Second Sunday of Lent - Year B - 8th March 2009

If God is for us, who is against us!

Without trust, we humans could not live together. When we trust, our lives are enriched; when we betray trust, our lives are shattered.

The idea of trust leads us into this Sunday's readings. They emphasize, as the entire Bible does, that God alone is worthy of our full and ultimate trust. God alone will never let us down. Never.

Today's responsorial psalm is a prayer of thanksgiving uttered by someone who has been saved by God from a desperate, life-threatening, situation. In a time of great anguish, the psalmist did not lose faith in God. In spite of everything, the sacred writer trusted.

Abraham had to make a similar act of faith in God in the midst of his turmoil. God had asked him to sacrifice his son, Isaac, whom he loved deeply. Though filled with grief and confusion, Abraham set about to obey God. His trust in God proved sound as God intervened to save Isaac.

'With God on our side who can be against us,' insists our second reading. Really? At times every human heart queries if this is true. Abraham, our 'father in faith' must have wondered. Too much sickness, the onslaught of poverty or violence can make us doubt whether God is on our side.

Jesus' disciples also experienced confusion and despair when Jesus was crucified. Some time before, in the episode of the Transfiguration, the Father had urged them to listen to Jesus, to trust him and believe in him, whatever happens. This advice was to prove well founded.

For all that, we have our peak experiences, like Peter, James and John. The birth of a child, of love, a wedding day, graduation after difficult study, winning a match. Golden moments of sheer bliss, when we know deep down, that all will be well. Knowing even then that our lives, marriages, loves must be lived out in the valleys.

The central point of these readings is that even the worst news becomes, through trust in God, part of the good news. Life has many loose ends, many that are hard to understand and even more difficult to endure. We may never be able to tie up these loose ends, but they will ultimately make sense because of our trust in God. The gracious self-gift of God, coming to completion in eternity, will crown our trust in a way we cannot even imagine.