When Your Faith Is Put to the Test - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon
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- Опубликовано: 23 фев 2024
- Friends, we come now to the Second Sunday of Lent, and we’re on both dangerous and very holy ground with the first reading from the twenty-second chapter of Genesis. The ancient Israelites referred to it as the “Akedah,” which means the “binding”: Abraham binds and is ready to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command. It’s hard to imagine another text in the Old Testament that has stirred up more puzzlement and opposition. I am with Søren Kierkegaard: if you don’t experience “fear and trembling” having read this text, you have not been paying attention. And it’s naming something of absolute centrality in the spiritual life.
Mass Readings:
Reading 1 - Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
Psalm - Ps 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19
Reading 2 - Rom 8:31b-34
Gospel - Mk 9:2-10
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The greatest gift that God has given me is my faith and my marriage.Three months ago my husband died. I could not have wanted a better husband. We were married for 46 years and every day of our marriage he told me that he loved me. He was the best and now he is gone. We had no children and we were both only children so there is no family. This is a hard test. I will always love my husband. Since his death I have asked myself, who do you love best, God or your husband?" Every morning I ask Our Lord to help me love Him (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and nothing or no one more than Him. Bishop Barron's sermon today was perfect for me.
My deepest and most heartfelt sympathy. I understand as I am also widowed six years . In my annihilation Christ has lifted me just slightly above the physical world . I have drawn myself into Him as He has done the same . Does it make me jump for joy or put a spring in my step ? No , but , there is a deeper meaning or side to my life now . I walked through the fires of hell with his illness and subsequent death and come out the other side full of scars yet a more compassionate woman . I have grace in my battle .
So sorry for your loss. Sending prayers
@@anneturner2759 Thank you so much for your post. It gives me the hope that I sorely need. God bless you for it.
Thank you for your prayers please keep them coming. I am in need of prayer. @@saraluvsponies
It is a grace the Good Lord gave to you to bring clarity to your situation. He knows your grief and, in a way, brought comfort to you.
Perfect timing , I am having the most devastating day in the testing of my faith ….. devastating. Thank you , through my never ending tears thank you.
Just think of those you can reach with the gospel by your testimony of your great faith. Don't let Satan steal that from you. Steal souls from Satan.
God bless you!
My prayers r for you today sweet Anne 🌸🙏🕯️✝️🌸🇦🇺
God BLESS YOU!
Anne, Jesus promises to be with you, God's beloved daughter. Trust through your tears.
Praying for you. 🙏🏼
"We're meant to fall in love with God in himself even when we can't see the glory, even when the benefits are taken from us." *- Bishop Barron*
All love comes from God. In loving Him we only give Him back a bit of what he's given us. Don't block His love. Receive it. Welcome it.
This gifted man makes the Bible and the Catholic faith understandable and reveals its true beauty.
I give a lot of credit to Bishop Barron for presenting what is truly a tough message. As I listened, the idea came to me that he said at the end, that Lent is all about focusing not on desiring God's blessings or what we can get from Him but on God Himself, or, in other words, what we can give to grow in relationship with Him.
‘Do you love God or do you love the benefits of God?’ Order matters. A truly exceptional sermon, Bishop Barron 🙏😌
Love it all. All of the above literally.
”In the face of unjust and painful situations, faith brings us the light which scatters the darkness.” *POPE FRANCIS*
Amen
Pray for him. I mean pray for him and his better intentions. He is in need of much prayer. All saints above pray for him.
@@eduardohoover2127 = Could I ask you to explain to me what do you mean? I assume you are praying for Francis so Id like to know more.
@@eduardohoover2127 I do ever day.
@@eduardohoover2127It is wrong to disrespect the Pope. Too many lost people have fallen to this practice. It is very uncatholic.
The real test of our faith is not only when we love God for giving us nothing but more when He takes away even all that we have!
thank you for your encouraging wisdom 🤍
Thank God for Bishop Barron. He has explained so much to me about my faith.
God bless you Bishop Baron.
