify it. Some of us believe what we tell ourselves, not what
God tells us. Some of us believe something that are not true. Genuine faith
begins from believing the right things. In today’s first reading, it is said,
“God brought Abram outside and said, ‘Look towards heaven and number the stars,
if you are able to number them’. Then he said, ‘So shall your descendants be’.
And he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.” If Abram
had believed what God had not promised, do we think his faith would have been
reckoned to him as righteousness? The faith of Abram was reckoned to him as
righteousness because he believed the truth, what God promised him. The truth
Abram believed was God’s promise of descendants and land. If God had said one thing and he believed
another thing, his faith would have not been reckoned to him as righteousness.
Let us be mindful of what we believe in God.
St. Paul reminds us, today, that what God had promised is
heavenly common wealth. He says, “But our common wealth is in heaven, and from
it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to
be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all
things to himself.” Those whom this glorious state awaits are those who believe
that their common wealth is in heaven, not those who seek their common wealth
in this world. St. Paul speaks of those who seek their common wealth in this
world thus: “For many of whom I have told you and now tell you even with tears,
walk as the enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god
is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.”
We are on the wrong path when our faith in Jesus Christ aims at gaining this
world; righteousness is not reckoned for such faith. St. Paul told the people
of Corinth thus: “if for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all
people most to be pitied” (1Cor. 15:19).
St. Paul also reminds us that the cross of Christ is a truth
of Christian which some of us refuse to believe. In his words: “For many of
whom I have told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as the enemies of
the cross of Christ.” The truth of the Cross of Christ is a truth that some of
us often run away from and we do not want to listen to it; it is repulsive to
us. We often forget that no glory without the Cross. It is the desire for glory
without Cross that has led to so many evils in our society: cybercrimes,
robbery, yahoo+, bribery and corruption, kidnapping, lies, to mention but a
few. The rejection of the Cross is the rejection of the common wealth in
heaven. The quest for earthly common wealth makes us reject the Cross of
Christ.
What we hold as the truths of our faith matter a lot, for
they inform our conducts, our ways of life, likes and dislikes, disposition and
opposition, etc. Hence, it is said of Abram thus: “And he believed the Lord;
and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Believing that his inheritance
would come from the Lord, his life was oriented towards God, he made himself
pleasing to the Lord. If we hold firm the truth that our common wealth is in
heaven, we will know that there is nothing for us to lose in this world and as
such we will be able to give our heart wholly to God. We only have something to
lose in heaven; our hearts should always be in heavenly things.
We see, in today’s gospel reading, the glory that awaits us
in Jesus Christ: our appearances will be altered, and our clothing will become
dazzling white. Our body will be transformed to the glorious body of our Saviour,
Jesus Christ, as St. Paul rightly tells us in the first reading. The gospel
reading also shows that it is through the Cross we attain the glorious state. The
mystery of the Cross was the subject of Jesus’ talk with Moses and Elijah. It is
clear in the words: “And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah, who
appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus, which he was to accomplish at
Jerusalem.” The Cross is the way to glory, we are not to despise the Cross.
Lord our God, we thank You for the gift of faith by which You
make us righteous, give us knowledge of the truths of faith and may our actions
be inspired by them. Amen.
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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