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…)