Pls pray for my 13 year old daughter Michel Lim Min En who died on 15 January 2024. She was a clever 13 year old girl, doing very well in school. She had set her alarm clock at 2am, flicker the torch light at 2.30am & 3.30am(which gives a new meaning to our Hail Mary prayer), climb down (?) from the 12 floor service balcony, wearing mask, jacket & socks, carrying a reusable decathlon bag filled with her wallet with money and adult EZ-Link card, notebook that says ‘adventure awaits’, winter mittens, rafia strings, etc possibly at 3.30am. On hindsight, I should have paid attention to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. That something ominous was to happened, but I had disregarded it. She was found lying on the ground floor a distance away with no obvious injuries and in the sleeping St Joseph’s position. As a family we do nightly rosary prayers and the prayer of deliverance from Father Chad. We are trying to make sense of God’s will and purpose in this.
Memory eternal and may the Lord have mercy on your daughter, you and your family.
Sweet , merciful, and loving Jesus run to the comfort this agonized family as you take their prescious daughter to heaven.
I shall pray for you and her
Lots God, give comfort and healing to this family.
Thank you for all your prayers, we needed them. God bless you all
Abraham and son Isaac are the same picture as God, the Father and Jesus, the only son carrying his wood too. And that is so nice of Abraham, that he obeyed! This must have played a role in our salvation! Cause he passed the test we all reap benefits from that old faithful man! God yet, had to sacrifice His son, otherwise we would be completely lost. For us this means: we need to be ready to give up our own lives, and pearls! to save our lives! and the moral of the story is: listen to God's will even when he asks a lot and gives a lot! Do not think if he asks tough stuff that he loves you less, or when gives big gifts that he loves you more! Always just follow the Truth!
Christ is symbolical to suffering, which is sacrifice. We suffer in sacrifice. A recurrent theme in many biblical stories. Thank you Bishop Barron.
Thank God for your life Bishop Barron.. God is speaking thru you to us.. I pray that God grant us the grace of intense conversion tp love Him even without all these, glory to God in the highest! 🙏
Let me tell you, I really never have anything to add or say from Bishop Barron's Sermons. Even when tempted I just shut up and share as widely as I can. It is such a blessing to directly benefit from this wonderful work of evangelism. This benefit of God I surely love. By God's grace, may I grow into unquestionably loving him beyond the benefits he affords me. Thank you Bishop always🙏🏿.
Amen
REMARKABLE, UNBEATABLE like always. Keep on feeding our hungry and thirsty Spirit Bishop Robert Barron. THANK YOU SO MUCH ❤
Great sermon, Bishop. God's voice is clearly audible in your message. Amen.
A very powerful Sermon Bishop, I have restarted my journey after a hiatus where I lost faith and turned my back. Now I have restarted my journey, I understand this Sermon which has struck home immensely. Thank you 🙏
Everything is reconcilable with God for those who love His Spirit.
Welcome back! I'll pray for you
God bless you!
@@Mrszsz Thank you 🙏
@@sandyv2195 🙏
Dear Bishop Baron,
This passage showed to me God's vulnerability and His yearning to be loved for His own sake. He was knowable! It changed my heart and life. l fell in love with God and made the leap of faith into His arms. I knew that He was trustworthy and that I was safe with Him.
God bless you!
I LOVE GOD AND TRUST HIM ❤ I LOVE GOD
Amen‘Thank you Bishop Barron for this Homilia🙏
Thank you.
God’s timing. Fell upon this video at the perfect time. Thank you for sharing Bishop🙏🏼
Thank you beloved brother. I have had to learn that all God wants is our love, not His gifts as wonderful as they are. But He just wants our hearts. It has taken all of 80 years to fully understand this precious truth
Wow! What a great sermon. This is what ALL Christians need to ask themselves today.
God bless Bishop Barron, his ministry within his diocese, and his evangelical work through The Word On Fire. This sermon resonated deeply with me today, I believe God intended for me to hear it. May we all continue to go deeper in our relationship with Christ this season of Lent. May we all place Jesus Christ (rightly) at the center of our lives, and view all things through a Christocentric lens. Peace be with you all.
I like a hard-hitting sermon like this one. I need it! Thank you!
I love God.
