FranciscanMedia.org | Sunday Soundbites

Sunday Soundbites

Sunday Soundbites is a weekly, 90-second radio homily based on the Sunday readings, written and read by Fr. Greg Friedman, O.F.M. Sunday Soundbites is also heard on Catholic radio stations around the country.

Program for Sunday, March 04, 2012
(Second Sunday in Lent)

Real Audio | Windows Media | MP3

Sunday Soundbites Archive

Transcript

When you were a kid, did you ever take on a commitment that later became a real challenge to keep? Hello, I’m Father Greg Friedman, with the Sunday Soundbite for the Second Sunday of Lent.
As a teenager, I made a deal with my dad to earn a few dollars selling garden seeds door-to-door. Dad bought the seeds, and I became the salesman. But as the door-to-door rejections piled up, I began to question my original agreement.

Abraham and God made a commitment. God would make Abraham the father of a great nation. Abraham would be faithful to God in return. In today’s familiar story from Genesis, Abraham is asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. It’s described as a test—a test of Abraham’s part of the covenant-bargain.
The demand God makes on Abraham may make us squirm. But Scripture scholars suggest that the story was actually meant to discourage Israel from the child sacrifices carried out by their neighbors.

It’s also a story of fidelity. And that’s where my teenage sales experience comes in. A commitment between two people calls for faithfulness until the end, no matter how difficult things get. Abraham believed in God’s promise, even in the face of the most difficult challenge imaginable.

As you examine your baptismal covenant during these Lenten days, let the challenge to self-denial remind us of the scriptural call to fidelity.

I’m Father Greg Friedman with the Sunday Soundbite for St. Anthony Messenger Press, on the web at FranciscanRadio.org.

Meet Father Greg Friedman

Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M., is creative director with the Media Production Team at Franciscan Media. He also hosts American Catholic Radio each week, and produces videos for www.AmericanCatholic.org, including the "Two-Minute Take." Father Greg wrote and directed Assisi Pilgrimage: Walking in Faith with Francis and Clare, which appeared on ABC-TV stations nationwide. He also produced the popular faith-formation series Catholic Update Video, used in parishes around the U.S. He currently serves as pastor of St. Francis Seraph Parish, located in the inner-city neighborhood of "Over-the-Rhine" in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can contact him at letters@franciscanradio.org.

Connect With Us

Partner With Us

Franciscan Media and Franciscan Media Productions exist to "Share the Word that is Jesus Christ." We invite you to join in our efforts through prayerful support and financial donation. Click here to make a donation.