Greetings! Here's the homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent; it was preached in the Holy Rosary Cluster where I covered for the pastor who came to preach at our Spires of Faith Cluster 40 Hours Mission. Let's all heed the call to be transfigured this Lent!
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
2nd Reading: Philippians 3:17-4:1 (OR Phil. 3:20-4:1)
Gospel: Luke 9:28b-36
FOCUS: The transfiguration of Christ
invites us to be transfigured and/or transformed, also.
FUNCTION: Make a self-examination – where
are you closed and where are you open to God?
READINGS:
1st Reading: Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18Resp. Psalm: Ps. 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
2nd Reading: Philippians 3:17-4:1 (OR Phil. 3:20-4:1)
Gospel: Luke 9:28b-36
It’s
a privilege to be with all of you this weekend!
Since I’m not up in this area very often, I appreciate the opportunity
to visit your Church and see the area.
We’re very happy that Fr. Steve accepted our invitation to come and
speak at our annual “40 Hours Mission” in the Spires of Faith Cluster. Just to give you a hint of what the Cluster’s
like, we’re situated on the western edge of Dubuque County and the eastern edge
of Delaware County, and there are five parishes in the Cluster – the Basilica
of St. Francis Xavier in Dyersville, Saint Joseph’s in Earlville, Saint
Boniface in New Vienna, Ss. Peter & Paul in Petersburg, and Saint Paul’s in
Worthington. Fr. John O’Connor is the
pastor of the parishes in Petersburg and New Vienna while Fr. Dennis Quint is
the pastor of the parishes in Dyersville, Worthington, and Earlville. Yours truly gets to be the Associate Pastor
of all five. If I ever write a sitcom
for TV, I’m going to call it, “My Two Pastors.”
I’m sure it’ll be good for a couple of laughs J
So,
this weekend, I get to celebrate Mass here in your parish while Fr. Steve is
covering the Masses in the Spires of Faith Cluster. When Fr. Steve gets back, be sure to tell him
all about how that the substitute priest was a much better preacher than he is J
I’m sure that will be good for a few laughs, too! On second thought, you better not – maybe the
homilies will only get longer J Regardless, it’s a pleasure to be with you
this weekend.
The
Gospel reading this weekend presents us with the account of the Transfiguration
of Jesus found in Saint Luke’s Gospel. The
First Sunday of Lent always presents us with the story of Our Lord’s temptation
in the desert and this Second Sunday of Lent always presents us with the story
of the Transfiguration. But after these
first two Sundays of Lent, the Gospel readings aren’t consistently themed from
year to year. So why should we hear
about the Transfiguration on the Second Sunday of Lent every year? I think the answer is probably quite obvious:
Lent invites us to journey with Our Lord into the desert on the First Sunday
and on the Second Sunday we’re invited to be transformed. Lent invites us to grow in the grace of
“conversion” – to become people who are willing to share and reflect the
goodness and the light of the Lord to the people around us.
And
so what do we often do during Lent? We
examine our consciences and go to the sacrament of Reconciliation; we pray the
Stations of the Cross devotion; we try to observe the typical Lenten
disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving; we give up something that we
like in the hopes that we’ll become a better person; we abstain from eating
meat on Fridays as an act of penance and self-denial; and we try to be more
patient, more forgiving, more loving. It’s
all about preparing ourselves to celebrate the holiest days of the entire liturgical
year – Holy Week. We should probably
think of Lent as a kind of pilgrimage; and we should think of ourselves as
journeying towards a great destination – ultimately, heaven itself. And as we make this great pilgrimage through
life, we might ask ourselves, “Lord, am I
living as You want me to live? Am I
living like I’m headed towards life in the kingdom of heaven?” And if the answer to those questions is no,
then it’s probably time to make a change.
Lent
is actually all about transformation; it’s all about living as we should. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, one of the Fathers of
the early Church who lived in the early 2nd century, once said, “The glory of God is a human being fully
alive.” That’s an excellent quote
for us to consider as we hear this story about Our Lord’s transfiguration this
weekend. Do you feel like you’re fully
alive? Do you feel like you’re living a
full and abundant life? And I’m not
talking about what the world considers to be a so-called “full and abundant life” – lots of wealth, a nice house, or
super-fast cars; I’m talking about the full and abundant life that Our Lord
came to bring us. In the tenth chapter
of St. John’s Gospel, Jesus said, “I came
so that they might have life, and have it more abundantly,” (see John
10:10b). Jesus wants us to live a full
and abundant life! He wants us to be
filled with joy and peace, and to be happy and fulfilled, and to be disciplined
and directed towards Him; in short, He wants us to be “fully alive” to the glory of God.
And
Jesus shows us what that looks like – transfigured on the mountain top, bathed
in glory, clothed all in white. His
transfiguration is a foreshadowing of the glory of the resurrection that He
would receive from God the Father on the first Easter Sunday. But it’s only this account of the
transfiguration – only Saint Luke’s account – that tells us what Jesus was
talking about with Moses and Elijah there on the mountain top. This Gospel tells us that Moses and Elijah
spoke with Him about the “exodus that He
was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.”
An exodus? That’s kind of
odd. Exodus is the name of the second
book of the Bible, which tells the story of the Jewish departure from the land
of Egypt. This conversation between
Jesus, Moses, and Elijah is kind of “code speak” for the passion and death that
Jesus would endure so that He could lead us on our own “exodus” out of the land
of Egypt – out of our slavery to sin and death – and into the land that God
wants to lead us toward – ultimately, the kingdom of heaven.
So
Lent is about a desert experience – journeying with Jesus into the desert, just
like the Jews journeyed into the desert when they departed the land of
Egypt. And that desert experience is
supposed to lead us into the ultimate “promised land” – the kingdom of heaven. The closer we come to that kingdom, the more
we’re transformed by God’s grace. So
think for a moment – is your experience of Lent leading you towards
transformation? Is it helping you to
become a better person? Is it helping
you become more disciplined and more directed towards God? Are you experiencing the various “fruits” of
Lent in your lives – more peace, more joy, more love, more patience?
Now’s
the time for us to make an examination of conscience – where are we open to
God’s grace in our lives, and where are we perhaps a little more closed? Our goal in life as Christians is to be
totally open to God, and to live in such a way that we come to know, love, and
serve Him in this life so that we’re finally able to join Him forever in
heaven. So now’s the time for you to examine
your lives and open your hearts more fully to the presence and activity of God;
and then let Him transform you and fill you with new life.
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