In the readings for the Second Sunday of Lent, we are called to be God’s beloved.
Like Abram, we are called to reach new frontiers, to venture from where we are comfortable, where we have become complacent, to a new land, a future that we do not yet understand. We journey with others, not knowing where our God is leading, to these new realities and to discover new possibilities.
We are called to an intimate encounter, to stand in the presence of God. So, we are called to create silence, to recognize the need for contemplation. Like Peter, James and John, we are invited to ascend the mountain. In the quiet, Jesus radiates divine presence and we can hear the heartbeat of God in ourselves and our world. God’s Spirit transforms us and energizes us.
We receive Christ into our hearts with joy but we are called to descend the mountain and to live more humanly. Here we open ourselves to the heartbreak of God in the world, closer to one another, in solidarity with others, sharing the word that we hold in our hearts.
As God’s beloved, we are called to build relationships with others, to be and to act as one Body, interconnected as Moses, Elijah and Jesus were through the generations. In relationship, we are called to share, to stretch, to collaborate, to challenge and to be challenged, and to be invited into new ways of being the heart of God in our world.
With our call to be God’s beloved, we continue to be transformed through our prayer and our action. From this comes our mission, carrying Christ in our hearts and sharing Christ with each one we meet.
Reflection: Jane Steinfels, Associate of the Sacred Heart, Chicago, Illinois
Image: photo by Jane Steinfels
