Come, Follow Me. Journey in Faith.

First Reading - Genesis 12: 1-4a

Second Reading - Second Timothy 1: 8b-10

Gospel - Matthew 17: 1-9

 

Any time the shepherd speaks to his flock he is calling us to go on mission, to become disciples and to make disciples.

 

The first story of this kind that we find in the Bible is of Abraham. Abraham, believing in the one God, serving and having faith in Him alone, when other cultures and peoples of this time believed in many Gods, Abraham at the age of eighty is called by God to journey out of his father’s house and to adventure. Without hesitation Abraham follows Gods command and is rewarded. He is elderly and childless but God promised Abraham that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. God keeps his promises as today, Jews, Christians and Muslims can refer to Abraham as our father in faith.

 

We find this theme again in Mathews Gospel when Jesus asks Simon/Peter, "Who do you say that I am?". In a great profession of faith Simon/Peter responds, "You are the Christ". In saying this, Simon, son of John, was saying that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, the fulfillment of all the prophets and of all human desire. He too was rewarded by Jesus, renamed from Simon to Peter (meaning Rock), charged with building the church, becoming our first Pope, and being handed the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

 

The path of faith is oftentimes a difficult one. We may feel uncertain at times along the way. But the story of Abraham, the story in Mathews Gospel tells us that it is always darkest before the dawn. We must be willing to bear our share of hardships. Jesus paid the ultimate price to save us from our sins. During this Lent we are called to bear our own crosses and join them with His on our own journey in the mystery of faith.