In the first reading, from Genesis 22, we meet Abraham at the most dramatic moment of his life. Will he offer up Isaac, his beloved son, when God asks?

God chose Abraham and Sarah to be father and mother of a nation who could be his own. God chose them because up to this time the chaos of the world has continued to spin out of control, like the Tower of Babel, which leads to the scattering of the peoples. The devil, diabolos, literally means one who scatters. The devil seeks to divide us against each other – nation against nation – this is the fruit of sin.

Abraham’s “Yes” to God is blessed. The angel sent by God says, “now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” The descendants of Abraham and Sarah will be the nation of Israel, which is the first to have a covenant relationship with God.

But Abraham only foreshadows how God himself acts. God reveals that Jesus is His Son, “the Beloved” to the disciples on the mountain, the Son he will offer for our salvation. St. Paul exhorts us to trust in God, who “did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us … Will he not with him also give us everything else?”

So great is Abraham’s faith that he is told: “By your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.” Jesus brings about a covenant with all nations through his sacrifice of himself.

This Lenten season we are invited to trust God just like Abraham did, so that our faith may be blessed and that many others will be drawn into the Covenant Jesus brings about.