The Transfiguration of Christ offers a glimpse of God’s glory on the way to the Cross. This moment – seeing Jesus as he reigns in Heaven – offers us hope as we carry our crosses, confident in the Lord’s victory.
Mass Readings – 2nd Sunday of Lent
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We find in this selection from the Sermon on the Mount one of the hardest teachings of Jesus: to love our enemies. Yet when we do this we cleanse our hearts of hate and fill them with God’s grace, so that we will be prepared to follow Christ in this life and be with Him in the next.
Mass Readings – Saturday of the 1st Week of Lent
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Jesus urges his disciples to make reconciliation a priority in their lives, reminding us that forgiveness is a daily discipline as we follow the Lord.
Mass Readings – Friday of the 1st Week of Lent
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The three falls of Jesus on the Way of the Cross express our awareness of the humanity of Jesus through his Incarnation; he becomes like us – taking on our human weakness – to redeem our weakness and restore us to grace.
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The Lord teaches us to ask, seek and knock as we trust in God who knows the good things that we need.
Mass Readings – Thursday of the 1st Week of Lent
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Jesus affirms the preaching of Jonah to repent. This is the constant message throughout salvation history: to acknowledge our sins and return to the Lord for mercy and forgiveness.
Mass Readings – Wednesday of the 1st Week of Lent
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Matthew’s Gospel offers the Lord’s Prayer – a powerful spiritual tool that speaks practically about the crucial role of forgiveness in our daily lives.
Mass Readings – Tuesday of the 1st Week of Lent
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St. Peter, for all his mistakes and sins, is empowered by Christ with a new name and a commission to lead the Church. May his example inspire us to follow the Lord today with full and open hearts.
Mass Readings – Chair of St. Peter, Apostle
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Study: Recall a sacrifice you have made recently. What was it about this sacrifice that revealed your values and priorities?
Pray: Ask the Lord for the grace to serve with your whole heart. Pay attention to anything that is holding you back.
Serve: Is there someone in your life who is struggling with priorities right now? How can you help them?
Mass Readings – 2nd Sunday of Lent
What do you think is worth a personal sacrifice? What would you be willing to give up for someone or something you believe in?
We learn a lot about ourselves by what we are willing to sacrifice. Our values, personal convictions, and priorities all come into focus with the simple phrase:
Can I give that up?
We make sacrifices all the time. Some are simple, others complex; some are demanding while others are the act of a moment. Yet sacrifices reveal the depth of our hearts and our willingness to offer up our lives for something greater, something that we hold precious or valuable.
The thought that Abraham would be willing to offer up his only son – the child of God’s blessing to Sarah in her old age – strikes the modern hearer as barbaric and horrible. It is a crime against nature: that the innocent could suffer such atrocity sounds more like something from Hell, not Heaven.
Yet Jesus Christ, innocent and without sin, will die a brutal death on the Cross…for us. The atrocity that confronts us at Calvary reveals the value God places on our human souls – we are loved completely, entirely, and without thinking of the cost the Lord sacrifices his life to take our place for the evil we have done.
This is the power of the transfiguration in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus, revealed in all his glory with Moses and Elijah, is God’s “beloved Son.” Coming down from the mountain Peter, James, and John have no idea what lies ahead – they can only marvel at the awesome sight of Jesus as he stands in Heaven…the one who is honored for the sacrifice he makes.
Perhaps then, the real question for us pertains to those things to which we still cling. What priorities and values do we place higher than Christ? What is holding us back from embracing the Lord with all our heart? I suggest considering the following thoughts:
And if there are things that are keeping me from God & others….
Can I give that up?
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Archive of Fr. Andrew’s Podcasts
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Note: This post was first published on February 24, 2015.
Prayerfully reading the Bible (often called Lectio Divina – Divine Reading) is a powerful way the listen to what God has to say to our lives. Reading a small passage of Scripture we reflect and respond to the Lord by answering three simple questions: What does it say? What does it say to me? What does it make me say?
To access the daily Mass Readings from the US Catholic Bishops’ website, click here.
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