Study:  Describe a moment when you felt that God was particularly near.  How did you react?

Pray:  Ask the Lord for an open heart to recognize and understand Christ’s presence in your life.

Serve:  Do you have a prompting right now to help another?  Is there something or someone in need of your aid?

Mass Readings – 2nd Sunday of Lent

Have you ever had a first hand experience of God’s grace?  An encounter or perhaps a moment when you felt particularly close to the Lord?  For some people, even talking about the experience can seem awkward if not downright difficult.  We know in our hearts that something profound and beautiful happened, but how do we share it?  How do we communicate our personal event to another?

Abraham, Peter, James and John had an experience that would reshape their lives.  Abraham believed in God and forged a covenant of faith.  The three apostles went up the mountain with Jesus and came down dazzled by the sight of Moses and Elijah speaking with Christ as the Father’s voice thundered in their hearts.

Did it change them?  Yes!  Did it have a powerful impact on their lives and through them on others?  Absolutely.  Are these types of experience essential to follow the Lord?  Of course not.  But when they come they bring the potential to reshape how and why we live.

Some people are blessed with a “mountaintop” experience of faith.  They encounter the Lord in a life changing way and rewrite the script of their life to follow a new direction.  Others faithfully follow the path that is set before them, trusting in the God’s guidance to direct their steps down a well marked road.

While every person will have great or small moments of grace, perhaps today we might consider how the Lord is speaking to us.  What are the signs, circumstances, situations, and people that help us recognize the presence of Jesus Christ?  How might we adjust our vision to see God at work in our hearts?

The Lord continues to speak in our world.  May we listen!  Christ’s grace continues to change lives.  May we see it!  As we continue to embrace the season of Lent we open our hearts and ask for the wisdom to comprehend how God is present.  May our response be filled with a lively faith as we follow Jesus!

********************

If you are looking for more material to help you this Lent, you might consider this list of presentations I have offered over the last couple of years.  Feel free to check it out and share if you find it helpful:

Podcast Resources for a Powerful Lent

***************

Catholic Inspiration Archives

Note: This post was first published on February 15, 2016.