Lent is a season to take stock of where we are – to examine the places in our life where we are called to metanoia – conversion of heart. All of us have dark corners of our life which need the penetrating light of Christ. Christians hope that the Lenten journey will lead us to the joy of Easter as happier, holier, and healthier disciples who more effectively manifest the love of God. Particularly, we are called to examine our relationship with God, with those who are in need, and with the world in which we live. Jesus presents his disciples with the model of self sacrifice and sacrificial love. Jesus’s Paschal Mystery – his passion, death and his resurrection – invites us to die and rise with Christ as we seek God’s Kingdom, and that which is above.
The readings for this weekend call us to transcend this world and our earthly desires, and to embrace the cross of Jesus Christ. Paul’s letter to the Philippians exhorts us to remember that our citizenship is in heaven and to not be overburdened by earthly things. Today’s Gospel is the familiar story of the Transfiguration which is traditionally proclaimed on the Second Sunday of Lent. Jesus takes his friends up to the mountain of the Lord and is transfigured before them. For the Western Church, the transfiguration pointed to the resurrection of Christ and for the Eastern Church, the Transfiguration points to the parousia – the second coming of Christ. In both cases, the Transfiguration is a source of hope on our journey of faith – we hope to be transfigured with the Lord in glory.
During Lent we are invited to rightly order our lives to God, our neighbor and the world. Our first move as Christians is to enter into right relationship with God. Everything flows from the primacy of our relationship with God. I have been struck over the years that our three modern popes – John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis – begin their writings with the simple and yet compelling invitation to enter into a life-giving and personal relationship with God. Catholic leaders have not always done a good job of exhorting the faithful to enter into personal friendship with God. This Lent, let’s take up the call to enter more deeply into communion with the God. The most obvious place to begin in this regard is with prayer. If prayer is not a big part of your life currently, how about integrating prayer into your daily routine? If we step out in faith to meet God in prayer good things will happen.
In both testaments of Sacred Scripture, we hear several commands from God that we are called to love and serve our neighbor. This is not an option or a suggestion but rather a central tenant of the Judaic-Christian tradition. Love and service of our neighbor are integral to being a faithful follower of God – and an authentic disciple of Christ. Additionally, Hebrew Scripture and the Gospels emphasize that we have a special duty to serve the anawim – the least, the last, and the lost – for in them, we recognize the face of God. Catholic social teaching provides further foundation for our care and service to those on the margins in its emphasis on the dignity and worth of all who are made in the image and likeness of God. Presently, I am quite troubled by the treatment of our brothers and sisters on the margins by some who hold power in our society and the complicity of Christians who look the other way. It is imperative – and Lent is a good time – for Christians to stand up with compassion and courage for the voiceless in our nation and our world. To be sure, we will be judged by whether we turned to our from the needs of our neighbor.
Lastly, how are we ordered to this world – the material world and the natural environment in which we live? Jesus tells us often that our citizenship is not of this world – that we are pilgrims who are passing through. Our citizenship is in heaven and the ashes we received on Ash Wednesday remind us of our mortality. How do we use the gifts we have been given? Do we seek to grasp onto our possessions and amass more and more. Are we generous in sharing the gifts with which we have been blessed? To paraphrase Pope Francis, has our feverish pursuit of idols blunted our moral conscience and our relationship with God? Regarding the gift of the environment, do we till and keep the earth in a way that is sustainable now and for future generations? These are good questions to ask ourselves during Lent as we seek to rightly order our lives to the world in which we live.
As we continue our Lenten journey, I encourage all of us to look into our hearts and to seek God’s grace so that we can rightly order our lives to God, our neighbor, and the world.