"Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah.
There you shall offer him up as a holocaust
on a height that I will point out to you."
And then in the Gospel, on a high mountain, God says:
"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."
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An only son.
Born in old age.
To a barren woman, made fruitful by a miracle.
His parents loved him dearly.
They had watched him grow from a little baby, to a young man full of promise and possibility.
This son was going to carry on the family line, he was going to care for his parents in their infirmaty.
He was their present joy, and their hope for tomorrow.
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And God said: take that beloved son, and offer him up as a holocaust.
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What's not included in this selection we hear in the first reading, is that Abraham arose early the next morning, took his son, and began travelling towards the mountain.
Who knows what the conversation between him and Sarah was like that night. We cannot know the tears and rage and pain that marked the sleepless night.
But still, Abraham took his son, prepared to sacrifice him.
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Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. “Father, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
“My son,” Abraham answered, “God will provide the sheep for the burnt offering.” Then the two walked on together.
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And we know God provided, at the last minute, an angel was sent to stop Abraham, and a sheep was provided instead.
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We move to the Gospel.
On another mountain.
Another only son.
Loved dearly by His Father.
Born of a virgin, the child of a miracle.
"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."
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God did provide a sheep.
He will not allow us to sacrifice our own sons, but he will lead His own to the slaughter.
A true sacrifice, giving us a feast of His flesh and blood.
In many aspects of His earthly life, Jesus acted as an example for us.
In many daily life examples, but even in extremes like the crucifixion, where He showed us how to be murdered as one of His followers: forgiving our murderers as they kill us.
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And in our Gospel today, Jesus allows himself to be driven by the Spirit.
This is for our benefit.
Jesus and the Spirit and the Father are perfectly united in the Holy Trinity.
But for our benefit, Jesus gives us the example of how we should live:
Driven by the Spirit.
2. Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier: the Spirit makes saints.
Those seven gifts of the Holy Spirit you had to memorize in Confimation class, and the 14 fruits of the Spirit (which hopefully you didn't have to memorize (that was the part of the test I failed when I went through class)), they are just the typical ways that the Spirit makes us holy.
But that is just the tip of the iceburg. When we invite the Holy Spirit into our life, into the depths of our soul and heart, throughout our days and nights, the Spirit will drive us towards holiness.
Sometimes that will mean praying when we don't want to, or helping with extra chores around the house when we've already done our part, or giving a kind word and a smile to someone, even as we are about to break.
And sometimes, the Spirit will drive you into the desert.
3. The petition we should make to the Spirit
This Lent, ask the Spirit to drive you towards holiness.
Beg the Spirit, to make you a saint.
Pray daily, for the Spirit to move you outside your comfort zone, and into a terrifying and exhilerating life.
