Homily For The Second Sunday Of Lent, Year B, February 25, 2024

“Lent is a period of spiritual ‘combat’ which we must experience alongside Jesus, not with pride and presumption, but using the arms of faith: prayer, listening to the word of God, and penance. In this way, we will be able to celebrate Easter in truth, ready to renew the promises of our Baptism.”-Pope Benedict XVI

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My Dearest Friends in Christ,

Today is the second Sunday of Lent and the 12th day of our Lenten journey. I hope you are making progress in being charitable to others and in the struggle against sin. We need to persevere to the end. Don’t give up. Be faithful. Be persistent. Be committed!

The Lenten spiritual exercises are geared towards an interior renewal and transformation of the entire person. This is achievable only through the grace that we accumulate in the spiritual exercises as we journey in this Lenten period. It is the power of God at work in every one of us. How do we cooperate with God to achieve this? We need faith. Faith here means belief in what you are doing in this season. Believe in God whose friendship you seek. Believe in yourself that you can achieve it by His grace.

Abraham’s Unquestionable Faith

In the first reading from the book of Genesis, God tested Abraham’s faith. Abraham had unflinching and unwavering faith in God. He was ready to do the unimaginable for God. His blind obedience to God’s instruction to offer his only son is incredible. Faith in God is blind obedience, a leap in the dark. This is obvious in the life of Abraham. Abraham’s faith transformed him, making him the supreme model of faith in God’s promises and obedience to His Holy Will. That is why Paul recalls in the second reading, that God the Father did not spare the life of His Own Son Jesus but He saved the life of Abraham’s son Isaac. Why? Because God loves us with everlasting love. Dear child of God, do you have this kind of unquestionable trust in God who has good thoughts for you in every circumstance of life (cf. Her 29:12), or are you still doubting? Do you realize that it was after God’s trial of Abraham’s faith that He swore to bless him and his generation? Recall that God says, “I swear by Myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son…I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless.” One fact we have to bear in mind is that in our Christian journey, there are trials of faith. These daily trials are points of great encounters and sources of great blessings to come. While God’s grace is unmerited, His blessings often do not come without a test of faith. Child of God, your faith trial may come in any form or shape. It may be an experience that challenges you to question or give up on God. I encourage you not to touch the dial of your faith, for your blessings are on the way. God does not abandon His own even amid trouble. He is a God of Providence, as with Abraham, He will provide a way out.

The Lenten Season is a Time of Transorfming Encounter With God

The Gospel reading narrates the Transfiguration encounter. This dramatic episode occurred on a mountaintop. It is that revelational and theophanic encounter that transformed the lives of the disciples and also ours. The primary purpose of Jesus’ Transfiguration was to allow Jesus to consult His Heavenly Father and ascertain His Father’s plan for His Son’s suffering, death, and Resurrection. God’s secondary aim was to make Jesus’ chosen disciples aware of Jesus’ Divine Glory so that they might discard their worldly ambitions and dreams of a conquering political Messiah and be strengthened in their time of trial. We may not be different from the disciples in our worldly ambitions and pursuits. Worldly ambitions have led many of us into sin.

Each day in the Eucharist, we can experience God’s transforming power. We receive Jesus daily but instead of being transformed and renewed, we remain unchanged because our minds and hearts are darkened with worldly ambitions. In this Lenten season, we need that interior renewal and transformation. Just as Jesus’ Transfiguration strengthened the apostles in their time of trial, each holy Mass should be our source of Heavenly strength against temptations during this Lenten season. In our Holy Communion with the living and the dead Jesus is our source of daily transfiguration; transforming our minds and hearts so that we may do more good by humble and selfless service to others. In moments of doubt and during our dark moments of despair and hopelessness, the thought of our future transformation in Heaven will help us to reach out to God and to listen to His consoling words, “This is my beloved Son.”

Don’t Give Up On the Fight Against Sin and Bad Habits

You may not have become who you want to be. You may not be happy with your present lifestyle. You may be struggling with a particular sin. Don’t give up on yourself. Don’t apportion blame on anyone for influencing you to be who you wished not to be. Don’t see life as being cruel to you. If you don’t give up on yourself or your faith in God, someday you will overcome that which keeps you from realizing your true self. Don’t forget, that there lies within you the strength and the grace to rise beyond the limits of your present predicament. Remember the words of St. Catherine of Sienna: “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.” Therefore work and walk daily with God and you will experience that complete transformation and freedom.

Let us offer our Lenten observances to our Lord, so that through these practices of Lent and the acceptance of our daily cross we may grow closer to Him in His suffering, sharing in His Cross, and finally, in His Glory at the Resurrection.

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I keep you and your family always in my prayers. ©Clem C. Aladi (2024)