By now, on this Second Sunday of Lent, we have a pretty good idea of how our Lent will be. Is this a good Lent for us? While we can set impossible goals for ourselves, this Sunday asks whether we have set our sights too low. Now is the time to adjust our thinking, and to do that, the Second Sunday of Lent presents us with some of the most challenging images and words in all of Scripture. Joined with the prayers of this day, Christians will hopefully leave the liturgy thinking that they can indeed do all things well.
The celebration presents us with the image of Abraham, willing to offer his total future in the life of his son, combined with the challenge to have confidence that God is with us. These are further combined with the transfiguration of Christ and the psalmist’s promise to be faithful to God and fulfill all our vows. All of this shows us that we can do it all, we can succeed in coming closer to God, and we can be transfigured! We need to be open to this challenge.
The reason for us to embrace the almost impossible has nothing to do with buying our way into heaven. Rather, it is a means for us to become acquainted with the life of the divine, that exuberant, holy, awesome, grace existence that is the goal of this life and the reward of heaven. We need to be found worthy of the gift that is our salvation that Christ has purchased in the Paschal Mystery, and this Sunday of Lent offers us a chance to embrace a larger portion of the light of Christ. Faith tells us that as big as
dare is the measure of grace this season can bring.