SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
(Violet) CYCLE C/ YEAR II (February 21, 2016)
Gn 15:5-12, 17-18/Phil 3:17-4, 1 or Phil 3:20-4, 1/Lk 9:28b-36
Jesus went to the mountain to pray with some of His disciples. While in prayer, Jesus transfigured and then appeared Moses and Elijah who conversed with Jesus about His journey in Jerusalem. His disciples could not see such event because they were asleep; “but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him” (Lk 9:32b).
William Barclay, a famous biblical scholar, said that we miss so many things in life because our minds are asleep. We may be prejudicial and because of our narrow-mindedness, we do not see the beauty around us or the goodness of our neighbors. Or maybe we are mentally lethargic. We do not want to exert extra effort in order to think or discover new things in life. For this reason, we even avoid to face our doubts, questions and fears. Or perhaps, we simply want an easy and comfortable life that we do not want to be disturbed by anything or other persons. We close our doors to opportunities; we shut up our minds to new things and become mentally asleep.
Barclay said that our life is full of things designed to awaken us. Sorrowful events are permitted by God to awaken us to His glory. They are not meant to put us down or to make us miserable. They are allowed by God to happen to us in order for us to realize the power of God and for us to submit ourselves to His divine grace and mercy. Joyful events are also permitted by God because He loves us and He wants us to discover His glory. Any good thing that happens to us or to our loved ones is meant to make us feel the great love of God for us. There are times when we feel the sense of need. God permits this feeling of need so that we may discover His glory. Often times we are comfortable in our life that we forget the need for God. God sometimes makes us feel the sense of need for whatever need we may have in order to wake us up and to make us always depend on Him.
The disciples of Jesus could not see His glory because they were asleep, mentally, physically or spiritually. Only when they became fully awake did they see the glory of Jesus. St. Ireneus had another expression for this. He said: “The glory of God is man fully alive.” When we are fully alive or awake, we see the glory of God and God is also glorified in us. We see the glory of God when we are fully alive because we see the good things around us; we discover a lot of things that can make us happy and better persons; and, we are able to grab the opportunities that lay in front of us. Moreover, we see the meaning of the events in our lives and become more faithful and committed to our Lord.
When we are fully alive, God is glorified in us because what we do is always in accordance to the will of God. St. Augustine would say: “Be holy and do what you want.” When we are fully alive, we are holy and thus do things that only glorify God. The saints are men fully alive because they are constantly in communion with God the giver and source of life. Our goal is to become saints. For this, we need to be fully alive; we need to be constantly in communion with God through prayers and charitable activities. Lenten season is a season meant for us to undergo such transformation and conversion for us to become a man or woman fully alive in God’s grace.
