Second Sunday of Lent

Today's readings can be found here.

Too often we think of God as someone who acted a long time ago in a far away place, but we need to remember that he acts today in our own time. This Lent, the challenge is to seek God so that we may see him in our own time and in our own homes. In this way, we will grow closer to Him and be renewed.

God loves us and desires for each of us to belong to Him and join Him in heaven. He has made a covenant with each of us. A covenant is an oath, in Latin an oath is, “sacramentum” or sacrament. The sacraments were designed by God to renew our covenant to belong to God. St. Paul tells us what that means in his letter to the Philippians, “he will change our lowly body to conform to his heavenly one.”

God and the Church have made it easy for us to seek and conform to God. We only need participate in events that are designed to bring us closer to God. Our Baptism, Confirmation, reception of the Eucharist, Marriages, Holy Orders, our Reconciliation and our Anointings bind us again and again to God. Participation in the sacraments are ways that God renews His covenant with us. Like Abram in today's first reading, we enter into a covenant with God. Our covenant is that we belong to Him. He shall be our God, and we shall be His people. Like St. Paul says in our second reading, “Our citizenship is in heaven.”

Along with the covenant of God's love is transformation. When Abram enters into a covenant with God, his name is changed to Abraham. He grows in faithfulness and holiness and his descents eventually do number the stars, especially when we consider that we are counted among them. Peter, James and John come onto the mountain with Jesus. During the Transfiguration, their hearts become fully awake to the reality that Jesus is God's beloved son and their lives are transformed.

God has something in store for each and every person. He has a time and place prepared for each of us, where He has planed on revealing himself to us. The sacraments are special times set aside to seek God and ask for his revelation. It is during these times, we should sing along with the Psalmist, “Your presence O Lord, I seek. Hide not your face from me.”

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Todays readings can be found here.

“We were given: Two hands to hold. To legs to walk. Two eyes to see. Two ears to listen. But why only one heart? Because the other was given to someone else. For us to find.” (Anon author) In the beginning, man was alone and knew that none of the animals were enough for him. God took part of the man and made a suitable partner for him. What was originally one, is now two separate persons. As it says in the reading from Genesis, “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife.”

Weeks ago we were presented with a reading that used marriage as the metaphor to describe the relationship between Christ and our Church. In this marriage, the spouses were to help each other get to heaven. Today we are given readings that describe the union of man and woman through marriage as designed during the creation. Man and woman were once one, but are now two. We were also once one with God, but are now separated from Him.

The fall in the Garden of Eden was like a divorce from God. Our baptism and sacramental life re-unites us. Like divorce, the hardness of mankind's hearts keep some separated from God. Some people say, “I'm spiritual, but not religious.” Well, God made each and every one of us. He is Spirit and life, we are alive and we are spiritual. It is in our very nature, as created by God, to be spiritual.

The religious aspect of our spiritual life is a way that God helps us. He saw that it was not suitable for persons to be alone. He made a partner for man so that he would have a companion in life. In our spiritual life, we are given our religion as a way to unite and connect with others. The union is what we call church. The union we participate in is called the One, Holy, Apostolic and Catholic Church. This Church is created for us, to help us unite ourselves with God. He created us to live together, to be together, to be one body. This body, this Church, was created to help us get to heaven. Marriage and the Church reflect each other, as ways that two parts can become one through sacrifice and obedience to each other; and they both can get us to heaven.