March 13, 2022; 2nd Sunday of Lent (Year C)

Readings: Gn. 15:5-12, 17-18; Phil 3:20-4:1; Lk 9:28-36

 

“Lord, It Is Good for Us to Be Here.”

1.      In the first reading, God took the initiative and entered into a covenant with Abram. He put his life on the line and promised to make Abram’s descendants as many as the stars in the sky. Though old, and the fulfillment of the promise was not yet in sight, Abram put his faith in God. He believed that God would be faithful to his promises. In the Gospel, Jesus was transfigured on the mountain during prayer. He, like God, put his life on the line to save his people. His transfiguration is indicative of our new life with God. Just as God promised the children of Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, Jesus, the new Adam, will lead us to a life of everlasting happiness in heaven. At the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah conversed with Jesus about his impending death to save humanity. Through his death and resurrection, our lives will be transformed. Our pain will give way to joy, death to life, and Christ will reign in us forever. 

 

2.      But we must first do what Christ did. His transfiguration was only possible after prayer. To pray is to change, and to change more and be transfigured is to have prayed much. We pray by lifting our minds and hearts to God, praising, and adoring Him always. At prayer, we ask for God’s mercy and love and forgiveness for our sins. We pray because we want to be in communion with God. If we do not communicate with God, we would be “running well but off the road.” It is only during prayer that God enters into a covenant of love with us, changes our appearances, and clothes us in a dazzling white garment. It prepares us to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

 

3.      We listen to Jesus when we pray. “Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” God, the father, invites us to listen to Jesus. And this is what he wants us to do: “You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8). Jesus asks us to forgive injuries done to us, love our enemies, and do good to those who hate us. He wants us to give to everyone who asks of us and calls on us to do to others as we would have them do to us. Christ urges us to stop judging and condemning others. He wants us to share what we have with others and treat everyone unconditionally as God treats us. (Lk. 6:27-42) We can only do these if we pray. Prayer brings us to the presence of God and effects a change in our lives. When we sit in prayer, God changes our appearances and our relationships. He makes it possible to forgive hurts done to us. It provokes holy thoughts and enables us to say with Peter, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” The ‘here’ Peter longed for is to be at home with God. Jesus will change and transform our lives and make them like his in glory. May it be so now and always! Amen.

 

 

Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP