Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Osmond Anike

Readings:

First Reading: Genesis 22:1-2,9-13,15-18 – The sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 115(116):10,15-19 – I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.

Second Reading: Romans 8:31-34 – God did not spare his own Son.

Gospel: Mark 9:2-10 – This is my Son, the Beloved.

The proper history of Israel begins from the second part of Genesis which tells the story of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph). Their story, unlike the first eleven chapters of Genesis, had a specific geographical, historical and social setting in the Ancient Near East some 2000 -1500 years BC. It all began with the call of Abraham. Now, Abraham did a lot of things that would have been considered “queer” and which, if it were in our modern time, would have earned him a trip to the psychiatric hospital. Indeed, our modern manner of looking at and interpreting human actions would have insisted that his senses needed to be thoroughly examined to ensure that all was well with him mentally: First, he was called upon to abandon his entire past when he was asked to leave his homeland to an unknown destination; and he obeyed. Then again, he was summoned to give up his entire future by sacrificing his only child, a child of his old age on whose life the fulfilment of God’s promise to him depended. Again he obeyed. These actions of his are actions which, with the modern eye, would have easily been dismissed as insane, and at best, fanatical.

However, before we rush to judgment, there is a hidden message embedded in these actions of Abraham: one can never really begin to live unless one is ready to abandon one’s past and give up one’s future. The reason why the past is to be abandoned is not because the past is bad but because the past is dead. And the reason why the future is to be given up is not because it will be bad but because it does not exist. By the time the future comes into being, it becomes the present. Yesterday is dead, and tomorrow is not. The only reality is now. Life is in the present. To be alive is to live moment by moment in the eternal now. And this, actually, is the life of children to whom Jesus likened the Kingdom of God. They live moment by moment with no burden from the past and no distraction from the future. Take a child’s toy away from him and he cries. Replace that toy with another toy and he is very fine with it. He doesn’t let his happiness depend on the former toy. He is just fine with any toy that comes his way. By the time your child begins to pick and choose a toy, his childhood is finished. He is no longer a child in the real sense of the word. He has tasted the adult “drugs” that kill our innocence namely, insatiability, insecurity, competition, etc. When your child becomes conscious of the past and worried about the future, you better get ready to introduce “adult” education to him.

The reason why people are not happy is not because of the present moment. Tony de Mello always insists that the present moment is never unbearable. People are unhappy either because they are regretting or bemoaning their past, or because they are preoccupied with the thought of what will happen in the future. To really be alive, one needs to abandon the past and give up the future. Ironically, it was when Abraham gave up his entire future that he gained everlasting future. He gave up his only son and became the father of all nations. We are not saying that one should not think about the past or plan for the future. But, thinking about the past does not mean living in the past. And planning for the future does not mean dwelling in the future. Let us see it this way: Everybody thinks of and remembers the past. This is called history; and there are a lot of positive things we learn from history. “Thinking about the past” means remembering with nostalgia when you were in primary school and used to write with chalk on a slate. During that epoch, one was never introduced to writing with pencil and pen on a paper until one reached a “senior” class in the primary school. This is thinking about the past. Now, “living in the past” means forbidding your children today from using the computer to learn, and insisting that they too write with chalk on a slate because that was how you did it in your own days. As hilarious as this might sound, this is actually what many people imply when I hear them make such statements as, “This is how things are done in my village, and therefore, it must be done like that here”. Or, “This is how the church is organized back home, and therefore, it must be organized the same way here”. The very moment you left your village and came here, your village became past tense and therefore dead. Of course you have to remember your village life with nostalgia. But if your happiness depends on things being done here in Europe the way they were done in your village in Africa, I am afraid you will spend the rest of your life miserable. Although, if you truly miss the way things are done in your village, you have the option of taking a prolonged holiday and going back to your village to reminiscent those things. Brothers and sisters, attachment to your cherished possession or habit of doing things could jeopardize your chances of gaining greater wealth and novel experiences. When you let go, you possess. But when you cling, you lose.

Abraham was not the only biblical personage to abandon his past and give up his future. Jesus similarly abandoned his past when he left his family to begin his public ministry. He likewise gave up his future when he accepted to die on the cross. But today, he lives and reigns forever. Are you ready to abandon your past and give up your future? Only then can you truly be said to be alive. In the Gospel of today, Jesus transfigured. Moses and Elijah signify the past, the Old Testament. The dazzling white of Jesus’ appearance signifies the future, the beatific vision, a foretaste of heavenly glory. In the story, the past (= Moses and Elijah) disappeared, leaving behind only the present (= Jesus). Then Peter requested that they settled in the future by building permanent tents and continue to live in that future. But Jesus rejected his request. He rather brought them back to the present by bringing them down from the mountain (= the future) and telling them that they will eventually go to that future but only when they must have followed the way of suffering in the present. You see, there is no short cut to heaven. When you desire the glory of Christ, you must also embrace his passion.

As we continue in our Lenten retreat, let us make effort to come into the present. We worry ourselves to death with the past and the future, oblivious of the present. If we remember the past, let it be for the lessons we can learn from it. And if we think about the future, let it be to plan for it using the mistakes of yesterday and today. But it will really be very tragic to live either in the past or in the future. If you want to be truly alive, come into the present.