Sunday, March 8 – International Women’s Day
Readings: Gn 12:1-4A; 2 Tm 1:8B-10; Mt 17:1-9
The Sunday readings offer so much to choose from in terms of reflection. I really encourage you to read through all of them (even if you hear them in church).
What struck me today in the first reading from Genesis is that Abram (who we have come to know as Abraham) is made a promise by God. But notice the sequence: Abram gets the call from God – Abram has to leave his homeland – Abram will be shown a new land…at some point.
This is a challenging sequence that I’m guessing we have experienced. We are asked to leave what is known and familiar and set out for a place that will be revealed on the way. We don’t get to know where we are headed beforehand. We don’t know what the journey will be like. And we’re probably not sure on some days if we will even or ever get there.
Maybe a health diagnosis has done this to us. Or unemployment. Or a significant loss. Maybe something happened to someone close to us. A lot of things might set us on a journey where we leave our “homeland” and set out for a new place which is yet unknown.
And if we need a little reminder to stay steady on the journey, Paul tells us to “bear your share of hardship for the Gospel”. That’s a nice way of saying, “A lot of stuff is going to happen to you. Don’t lose faith.”
Then in the gospel, we have the famous story of the transfiguration where Jesus goes up on the mountain and his disciples see him turn dazzling white as he is with Abraham and Moses (the two great Hebrew figures). Peter, in all the excitement, says, “Hey Jesus, this is neat. Want me to put up some tents so we can hang out here?” A booming voice says, “This is my son…listen to him,” and the disciples lose it in fear. The light fades and Jesus is just standing there and he tells them, “Don’t tell anyone about this until later…”
There’s clearly a lot going on in this passage. But what I want to focus on is what was happening for Jesus right before this story (it can be very useful when reading the gospels to look at what comes before and after the passage…).
In Matthew 16 Jesus is being pressed by religious leaders of his time and the net is starting to tighten around him. He’s also made the realization that he has to go to Jerusalem where he knows things are not going to go so well. My guess is that he’s at a bit of a low point.
Then he has a spiritual experience where his call is affirmed and he feels – really feels – his belovedness. God reminds Jesus about who he is and the lineage that he is in – no matter what anyone thinks or believes. And even if Jesus does not know where he is ultimately headed (similar to Abram), God is with him.
Wherever we are this Lent, maybe we can trust that God is working in our lives and is leading us somewhere – whatever the circumstances. Hopefully in the silence of our prayer and in our everyday lives, we, too, will feel our belovedness and remember the communion of saints in whose company we remain. Relax into the uncertainty.