GN 12:1-4A
PS 33: 4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
2 TM 1: 8B-10
MT 17: 5
MT 17: 1-9
In today’s Gospel, we get to witness the incredible
importance of Jesus’ transfiguration. One of my favorite scripture verses is
when God says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Wouldn’t
we all want to hear God say that to us?
Maybe this is what God is calling us to this Lent. Sometimes
we can enter into an annual Lenten routine where we give up sweets or social
media for 40 days every year but we never truly grow deeper in our relationship
with God. What if we gave up just a little bit more? As Saint Teresa of
Calcutta says, “A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, and must empty
ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great
things on the condition that you believe much more in his love than in your
weakness.” What if, this Lent, we truly gave every ounce of our being to God in
order to be fully and uniquely transformed in his love? And then, with the
joyous celebration of Easter, we could hear him say, “This is my beloved Son
(or daughter) with whom I am well pleased.”
This means different things to different people. Our biggest
sacrifice could still be giving up sweets for 40 days, or it could be adding a
scheduled prayer time to our hectic day in order to become closer to God.
Either way, it should be a complete and total gift of ourselves; one that
leaves us exhausted, bruised, and joyful from the unconditional effort we put
into giving ourselves to God.
Let us enter this Lenten season willing to be bruised in
order to receive God’s love. Making a sacrifice is never easy, and we need to
be open to the challenges that will come our way. Let us strive for that finish
line: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” And then, like the
disciples, we will be able to look up and see only Jesus. Our fears,
temptations, and distractions will be gone and nothing will be able to stop us
from reaching Him. Let us strive for that kind of sacrifice this Lent.
Abigail Tuttle is a junior majoring in International Studies and French, and minoring in Anthropology.
Abigail Tuttle is a junior majoring in International Studies and French, and minoring in Anthropology.
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