Second Sunday of Lent
Intention: For God’s blessing on this week’s gathering of Lasallian Secondary School Chief Administrators.
Today’s Gospel | Luke 9:28b-36
Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.
Reflection
What does it mean to be in God’s presence? It seems a strange question to ask. We are speaking of God – the omniscient, the omnipotent, the omnipresent. It would seem obvious that to be in God’s presence is simply to exist. We are in God’s presence because there is nowhere else for anyone or anything to be. However, being in God’s presence is not only a matter of where we live, but also of how we live. It is this second point to which the question actually applies.
In our Lasallian tradition, we are called to frequently remember that we are in the Holy Presence of God. The choice of words is revealing. To remember — rememorare — is to bring to mind again. It is the act of reawaking ourselves to that which we know but of which somehow have lost track. This act of losing track is the issue. While we can never be away from God, we are more than capable of living as if we are. Whether intended or not, it is possible to step away from our awareness of God, detaching ourselves and what we do from their sacredness, diminishing their character and meaning. We are called to remember God’s presence because, while God can never forget us, we can and, sadly, do forget God.
In any relationship, it is one’s presence to the other that is the sacramental moment in which we and our lives are transformed into all that our love is capable of creating. As Max Lucado writes in Grace for the Moment, “We are always in the presence of God. There is never a non-sacred moment!” It could be said that all sinfulness begins with losing this sense of the sacred. It is easy to mistreat life when we no longer acknowledge that it is a gift from a divine giver. During Lent, we might look at the ways that we partition our faith away from the nuts and bolts of daily living, and how we can reconnect them and ourselves to the fullness of God in all things and in every moment.
Prayer
Eternal Father, wherever lives are being healed and the world is being made whole, your Kingdom is present through your power. Cleanse our minds and purify our hearts so that we will see and hear the miracles that surround us. Still our busy moments that we might notice you and, in that peace, find the seeds of your Kingdom within ourselves and within each other. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.