February 25, 2024: The Radical Call of Detatchment

In this homily, Father Loomis shares the story of the Ulma family in Poland during WWII… a Catholics that hid a Jewish family in their home from the Nazis. They were eventually found and all killed- including all of their 6 children and the unborn child in Mrs. Ulma’s womb. Father compares the trust the Ulma family had for God in this story to the reading of Abraham where God promises to make Abraham’s descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky… and then asks him to sacrifice his only son. We might ask- “If I give God all- what is He going to ask of me? Will He really protect me? Can I trust him?” Abraham reasoned, “that God was so powerful, He could even raise from the dead. So He decided to trust God, to trust that he was good.” For Abraham it was enough, for Christ is was enough, and “the aim of our spiritual disciplines [this Lent] is to arrive at that same comprehensive level of trust.” The Ulma family trusted God and hid their Jewish friends, even knowing the risks. They also knew the power of God and that He had the power- if need be- to raise them even from the dead. Everyone from both families were murdered on March 24, 1944. As of last year Pope Francis declared them definitely in heaven when he beatified all of them last year “Their habit of detachment made it possible for them what for many of us would be impossible because of how big of an ask it is. But because of that they now enjoy the eternal reward of their faith.” Is your heart ready to do the same? Second Sunday of Lent: First Reading: Genesis 22: 1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 116: 10, 15, 16-17, 18-19 Second Reading: Romans 8: 31b-34 Verse Before the Gospel: Matthew 17: 5 Gospel: Mark 9: 2-10