2ND SUNDAY OF LENT A

BLESS YOU!

How do you experience the season of Lent each year?

Many people think of Lent in terms of traditions… passion play, passion reading, processions, stations of the Cross, confessions, etc. This is not bad at all!

Some people think of sacrifices… fasting, no meat on Fridays, no coffee, no movies, less use of gadgets, no internet, etc. Not bad, either.

Others think in terms of repentance, conversion, new life, new beginning… certainly, good things.

A glance at the short first reading from Genesis 12 gives us a surprise!

Lent is a time of blessings!

It is about graces flowing from the hands of God!

It is a promise of abundance in all our needs and protection from our fiercest enemies.

The Gospel speaks of the Transfiguration of the Lord on the mountain. Here the Lord Jesus received the blessings of God his Father… for himself, for his mission, for all who would listen to him.

Who does not need a blessing? If we bless our food, and bless our homes and cars, do we not even more need one for our lives?

Once I received a phone call from a long, lost friend. He was desperate. People had deceived him and he felt lost, angry, depressed, and helpless to start life again.

It was not enough that we talk on the phone, I thought. He needed someone to listen to him, to speak with him, to encourage him. The following morning, I decided to spend moments with him in conversation and in prayer.

I wanted to share with him a simple blessing of God.

A blessing is a good word. It is a word of love, of peace, of gratitude, of strength, of consolation.

The volcano eruption victims need a blessing.

The corona virus sufferers need a blessing.

The person struggling with mental health problems need a blessing.

Everyone of us needs to be blessed in our personal, financial, family, and work situations.

What area of your life needs one today?

This Lent, there is a good news! God wants to bless you! He wants to listen to you and speak to your heart. He wants to draw close to you and touch you where you are aching. He wants to heal you and guide you from panic to serenity as you sleep each night.

But you need to do something to meet God and receive his blessing.

Like Abram, you must follow his direction for your life; maybe you need to let go of your own ideas and plans and controls in your life that are pulling you down. Follow the Lord, not your pride, or anger, or ambitions.

Most specially, like the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to meet the Father on top of the mountain.

In the Bible, the mountain is a symbol of prayer, silence, spiritual reality, and distance from the world. We need these things, nor permanently but from time to time… if we are to receive the blessing of the Father.

Make this Lent a season of blessings. More important than the traditions, prayers, sacrifices is the drawing closer to God that he may draw close to you.

Your blessing is waiting. Open your heart to the Lord and receive an overflowing!

(please share…)