Year C / Lent / Week 2 / Sunday
Readings: Genesis 15.1-12,17-18 / Psalm 36.1, 7-8a,b-9abc, 13-14 (R/v 1a) / Philippians 3.14-4.1 / Luke 9.28b-36
Here we are at the end of our retreat. Maybe we entered it looking for some comfort. A break away from everyday life and work. Some days of rest and peace with the Lord. Time to pray to the Lord and hear his voice. A space apart to better clarify His call.
I wonder if there are others who are also looking for comfort this Lent. I am one of those; I have been asking our Lord to comfort me as I entered Lent as there has just been so much work to do with the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council as we planned for the recent Archdiocesan Assembly.
Asking for comfort: it’s an odd petition to make at Lenten time. Since Lent began, we have been told repeatedly to gear up so that we can make some sacrifice or overcome some sinful fault or bad habit. Don’t get me wrong about asking for comfort; I am even as I continue with the Lenten discipline of prayer, fast and almsgiving. But in this Jubilee Year of Hope, I am hoping to experience the Lord’s comfort to renew myself and become that beacon of hope this Jubilee calls all of us to be.
I imagine each of us is experiencing some difficulty as we enter into Lent, even if we don’t express it. This can result in a kind of tiredness, even a spiritual dryness. Even our lack of progress or the large number of good things we "fail to do," can discourage us. While our retreat here has given us some respite, we will face these difficulties again or find new challenges and burdens awaiting us when we return home shortly. So, it’s not a bad thing to ask for comfort.
Comfort, in the form of an assurance of the Lord's love for you and me. If we are honest, perhaps, our wounded, worn out, fragile selves, sometimes grieving or disappointed, stretched and not very outstanding, need comforting. From those around us, even more, from no other than the Lord. We turn to Him because we believe He understands us and has been accompanying us all along the way. We do because there is nothing more comforting than being known and loved as we are by the Lord.
Of course, we have to grow up, physically and spiritually. Lent is indeed a time for growth. Specifically, what we need most is the foundation for the spiritual renewal Lent invites us to. It begins well when we remember how much the Lord loves you and me. When we do this gratefully, it becomes that fire that kindles our hearts and draws us to pray, "Make my heart like yours, Jesus."
Won’t the consolations you’ve received in this retreat help you make this prayer? Even more, won’t they encourage you in your discernment, even more, in living your everyday life anew and differently? If your answer is ‘yes,’ then we’ll appreciate how having Jesus’ heart will enable us to make that journey with Him to the Cross and into resurrection life.
Today, our gospel reading is the story of The Transfiguration. This must be one of those moments of comfort, which Jesus offered to his disciples, to prepare them for what is ahead. The Eucharistic Preface for the Feast day of the Transfiguration (6 August) says,
"He revealed his glory in the presence of chosen witnesses ... that the scandal of the Cross might be removed from the hearts of his disciples and that he might show how in the Body of the whole Church is to be fulfilled what so wonderfully shone forth first in its Head."
The Preface for this Sunday says,
"For after he had told the disciples of his coming Death, on the holy mountain he manifested to them his glory, to show, even by the testimony of the law and the prophets, that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection."
We need to hear these words; they keep us focused on the truth of the Transfiguration. That Jesus is revealed in His glory as the Christ. That seeing Him as He truly is, the disciples are transfigured, that is prepared, for his death and resurrection. And that we recognise this how the Transfiguration helps us appreciate God’s plan for us. This is the Good News today; it should comfort us.
This is in fact the kind of comfort Lent directs our gaze towards. That in Jesus we are redeemed, no matter our own efforts. This Good News tends to fall through the cracks of the messiness of our lives, from time to time. When it does, the powerful reality of the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection seem far away. But when we remember that, all is well. We know we are loved. We are forgiven. We are not alone. We can hope to live for all eternity in that love. All this comforts.
This gives us hope to live the Lenten call to be freer in order to forgive and be forgiven, to reach out in mercy and to receive mercy, to accompany and comfort others and to let others do the same for us.
Hasn’t this also been how the Lord has met you during this retreat as He revealed your purpose in life? And knowing this, hasn’t He shown you that you’ll find joy when you give it away for others? You can do this when you keep in mind the newness you’ve experienced in this retreat - that greater freedom to forgive and be forgiven to reach out in mercy and to receive mercy, to accompany and comfort others and to let them do the same for you. This is the renewal we’re asked to let God bless us with when we repent and convert. It is the same newness God gives you through this retreat.
A final thought. During these days, you’ve heard the Lord’s call. It has come to you on this ‘mountain top’ that is where we’ve had our retreat. Now you will descend – not the same, transformed. And with Jesus, to the plains where the people are waiting. He’s also waiting there to hear your response. What will it be?
Preached at the end of an eight day retreat
Artwork: Alexandr Ivanov
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