Reflection on the Second Sunday of Lent Candace Niblett
Stronger in Faith, Closer to Jesus
Once again we find ourselves in the Lenten season. Lent for me, is a time of self-reflection. I find myself focusing on how I can be a better follower of Jesus. I try to dedicate more time to prayer and more time for offering thanks for all that Jesus has given to me in this life. I am so very thankful for my beloved family and my beloved friends. I am thankful for those wonderful people that God has sent to me on this life’s journey to help me grow stronger in my Faith and closer to Jesus.
In our First reading, we hear God tell Abraham that he will make his name great, so that Abraham will be a Blessing to all. Instead of trying to decide what we will give up this Lent, what if we thought how we might become greater Blessings to one another? What if we considered how much more we could do for each other, rather than dwelling on what we need to sacrifice? This is what Lent is truly about, trying to be more like Jesus, sharing Jesus' Mercy and Love with each other. I believe that reaching out to one another, sharing the forgiveness and the Grace of God will bring more people to know and love Jesus.
Our Second reading goes even further to clearly spell out that God has saved us and called each one of us to a Holy Life. What does it mean to have a Holy Life? My interpretation of a Holy Life would be to try to live our lives in a way that brings Jesus to all people we encounter. To try, as best as we can, to exemplify Jesus’ ways of love and forgiveness in this life and also to share the Hope of the next life in Heaven. In this manner of interaction with others we can be true and active disciples of Jesus, sharing his beatitudes and introducing Him to those who still have not met Him.
Finally, today’s Gospel tells us of the Transfiguration of Jesus. We see that Peter, James and John get to see that Jesus is the true son of God. The disciples are terribly frightened. Jesus comes to them and touches them and tells them not to be afraid. The disciples are calmed by Jesus. How many times has Jesus come to each one of us? In my life, there have been many times when I feel that Jesus has come to calm my fears. I am a natural born worrier so I have to fight my automatic inclination to allow intense fear to overwhelm me. I have felt great fear when faced with a not very good health diagnosis or when my husband and youngest son went off to war. In fact, the only way I can face fear is with the strength of my Faith in Jesus Christ. I believe that this is the only way that we all can face our fears and all the fears of the world today is with the promise of our beloved Jesus. With Jesus we are never alone.