WEEK 2

2nd Sunday of Lent

I'm not sure if you have noticed it or not, but it's beginning to stay lighter longer, these days. Have you noticed?? Despite the snow storms, the signs of spring are beginning to manifest themselves, thru greater light, the crack of basball bats and the turning of the calendar from February to March. This is good news!

And yet, March is a tough month. It's an in between time...a time for mid-term exams for college students, a time when much promise is in the air, but is not yet fully here. We are still vulnerable to winter storms and trials. March as they say comes in like a Lion and goes out like a Lamb...and we are in the midst of that transforming period.

Aware of this, and finding ourselves in Week 2 of Lent, we may be able to relate to this tough time. Chances are you are experiencing tremendous temptations surrounding those Lenten promises that you have made. Temptations around food especially. Isn't it something? Isn't it powerful? By Week 2 of Lent, it is not uncommon for many people to have fallen prey to such temptations. We may find by now broken Lenten promises and discouraged spirits. Easter is on the way but it's still a ways off.

With this in mind, our Gospel today becomes a great gift for us. The Gospel reminds us what Lent, what our Christian lives are all about. And that is TRANSFORMATION. We find in the Gospel today, Jesus with Peter, John and James...they've climbed the high mountain with our Lord and they fall asleep while he is in prayer. But we are told that they are awakened by a revelation of God's Glory, the TRANSFIGURATION of our Lord.

My friends, we need to pray for a similar manifestation of God's grace to us. That we may be awakened, encouraged and guided. We should pray Lord, transform me, Lord shine thru me, Lord use me in these days. We must not allow our Lenten observance to stand on its own, apart from Jesus. But rather, we must stand with Jesus, seeking his amazing grace.

Abram is an example of this, having been awakened in faith, he offers sacrifice and then waits for the coming of the Lord. We do the same. Thru Baptism, we are now IN JESUS, as St. Paul tells us, our citizenship is IN HEAVEN. Therefore, as we move thru these Lenten days, we do so with and in Jesus. And that truth and knowledge alone provides powerful grace for all of us. It makes a difference and will carry us thru this new month, it will carry us thru all difficulty, it will carry us thru these Lenten Days, to the Glory of Easter.

We pray: Jesus may my whole life, all that I am and do, be in you. And there, may I be transformed to be for you and with you in all things. AMEN.