The Benedict Year › Reading Backwards from the Pascha › Unit 2 · The Beloved Son
Week 9 · 9–13 November 2026 · Michaelmas
Abraham on trial
Unit 2 · The Beloved Son: Isaac carries the wood up the mountain, and Origen says that is the Son carrying the Cross.
Session A · the reading
About 55 minutes. Open and read aloud before any framing: no introduction, no “today we’re looking at”. Scripture first, then the Father.
- Genesis 22:1–19, again
- Origen, Homily VIII on Genesis, the first half
Session B · the argument
About 35 minutes, on another day. Never both in one sitting.
Put someone on trial. Abraham: does he pass or fail? The child argues one side, you the other, then swap.
What is it for?. The ram. The text answers (Genesis 22:13).
The Tile Board
Add a card: The ram in the thicket, with the passage and today’s date. Pencil a line to another card only if the child sees one.
Books this week
Optional: one piece of media
12 Angry Men (1957). Watched together, with nothing said about why it was chosen; how the list was made.
Origen says Isaac carrying the wood is the Son carrying the Cross. Let Origen say it; don’t add to it.
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