It is not included in this Sunday's First Reading however the full citation states: "So Abraham called that place: 'The Lord will provide';as it is said to this day: 'On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided'. " (Gen 22: 14) In life we can feel oppressed and lost for ideas at some of the difficulties that confront us. the danger is that we give up and become fatalistic. We stop praying for what we want and in doing so close our hearts to the conversation with God who in his wisdom often provides answers which were beyond our ability to imagine. The fact of the matter is, as in the First Reading so with the apostles in the Gospel, we need to climb the mountain because that is where God will provide! We will not find him at the bottom of the hill. He asks for some effort from us. What helps us to climb the mountain of suffering or difficulty is our faith. We need to trust in God and not our good works or understanding. True faith asks us to trust God even when we have no tangible reason to do so. Having climbed the mountain and experienced his mercy and love, which only he can provide, we need to return to the flat earth of everyday life fortified by the conviction of God's presence and glory. Lent is a period when we are asked to climb the mountain of overcoming our disordered appetites and selfishness so as to encounter the glory of the resurrection anew.
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