2^nd Sunday of Lent, C, 2007.

Abraham became a wealthy man. He had many servants

and retainers. There was warring among the local tribes

and once Abraham’s nephew Lot was taken captive.

So he took up arms to free Lot.

And God spoke to Abraham in a vision and said to him,

do not be afraid, I am your shield, I look after you,

you’ll get a great reward.

And Abraham said to the Lord,

what good is all this wealth to me

when there is no one to inherit it? My wife and I

have no children? Then the Lord made a promise to him

that he would have many descendants

and they would become a great family and an important nation. Abraham always believed God and acted accordingly

therefore he is called our father-in-faith.

The Transfiguration of Jesus took place to strengthen their faith.

They always had an inkling that Jesus was more

than an ordinary human being. He said so himself several times and they witnessed his curing of a great number of sick people, his feeding of the 5000 with a few loaves and fish,

his walking on water and calming the storm by his command. They knew he was more than an ordinary man but still

they asked each other, who is he?

So Jesus went a step further and gave a visual manifestation

of his divinity to three of them. He intended to strengthen

their faith, to help them cope with the coming trial

of his Passion and death. It did not really work.

When they saw the man they revered and followed everywhere for three years, the man who could command the wind,

who walked on water suddenly become a looser;

a man arrested by his opponents, condemned to death

in a show-trial, mocked and beaten, executed, dead and gone, finished, they were shattered and terrified.

We would imagine that the experience and honour

of seeing Jesus transfigured would have made their faith unshakable, almost bullet-proof. But seeing him arrested and executed washed it all away.

These are the ups and downs of life that happens to us as well

in various degrees. We can have an insight one day,

the veil is lifted and we see and understand what

God has been telling us; we are filled with peace and confidence and security. A few days later it is blown away

and we feel shaken and vulnerable again.

Abraham had a rock-solid faith. We are called to imitate him. We are called to listen to God, to believe what he tells us through Scripture, through prayer

and through any other media he chooses to use;

to have faith, to believe.