In life, one must decide which god they serve: is it the God of Jesus Christ or another deity? Many of us would quickly say "the God of Jesus Christ," but to truly understand what lies in one's heart and what comes first in their life requires deep reflection and thought. The answer that comes spontaneously because it's what we've been taught and always said is different from the truth we live. Your god is that which is most important in your life, the one you think of before you sleep and the first thought when you wake up at night, the one your mind goes to as soon as you awake in the morning. The true God, the God of Jesus Christ, cannot be given a secondary place, for if so, He is not your god. Last Sunday, we discussed the need to be silent, to go into the desert and seek quiet, for it is only in silence that we recognize the truth of our lives, uncover the masks we hide behind, and recognize our temptations so we can strive to overcome them. It is in silence that we become aware of our sin, giving us the chance to repent and change. Silence shows us who we are and who our god is.
This Sunday, the Word of God presents us with the figure of Abraham, our father in faith. In a time when human sacrifices were common in many parts of the world, a way to show belief in one's gods by offering them the most precious thing one has, God showed Abraham that true faith is the exact opposite: it is not we who must offer the most precious thing we have to God, but He who offers His beloved Son to save us. Indeed, Saint Paul, in the second reading, tells us, "He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" Perhaps this is one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible: God not only created us, giving us everything we have and are, but also did not keep His Son for Himself but gave Him to us as well. Such is the greatness of God's love for us! Every other god makes us slaves to him, but it is only the true God who makes us beloved children, who gives Himself to us and not we who sacrifice ourselves and our loved ones for Him.
In today's Gospel, Jesus shows His glory as God only to His closest Apostles. They hear the voice of the Father saying, "This is my beloved Son, listen to Him." This is the Son of God who now comes to offer Himself for the salvation of the world. Thus, the Father's all-encompassing love for mankind is revealed. How right Saint Paul was to say, as the strongest argument of God's love for us, "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." God forgives us and makes us His children through Christ: this should always be in our minds to understand how much God loves us, and that He alone is the true God who gives us freedom and the love of children. Let us ask ourselves: who is truly my god? Do I truly believe that only the God of Jesus Christ loves me and makes me truly free? How much do I really believe that God loves me?
We ask you, Lord, to help us truly discover what is in our hearts and who our true god is. Help us to choose Your Father as our God, for only in Him do we find what we truly need, namely a God who loves us with immeasurable love, a God who in You gives Himself for us. Amen.
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