2nd Sunday of Lent B

Jeff Bagnall • 21 February 2024

Verses 1-2,9-13 and 15-18 of Genesis 22: are part of a well-known and challenging story, but we should see it in context. Previously in the story God has promised Abraham he will be the ancestor of a vast number of people ( Genesis 12:1-3) and even though he and Sarah are old they will have a son ( Genesis 15:1-6) of their own, Isaac. It is through Isaac that there will be many descendants to fulfill God’s promise made to Abraham. But in this reading we hear that God asks Abraham to sacrifice this son, Isaac. Now this story purports to be about an event that took place about 1800 BC, so whatever was its source, it has been told and retold a considerable number of times before it was incorporated into the Jewish Bible. There was a time when they lived among others who sometimes sacrificed a child to bring good fortune or ward off some evil; certain Israelites themselves may have been lured into this practice and this tale about Abraham may have been told to illustrate the truth that God does not really want a child sacrificed even if it seemed to anyone a good ‘religious’ thing to do. But the story could also carry the homiletic message that sometimes God may ask of you things that seem quite appalling to you but you must trust God for He will always do right by you in the end; have faith in God for that will bring you righteousness.

In the reading from Romans 8:31-34, Paul says something that can be helpful to us. He is in the process of explaining his understanding of Christianity and here he expresses the utter confidence in God that we should have. After all God sent His Son to be one of us and to live and die for us; what better sign could we have of God’s concern for us. If God is for us, Paul says, then who can be against us? But we know from our experience that we can be accused and condemned by other people; Jesus Himself underwent accusation, trial, condemnation and even execution; but God raised Him to the new life with God – this is our belief and the foundation for our confidence in God.

The gospel reading from Mark 9:2-10 is about the Transfiguration. In the Book of Exodus, Moses goes up a mountain to commune with God and is in a cloud for six days before any revelation comes - then he remains for forty days and forty nights. Some might reflect that Jesus with the inner circle of disciples is transfigured up some other mountain. With him appear representative figures of the Law and the Prophets which in His own way Jesus is bringing to completion. Peter couldn’t believe it when Jesus said He would suffer and die; the two didn’t match with how Peter thought the Messiah would be. But Peter now experiences things a little differently – he sees Jesus transfigured and hears God’s voice declaring Jesus to be His Son. This is utterly mysterious and no one can really speak about such things till they encounter Jesus risen: “he didn’t know what to say, they were so frightened.” We must try to see Christ in all the people with whom we have dealings, but that is often just as astounding and hard to realise!

See Jeff's jottingson the Transfiguration

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Jeff Bagnall was a lecturer for many years at Craiglockhart College teaching RE to many future Catholic Primary teachers.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2026 - Year A

by Jeff Bagnall • 8 October 2026

The first reading is a very upbeat announcement of the good times that the Lord will bring about for all nations. This is not just about the freedom of the Jews who have been in captivity, but it is a universal message of good times, with plenty of all the fruits of the earth and no fear of troubles. The destruction of death might be seen by Christians as the announcement of life after death, but when this message was first delivered, probably in the 6 th century BC, it meant no more will enemies kill each other. All these wonderful gifts from God are, however, delivered to all peoples “on this mountain,” a phrase that initially refers to the city of Jerusalem which is centred upon and around a prominent hill in the countryside; though the phrase was used symbolically to refer to all the people of Israel. So we see in this passage the basis for a future view of what God will do for all people on earth, but with the restriction of it being centred on the people of Israel; it is the vision of a prophet who sees the future darkly, reading it from the worldly state of affairs that he interprets from the standpoint of his assured belief that his is also the god of those who share his faith. We know ourselves that many of us Christians are caught in similar limitations in our vision of God’s relationship with the whole world and its people.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 2026 - Year A

by Jeff Bagnall • 30 September 2026

In the first reading we have a very good illustration of a successful approach to delivering bad news when you are a prophet and that is your job. The book of Isaiah has been heavily edited, and our reading from chapter 5 is very likely the first public appearance of the prophet. If you want the crowd to listen to you, you don’t want to be known as a prophet of doom. So Isaiah draws a crowd by saying he is going to sing a song, like a street busker setting up his spot. It’s a song, he says, about his friend; it’s told as though it is about a man setting up a new vineyard, but it is really about unrequited love. He did everything one should for the vineyard to be successful, but it just produced (literally) stinking grapes. The friend then questions the crowd: “is there anything more I could have done?” And he tells them he is going to completely wreck the area and make it a wasteland. Then, when the crowd has grown and is listening intently, like a punch-line the prophet announces: “this song is about the Lord and you Israel!” The image of the vineyard became quite popular in the sayings of prophets and even among the people themselves; one of their hymns is the psalm that follows the reading for today.