3-1-26 Second Sunday of Lent
As we begin our reflection on the gospel, this second Sunday of Lent, it may be of importance to note that in the previous chapter of Matthew's gospel, Chapter 16, Peter has both claimed that Jesus is the
Messiah, and the Son of God, when Jesus asked the apostles “Who do you say
I am?”” But also encountered in that
same chapter, Peter objects forcefully, when Jesus said that he was headed for
Jerusalem and there he would be scourged, crucified, and die, to which Peter said,” No Lord, this will never happen to you.” This
indeed is an interesting prelude to this Sunday’s gospel, where the three
apostles, Peter, James, and John encounter what it means to be “the Messiah," “the Son of God.” Also, this Sunday we encounter mountains
again. Last Sunday. Jesus went out into
the desert and climbed up a very high mountain on which he encountered the evil
one. But it was through those challenges
by the devil that Jesus understands more
his own identity- “If you are the son of God…“ And through that experience, Jesus
learned not only a clearer understanding of his identity, but also his mission
in the world- “The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you
serve.” (Matthew 4:11) And this weekend Jesus leads the three
apostles, Peter, James, and John, up a high mountain. The gospel this Sunday opens with the
statement “After six days..." So, might
this have been the Sabbath day, the 7th day, a day of rest. Sabath as a word does not mean necessarily only
a day of physical rest, but rather a day
of quieting ourselves from the sounds and concerns of the world so that we
might hear God’s message for us. So,
Jesus leads them up this mountain and there they encounter a vision of Jesus as
he truly is, “the Son of God.” In the vision upon that mountain the three men
also see Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus. To the Jews, Moses represents “the Law” that was handed
down by God. Elijah represents the
prophets, those in the Old Testament who kept alive and who foretold the coming
of the Messiah. Jesus standing with Moses
and Elijah now represents the fulfillment of both the law and the prophets. As Jesus had stated at the Sermon on the Mount
a couple weeks ago- “Do not think I have
come to abolish the Law and the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matt 5:17) Then following that vision of Jesus, Peter wants to capture this wonderful moment so
that they can memorialize it forever and come back to it and remember it any
time they wish. He wants to seal this
experience in time and place by building tents, as his Jewish ancestors had
done at Mt. Sinai, to remind them of the presence of God among them. But
then a cloud comes over them, and a voice speaks to them. Immediately they become frightened. Certainly, this was quite a startling
experience. But in addition to that, are
they also, again perhaps, remembering their Jewish ancestors, when God came down on
Mount Sinai in a cloud and spoke to Moses and the Israelites and how afterwards
the Israelites exclaimed in terror: “If we hear the voice of the Lord, our God
anymore, we shall die.” (Deuteronomy 5:25). God
tells James, Peter, and John to listen to Jesus. “This is my beloved son. Listen to him.” And that is it, God does not
go to say anything further. So,
let us pause their also, and focus our attention on the words “Listen to him.” With
our ears, we can hear things we can interpret that the sound we hear is this or
that. Sometimes that sound, like when we are in a dark alley, may frighten us
because it may denote something dangerous
that is about to happen. Or sometimes we
hear a sound, the voice of a friend, and we feel enlivened by the comfort of
that sound. So, the ears give us the
capacity to hear sound, but the mind gives us the capacity to listen and
discern what the words mean and then our heart gives us the courage to decide what
our response will be. Listening is more
than just hearing the sound. So, listening
discerns what the sound means and what our response to it should be. When we go to mass on
Sunday, we hear the readings read to us.
We hear the psalms sung, and we even sing songs ourselves. So, at mass we hear many things but are we listening? Listening is a personal thing. For example, the people sitting next to us in
church hear the same words that we hear. But as we listen, truly listen with our minds
and our hearts, God speaks to us personally as God speaks to the person next to
us, personally. Through listening, truly
listening, we can discern what God is trying to tell us both as a community and
what God is telling us personally. On that
mountain top in our gospel this Sunday, God told the three men, Peter, James,
and John to listen and not only hear what
Jesus says. To listen to the message, Jesus
is delivering to each of them as a community of disciples, yes, and to listen
to him personally as followers of Jesus To listen effectively to Jesus, so, that we can make good decisions, we need to
be quiet. We need to contemplate, to think deeply, to ponder attentively, to
what Jesus is saying to us in prayer, through the scriptures and through our
own experiences. Having a prayerful attitude
enables us to begin this listening process. And so, we must pray to God to instill in us a
listening mind and in our hearts “and a willing spirit sustain in me.”(Psalm
51:12-13) On
this second Sunday of Lent, we too are invited, like Peter, James, and John, to
listen. To listen and to not just hear Jesus’s words. We are invited to be a people who are willing
to contemplate, to ponder deeply what Jesus has to say. To contemplate is to sit quietly without any
decisions to make, without any problems to wonder about, and to focus our
attention solely on Jesus. We are
invited in this holy season of Lent to see
Jesus in our minds eye and hear him speaking to us, and to feel his presence in
our hearts. To do such, we need to approach this type of prayerfulness quietly, without
agendas, without plans, and as much as we can, even without guilt. For God’s mercy and compassion is so much
greater than anything we have ever done.
And perhaps through such prayerful contemplation we may better
understand what St. Paul meant when he wrote to his disciple Timothy from our
second reading this Sunday- “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but
rather of power, and love, and self-control….
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord. He
saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works
but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus …”(2
Tmothy 1:7-10) When we come to pray out
of such an attitude of courage we enable
the Spirit to speak to us, because then we fulfill God’s orders- “to listen to him.”
“As I live, says the Lord, I do not
wish the sinner to die but to turn back to me and live.” (Ezekiel 33:11)
