2nd Sunday of Lent

Reflection written by Bishop David Walker

We are on a journey, a journey from the womb to the tomb and beyond. As Paul reminds us in our second reading we are citizens of heaven put on this planet for a short while that we may come to know God, to believe that God is the one true God and to worship God and no other.

In the reading from the Book of Genesis we note that over 4000 years ago Abraham, then known as Abram, for himself and for you and me, entered into a covenantal relationship with God. Abraham promised that God would be his only God and that he and his descendants would only worship God and no other. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in heaven. True to God’s promise you and I are part of the countless descendants of Abraham, our father in faith. Have we, the descendants of Abraham, been true to our promise? Do we worship only God or do other lesser gods such as money,

fame, power, body image, popularity, distract us from our part of the bargain.

Our Gospel reminds us that on their journey to Jerusalem and the Cross, the disciples needed to be reminded of the majesty of God. Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John so that they may see (that is, to know in their hearts and their souls) that Jesus is the Son of God and that they may listen (hear with the ears of the hearts and souls) to Jesus. Jesus can transfigure us if we only have the eyes to see and the ears to listen.

On our journey through life do we need to be reminded that Jesus is our Lord and God? Do we need to see with the eyes of our soul, to listen with the ears of our souls and to believe? Do we need to take time during this Lenten period to put the busy-ness of our lives to one side, to quieten the noise in which we live and to listen for the words of Jesus as our Father commands us?

Abraham listened to God with the ears of his soul and saw God with the eyes of his soul and believed. We, and the billions of citizens of heaven who come to know and believe in God, Father, Son and Spirit, are the fruits of that belief. Like Abraham, our father in faith, like Peter, James and John and like the billions

of fellow citizens of heaven may we stand humbly before our God see, listen and worship God with all our hearts and all our souls and all our might.