Great message! Thank you! 💕
This was wonderful and I thank you Bishop! That's the question, 'do we love him more in the good times and less when the going gets rough?' All I have to do is think of what He did for me by suffering and dying on the cross so that my sins would be forgiven. The Stations of the Cross is something that everyone should attend. The first time I went was when I was Saved! I can honestly say that I love Him for Him and have never questioned Him. He is our Creator and only He knows His plan. If I hadn't had Him for all the losses in my life, I wouldn't have made it through.Thank you sweet Jesus! ❤
God Bless you for your gift of wisdom and sharing. 🙏 ❤
"Do I love the benefits that come to me from God's will or do I love God's will?" - Bishop Barron
Amen.
"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."
Romans 5:3-4
Makes me think of J.R.R. Tolkien going through WWI, and then having children who he had to send away to WWII. It must have been an impossibly hard test for people of that generation at times
Similar to thousands of parents having to say goodbye to their children who are emigrating to another country. It's just about happen to my husband and me . Our eldest son and his wife and two teenage sons are leaving South Africa and moving to Grand Cayman. I knew this day would come because so many people are leaving this country due to how badly it has been ruined by the government,. A friend said that South Africa has become the "land of the weeping grandparents"! How true. And how terribly sad! We are devastated because we don't know if we will ever see them again. We can't afford to visit them.
Hi Bishop Barron, this is my very first time commenting on a post on RUclips. I have recently returned to the faith after 20 years, having lost my faith when I was 15 years old. Your Sunday Sermons are helping me rediscover the faith and I am grateful for them. Peace also be with you.
The most powerful sermon I've ever heard.
Such a great sermon. It's true that we must look at God like a parent who provides benefits as well as takes away benefits. We must trust Him and know that if God takes away something or makes us suffer, it must be for something good in the future or for the long term. Thank you so much, Bishop Barron! God bless you
It's not for our good at all. It's for God's good through our testimony.
The best. Thank you.🕊️
'The Lord gives and the Lord takes away'. This is a great and challenging homily, especially in the midst of trying to find strength through the uncertainty that one is going through. Its perfectly timed, and it helps in aligning one's way of seeing things into the right direction i.e., its all God's doing and reminds me of one of my favourite homilies, to always: 'Trust in the Lord'.
Thank you Bishop Barron.
I believed in the
GREATEST MERCY OF GOD,
rather than A GOD
who gave a NEVERENDING
sufferings...
So profound
I first heard this in his podcast.
Then I thought, “ I’m going to share this with my loved one whom is sufferring”.
But how: went to RUclips and yay: my loved one does RUclips AND I get to hear this message again.
Sent it off to my loved one.
But then I realized “hey you…. YOU NEED THIS MESSAGE AS MUCH AS THEY DO”
I’ve never ever thought to myself, “Do I love the many benefits/blessing of God, or do I love God??”
We must accept the hardships of life without question - if we truly love God.
Thank you Bishop Barron
God bless you
And bless you too ❤🙏
LORD help, may There be “detachment from the world” so there is LOVE for God
Come, Holy Spirit, come Transform our prayer, our fasting and alms giving.
Ps 116:1: Mk 9:7
Peter did not know what to say; they were so frightened.
7 And a cloud came, covering them in shadow; and from the cloud there came a voice, 'This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.'
😇Jesus I trust in you❤️
Amen ❤thank you
God bless you, Bishop
Thank you bishop barron. This sermon is so enlightening. My husband was diagnosed with 4th stage cancer a year ago and is now undergoing treatment. My first reaction was - angry with God. Have been praying. Somehow i have become stronger in my catholic faith and grown closer to God. Is it the holy spirit or my trust in God? I don't know. But bishop barron's sermons, like this one, have surely lighted my path to understanding the mysteries of the faith and God. Thank you.
Thank you Bishop Barron! You have been the best teacher for my faith. Thanks to you, Fr. Spitzer and Fr. Mike, my beliefs become stronger; I lost the “fear” of proclaiming the greatness of our Lord, even to atheist and agnostic friends and family members. Through my most difficult times, I look intensely on your sermons, conversations and interviews to understand, act and heal. As well as I share a lot of those with everyone, specially my children.
Love God first always because He is God. God is our first love. Amen.
