Reading 1: Genesis 12:1-4a
Responsorial Psalm: 33.4-5,18-19,20,22
Reading II: Timothy 1:8b-10
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9 Full Readings
A Personal Call
The call of Abram in the first Reading reminds each one of us his or her own unique individual calling. Each one of us is called independently and he is supposed to respond independently, takes responsibility himself or herself. The call of God is a call to share his divine life in different ways we live our lives, we are called to live a Godly life in our lives. So let us ask ourselves, you/me as a wife, as a husband, as a child, as a religious, as a priest, as a Bishop, as a mother, as a father, as an employee, as an employer, as a worker, as a driver, as an accountant, as a politician and whatever, you have been called to be, have you done your responsibility well as God demands. What difference have you made in your responsibility that will: make people remember you as Abraham, make you a blessing to them, and a source of happiness and success for other people. If we haven't done this we are defiling God's call and trying to fulfill our plan, and using others as our means.
Remember every call has a demand, for the sake of Abram, he was to leave, his father's land to a land he knew not. What's the demands of your call, have you been faithful to them, where do you get inspiration to face them (God?). Our call as Christians demands us to go out of our comfort zones, to do our responsibility faithfully, to reach out to those in need of God's grace and to invite people to the fullness of life in Christ.
This however is not an easy task as St Paul's letter to Timothy tells us, we have to share the hardships of our Christian calling, the hardships of spreading the Gospel, just as Jesus faced them even unto death, death on the cross. The call to holiness was in his divine plan for human beings not because of what we did but then it's our works, which we do in different ways of our lives, the works like those which Christ did, that will show the response to the call of Holiness. So let us do works and acts which show holiness in our lives, how? By doing what Christ did. I normally tell people that if we are faced with any situation, then let's ask ourselves as Christians, If Jesus was here, what would He have done? When we realise it then we will be acting in the name of Jesus.
It's therefore an invitation to each one that during this Lent and the whole of our lives as Christians, we should act like Jesus: Pray, fast. At least, feed one hungry your compound, dress one naked, invite your friends to feast with you or go feast with them, help one needy, show love to your rival, reconcile, forgive, pay a bill for someone, show concern to the abandoned, live a life of the gospel and do many acts of charity either direct or indirect. There we will be responding to our Christian call of love of God and neighbors and to that of Holiness.
It is through this calling that people will experience through us the transfiguration experience, and see Jesus in his true goodness, bringing the kingdom of God here on Earth. The transfiguration experience happens after Jesus' prediction of his death, to prepare his apostles to face his suffering, it's one of the experiences the father is revealing his son to us. The three Apostles saw his face shining as the sun and clothes shining as white, meaning in him there is no sin. The church gives us this gospel today in this journey of Lent to assess ourselves in our call as Christians, what needs to be purified, where have we gone wrong, to examine our sins most clearly with the light of Jesus, and the re-journey in the way of perfection. Therefore, transfiguration shows the glory we will have when we repent and we will savour the Lord's goodness even forgetting ourselves like Peter forgot that they were to build their tent too. We only focus on the Lord's goodness, and this is the final grace of our Christian calling, of our call to holiness of life: to experience the beatific vision, i.e. seeing him face to face, the son of God, the Lord of all.
Let's pray.
My transfigured Lord, You shone in radiance before the eyes of Your Apostles so that they could testify to the beauty of the life to which we are all called. During this Lent, help me to face my sin with courage and confidence in You and in Your power to not only forgive but to also transform. My I die to sin more deeply than ever before so as to share more fully in the glory of Your divine life. Jesus, I trust in You
Also remember to pray for a special woman in your life and all women. Happy women's day
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