Homily: Thirteenth Thursday of Ordinary Time
Homily: Thirteenth Thursday of Ordinary Time (Genesis 22:1-b-19) “Love Does Not Allow Death to Win.”
In the parish I grew up in, there was an altar that had several Biblical scenes under the Eucharistic table. As I knelt by that altar serving Mass, I often looked at a plaster picture of Abraham ready to plunge a sword into his son Isaac who was tied to a pile of wood. Abraham is looking toward a bush with a ram tangled in its branches.
Next to this picture, was one of the Last Supper. I wondered what the two pictures had to do with each other. Abraham’s sacrifice seemed so disturbing. A father ready to kill his only son to placate his God who asked him to do this.
Reflecting on it today, I can see that the two pictures were meant to portray two sacrifices. At the Last Supper, Jesus contemplates the sacrifice he will make the next day on the cross. Perhaps the artist who designed the altar was trying to make a statement about God. God will never ask us to do anything that he would not be willing to do.
Jesus was God’s only Son and he was to be sacrificed for us. But there is another part of the story. In both cases the son that is sacrificed, ultimately lived. Isaac is never killed. That was not God’s intention. Jesus does die, but God knows that Jesus will rise again.
God loved Isaac too much to let death have the last word. The Father loved Jesus too much not to give him new life at the resurrection. And God loves each one of us to let us die without resurrecting us. Our God is a God of the living. His ultimate plan for us is that we live in the divine presence for all eternity.
Reflection Questions:
- Have I ever wondered why God would test Abraham in the way he did? Does it make me feel better to know that he saved Isaac’s life?
- What does the sacrifice on the cross mean to me? Is there one reason Jesus died on the cross? Or is the cross more of a parable than that?
Dear Parishioners:
I have reminded people on many occasions that Fr. Matthew and I would like to visit parishioners in the hospital. We are not automatically notified that Sacred Heart parishioners are in the hospital. The hospital staff may ask you if want your parish notified and then again, they may not.
Post-Covid, it seems like it is more important than ever to notify our parish office if you are in the hospital. Most of the time, the patient must take the initiative asking the chaplain or a family member to call us.
Remember that Anointing of the Sick can be administered at any time. A person does not have to wait to receive this sacrament until death is imminent.
May Our Lady and All the Angels and Saints watch over you.
Fr. Mark