What a powerful sermon... Thank you for this Father. I often fall prey to prosperity gospel teachings and get attracted to it. We need to fall in love with God and not His benefits.
The Bishop is consistently such a remarkable preacher and teacher, offering God's Word on fire. As I heard it this morning, if you could choose between God being Who He Is, or the gifts that bless your life, which must we choose? Which did Christ choose. In choosing God, we trust that He is always righteously more.
You are so intelligent! Thank you for sharing your gifts with us. Such a blessing!!
Thank-you Bishop!
This is such a beautiful sermon Bishop Barron. It has opened my eyes to what God is asking of each and every one of us. Help me Lord to want to do your Will and not the benefits ❤
How we approach God, for what we get or for who he is. This is a profound question which I believe most of us venture towards God for the benefits and not for who the Eternal God is. It is also very hard to discern our motives towards our relationship with God. This Homily really rocked my boat. I am old and have learned to stand next to God for who he is as the creator of all, yet in the deepest dark moments of my life, standing next to him has brought me comfort. I am not sure as a human I can separate the two. That said, it is a great question. In the 70's there was a tool called the 4 spiritual laws which was supposed to help a person come to God. As good as it was, it was solely about what I was going to get out of saying yes to God, i.e. a free trip to heaven. It was a very shallow decision almost like a cheap version of why we believe. What a profound sermon today.
Amen!!! Beautiful. There is no earthly benefit that compares to God's powerful love filling our heart, mind and soul. His love becomes meaningful when our faith is tested. ❤🌼
So very true.
Your drive this message home. So beautiful ❤
Amen. 🙏🏿
I love God unconditionally otherwise we cannot love God's will. Blessed be the name of the LORD. Amen.
Thank you Bishop Barron. You are gifted. But, please, depression IS the stripping of the soul of all life and yet, in the less of the less of all, we still love God! Amen!
But WoW! When you say high octane spirituality,......yes!
Thank you Bishp Barron. What a deep question: do I love God or the benefits of God? Our spirituality hinges around this questions.
Fantastic sermon, fantastic message! Greatly a fantastic question! A question to pray about!
Wonderful.
I tend to think what do we really know of the life of people during Abrahams time? I kind of feel that they lived a life of sacrificing living things way more than we would ever know.
But to do this to a son you loved. That took this ask to a whole other level.
God be praised!!!
Excellent explanation
You never fail to clarify my understanding of the word of God. Thank you Bishop Barron.
Thank you Bishop Barron for another beautiful sermon ❤
When people reject your faith you shake the dust from your feet off in protest against them and go to the next town.
O99k❤
❤
@@brendamyc3173that was for the 70. For us it's a project. We are to turn our cheek and pray for them. Jonah walked three days through Nineveh. Spend at least that long in a town that hates you then move on.
Thank you for this powerful message. God bless you
Beautiful and well explained, even my less than studious mind really captures the intent of the reading. Well done good and faithful servent.
A great sermon Bishop. This really brings to the fore God loves me, even when the benefits He gives are taken away. I doubted His love . But your explanation helped me to reaffirm His love for me . Thanks Bishop . Please pray that I love God more than just his benefits .
Insightful, thank you.
Thanks for the teaching. So enlightening
Beautiful, this has open my eyes today "do I love God or the benifits..."
Thank you, Your Grace, for getting into the core of this test of Abraham by God. In my own weaknesses, I wld have failed this test. Every time I read this passage it always left me flabbergastered. Such a tall order. Yet, I, in my own nothingness still say that I love God for His Mercy, Forgiveness, Faithfulness, Love & Goodness.
God Bless you Bishop Barron ♥️🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
I've always thought it was the moment God gave Abraham to prove that he loved Him more than everything, even more than the gift God promised him for so long.
Not the son of the slave woman begotten through his own initiative.
But the good gift from God, the son God clearly gave him by suspending the laws of nature.
But God says no, the sacrifice of your son isn't required, only a willing heart.
I will provide the sacrifice; My only Son. The only One worthy enough to satisfy the debt of sin.
But then He says yes to our Lady's fiat, "We will sacrifice our Son."
