SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

Amazing grace

FIRST READING: Genesis 12:1-4
You will be a blessing
AT 75, an age when most of us are well into retirement, Abraham is recruited for his great mission, to claim a land and to father a people. Now granted, biblical ages are not an exact science; yet the point is clear. There is no time in our lives when God is through making use of us.

We are schooled into thinking of vocation in a compartmentalized way: as a call to religious life that was best heeded in adolescence and then left you alone entirely after a certain grateful age. But the root meaning of vocation is “summons,” a call from an authority that can come at any time, to any purpose. So even if you are receiving your senior discount these days, you are not off the hook when God comes calling.

SECOND READING: 2 Timothy 1:8-10
He has robbed death of its power
IT IS VERY HARD for us to understand that God does not save us or call us because we deserve it. God has a plan, and it does not depend on our merit. Years ago I tried to fathom God’s pattern by scrutinizing the chosen ones, and this is what I came up with: Abraham was a liar, Isaac was not over-bright, Jacob was a con artist, Moses a murderer, Solomon a ladies’ man, David an adulterer . . . and the list goes on. It seems that God could have been a little more discerning in choosing the main players in salvation history. It is clear, at least, that the divine plan is not about us, but about something reason alone would find unreasonable.

When Paul writes to Timothy as one pastoral leader to another, he wants it to be clear that it is not by our own efforts that God makes grace available to us. What Timothy will need—and what we all require to do God’s will—has been held out to us before the world began.

GOSPEL: Matthew 17:1-9
“Get up! Do not be afraid”
ONE MINUTE, it is just their friend and teacher Jesus. The next minute, the light is so bright they can hardly see, and what they do see is astounding: Moses, the great lawgiver, and Elijah, the great prophet! Peter, ever the man of action, tries to be helpful, but his speech is interrupted by a voice even greater than the three personalities before him. At this point, courage deserts the disciples, and they cower on the ground.

Can we blame them? We who do not see transfigurations are sometimes terrified by the touch of the divine in our lives. There have been days when what God is doing in my life makes me fearful to get out of bed. When the moment passes, the coast seems clear of epiphanies, and we dare to move on. But the trace of divine footprints makes it clear Who has been in our midst.

Questions for Reflection
    • Do you know what God is summoning you to do? What can you do to discern this call more clearly?
    • Name three reasons why God might find you “unsuitable” for service. Who in the Bible was similarly unsuitable?
    • Under what circumstances has the face of God been most clearly revealed to you?

Action Response
Spend some this Lent in active discernment of God’s will for you. Consider a period of retreat, spiritual direction, or journal writing to enhance your ability to hear God’s summons.


These meditations reprinted with permission from God's Word Is Alive: Reflections on the Lectionary Readings for Sundays and Holydays by Alice Camille, For more information on the book or to order, visit the ACTA Publications website or call 800-397-2282.