Homily of Rev. Brillis for the Second Sunday of Lent
Below is the full text of the homily delivered by Rev. Brillis Mathew for the Second Sunday of Lent at St. Bernadette Catholic Church, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Readings of the Day:
First Reading: Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 | Responsorial Psalm: 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19 | Second Reading: Romans 8:31b-34 | Gospel: Mark 9:2-10
Today’s readings are leading us to reflect on transformation. We will go through some of the highlights. Today’s collect prayer is inviting all of us to listen. “O God, who have commanded us to listen to your beloved Son, be pleased, we pray, to nourish us inwardly by your word.” During this time of Lent, God is expecting all of us to listen to his Son, Jesus.
God wants all of us to sacrifice our own Isaacs. Whatever we place ahead of God in our life, that can be our Isaac. God wants us to sacrifice that.
In the first reading, we heard from the Book of Genesis how God called Abraham and told him to sacrifice his only son. We need to pay great attention to every word. Here, the Word of God says, “your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah.” In John 3:16, too, we see that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. Abraham took his son, and he was ready to sacrifice him. In our lives also, especially during this time of Lent, God wants us to sacrifice our Isaacs. Maybe in Abraham’s life, there was only one Isaac, his son whom he loved so much. Perhaps God felt Abraham was loving his son Isaac more than God. God wants all of us to sacrifice our own Isaacs. Whatever we place ahead of God in our life, that can be our Isaac. God wants us to sacrifice that. Pope Benedict used to quote the words of St. Benedict, don’t put anything before the Lord. Abraham was ready; he completely detached from the attachment he had. God understood. He was pleased with Abraham and blessed Abraham. In our life also, the moment we surrender, give, sacrifice our own Isaacs, God’s abundant blessings will follow us.
The responsorial Psalm today also speaks about sacrifice. The whole reading is connected also with this passion, sacrifice, and the reward that comes after that.
In the second reading, we heard from Romans. Who can be against us if God is for us? Nobody can. And who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? The most important thing is we need to make sure God is with us. In 2 Corinthians 13:5, St. Paul says, test yourselves and make sure Christ is in you.
Especially during this time of Lent, we have to tune our ears, not our external ears but our hearts, to listen to the voice of God.
In today’s verse before the Gospel (Matthew 17:5), we heard, “this is my beloved Son, listen to him.” This is what I would like to emphasize today. If we go through the Bible, the word “listen” appears 669 times. There is a big difference between hearing, listening, active listening, and active and attentive listening. Each day, we hear so many things, and most of the time we are only hearing, not listening. But God wants us to listen to him. That is a form of prayer. Especially during this time of Lent, we have to tune our ears, not our external ears but our hearts, to listen to the voice of God. In 1 Samuel 3:9-10, Samuel in a way prayed, Lord speak to me, your servant is listening. We are called to active, attentive listening, which means understanding what is behind, paying more attention to every word. That is what we heard from today’s opening prayer, collect, listen to your beloved Son.
How can we listen to his beloved Son, who is Jesus? We need to create an atmosphere to listen. That starts with silence. Silence also may lead us to solitude. We are living in a noisy world. We need to create an atmosphere and place where we can listen to the voice of God. In the Bible, mountain always has a special significance, a very special place. It is a place where we meet our Creator, God. We see Moses spoke to God in Exodus 19. Every time we come to the Church, we are also coming to the mountain, we are also going to hear the voice of God. What is God speaking to me?
In today’s Gospel, we heard the beautiful story of transfiguration. In every Mass, we also experience transfiguration. Bread and wine is changing; that transformation is coming. As we are receiving in our hearts, that also should transform our lives. In 2 Corinthians 3:16-18, St. Paul says we also need to change every day by receiving the Word of God. Once the Word of God becomes flesh in our lives, our lives will change. It is so important, especially during this time of Lent, to listen. Our default mode is to speak. James 1:19 says, be quick to listen and slow to speak. We are always quick to speak and slow to listen.
Perhaps this week, we can reflect on this Gospel passage and how when God said to listen to his beloved Son, it also indicates the Passion. There are two important purposes for this event. Jesus especially called Peter, John, and James to witness this event. First, God came to this mountain to consult with his heavenly Father regarding his plan for the crucifixion and sufferings. Second, Jesus wants to give his disciples some strength; Jesus knew what they were going to experience soon. Jesus wants to give them a message—my kingdom is not of this world; do not try to become the political leaders of this world. I came to establish a different kingdom. Also in today’s Gospel, we see Elijah and Moses, the heroes of the Old Testament. But on Calvary, there were only three crosses.
As we are celebrating this second week of Lent, we can reflect on this, especially to listen to every word. God is speaking to us in many ways, through the Word of God, through every person we meet – be attentive – perhaps be away from social media and the phone for some time and try to listen to the voice of God. What is God speaking to me? God also speaks to us through events. During this Mass, we can pray for the grace to listen to him. The meaning of listening is much deeper than what we really know. For that grace, during this Mass, we can pray.