She is the only one who could offer Him His own Son by her living, continual, permanent yes. "His yes" is in her.
Proof of love? Really?
Thank you for another enlightening homily, Bp Barron. It is so enriching, I wanted to cry.
Me too. Tears welling up!
To love God is to despise myself because my ego, my very individuality, is the denial of God. I must allow myself to be erased by the purifying power of the Holy Spirit, which is born when I turn completely away from the world towards God, until I am erased and am no more. God begins where I end, and ends where I begin.
Good morning everyone and blessed Lent! I'm struck with the connection between the Transfiguration Gospel (Mark) for today and your (Bishop Barron) emphasis on 'claritas' in your writings and talks when you speak of beauty. Today's Gospel emphasizes the power and beauty of the Lord's 'claritas'...are we overtaken by His 'claritas' like Peter, James, and John? May they intercede for us so that we, in prayer like them, see Jesus in full Glory! Thanks and God bless you Bishop Barron for making this and many other connections for us!
Awakening message! Sharp to the core. Thank you.
Brilliant! Thank you, Father and the team, for sharing such ultimate concerning matter.
Thank you, Bishop Barron. Blessings.
May God keep blessing you, Bishop Baron🙏 The story of Isaac is a rather disturbing one, when taken just on face value! Specially, when you take into account the decision to obey God’s “request” for Isaac’s sacrifice was between Him and Abraham only💔 Sarah, the mother who was shamed by Agar and her struggle to have a child for years was not consulted. This in fact makes you question the level of sacrifice God asked Abraham was beyond anyone’s imagination. However, the story behind the story is that God was not testing Abraham’s love for Him. Rather, He was telling us that He will be sacrificing His own Son, Jesus Christ, for our past and future sins! As Bishop Baron said, we are used to the story and because Isaac was spared we overlook the agony Abraham endured until God’s Angel stopped him at the altar. We have to read this story as parents and imagine the “unimaginable”,…that’s not only the act but the slightest thought of obeying God for such ultimate sacrifice is beyond love, beyond obedience and beyond anything humanly possible to imagine. No sane human being can contemplate, leave alone commit, such an act for any level of reward or love! It took an Abraham to obey! Now, the moral of the story, the ultimate message was that God was preparing us for what He will do for us, out of love! That Jesus like Isaac will carry the cross akin to the fire wood that little Isaac obediently carried to the top of the mountain! The Calvary Jesus climbed to die for us❤ May God bless you all🙏
Lots of room for thought and contemplation, thank you Bishop Barron! 🙏🙏
Thank you
You are a great guy, Bishop!
Thank you Bishop Robert Barron for a well explained and beautiful sermon. God bless you 🙏🏻🕊️ 8:01
If I was Abraham it would have been hard to do. However having a son, I have sacrificed him to God in my own way. Amen.
Thank you so much for helping me to undeestand our everyday tests.
Thank you. Bishop Barron ✝️🕊️🙏🏻🇺🇲
As a father, I'd rather give up my life for my son, and that's probably how Abraham felt when God ask him to do this awful thing.
So convicted by this. Thank you🙏❤️🙏
Thanks for these educational homilies, Bishop Barron and Word on Fire. Blessed Lent. I just love God. And that's enough for me.
Please pray for my family 🙏
God bless you to Bishop Barron, thank you that was awesome ....🔥🕊🕯💖🇵🇹🇿🇦🇵🇹🇿🇦
Very powerful...thank you and God bless 🙏
Please pray for my son Franklin and my mom Elis Rodriguez.
Loving God himself for his own sake cannot be reached purely on secular psychological thinking. It requires acknowledgement of the metaphysical and spiritual. A relationship with this all powerful force requires a leap of faith into the supernatural. To truly love God, is to know God and to know God requires going beyond the material. Many try too hard to make sense of God and Christ in a way that voids them of their mystical reality. There are those in our circles who cling to such religious agnosticism despite the miraculous occurring all around them. At the risk of sounding absurd to such friends and company, we have to reaffirm this mysterious reality of our loving creator.
Taking this to adoration. Lent is an appropriate time for this reflection - loving God or loving the benefits He provides. Thx for the spiritual fodder…
Powerful words of truth.