Year C: Second Sunday of Lent

First Reading: Genesis 15: 5-12, 17-18

The First Reading is also an encounter with God - and a conversation that does not make sense.

Abram is taken outside and shown the stars. He is told that his descendants will be as numerous - beyond counting. As he has no children - and his wife, Sara is too old to bear children - this takes some believing  but, we are told, Abram puts his faith in God

He asks God for a sign that he will inherit the land. God asks him for a sacrifice. The “deep sleep”  is preparing Abram for the divine presence which passes between the two halves of the animals.

This apparently was a ritual of the time - the people entering covenant walking between the two halves as if to invoke the same death for themselves should they break the covenant.

It seems strange to us - but the important thing to remember is that it is a sign of God’s promise to Abram in a way that Abram and his people would understand. It also shows the lengths God will go to to prove His love

 

What does it mean for me?

How does this story speak to you thousands of years after it was written?

What does it tell you of God's faithfulness to his promises?

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