The Most Disturbing Passage in the Bible? | #1415

Pilgrim Priest

Lent, 2nd Sunday (B) There are a number of disturbing passages in the Bible. This might be the most disturbing of all: God commands a father to sacrifice his son. In a kind of reverse psychology, he is teaching us not to engage in human sacrifice.

There are people that live life with radical trust in God. They believe that God is good, and that they are his beloved children. They believe in the power of redemptive suffering and hard times make them draw closer to God. St. Josephine Bakhita is great example of radical trust.

The rest of us have to wrestle with God. Job is honest about his sufferings but he won't reject his relationship with God. He wrestles until God gives him a new perspective.

Some people think you mustn't get mad at God. They bury their painful feelings under a façade of radical trust. Other people drift away from God; the relationship doesn't matter enough to stay with God.

The sacrifice of Isaac is a foreshadowing. God said, "Don't sacrifice your son; I'll sacrifice mine." God is good, and he does love you. In fact, he loves you so much that he would sacrifice his only Son, whom he loves, for your sake.

(25 Feb 2024)

Going Deeper: Much of the material from today's homily was taken from the excellent podcast episode How to Work Through Your Anger at God, Episode 107 of the Interior Integration for Catholics podcast with Dr. Peter Malinowski. Definitely worth your time to listen to it.

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