2nd Sunday in Lent – Mar 5, 2023
MESSAGE
Last weekend, I introduced our Lenten series, “that we might live justly, like God. And we explored the justice required of us in our environmental and planetary stewardship of all creation.
This weekend, we’ll explore how the stewardship of our time, talent and treasure can transfigure our lives, our church, and our world, and thereby, realized a greater sense of justice in our daily living.
Did you notice my new eye-glasses? (I wore them for the first time on Ash Wed.!)
Every two years, the insurance I have, enables me to get a new pair. Went to Lenscrafters in the mall and tried on many different frames. Each one gave a different impression of my face!
That experience is somewhat like, what Jesus was hoping, would happen to his top three friends, Peter, James and John as they saw Jesus change right before them!
His….
- Face shining like the sun
- Clothes had become dazzling white
- Not alone, but with Moses and Elijah (2 Major OT prophets Law and Prophets, Hebrew Scripture fulfillment of hopes and dreams and promises)
- On a high mountain (symbolizing heavenly encounter with humankind)
But Jesus wasn’t the only one transfigured!
Peter James and John were themselves transfigured by this experience!
- Wanted to remember it!
- Felt blessed to experience it!
- Overcome with awe and wonder in God’s presence (fear) when they hard the voice of the Father!
- Were forever changed as they descended the mountain!
Like those 3 disciples…
- we too are called to climb the mountain of the Lord and to be transfigured by our personal experience of the Divine!
- We too are challenged to see Jesus in a new light!
- We too are being invited to be transfigured by our experience of God and to use that experience to change ourselves, our church, our world!
(my own experience of transfiguration while at Our Lady of the Angels Church in Dayton, OH (during Lent, song Ashes, give our stumblings direction, give our visions wider view). Left the world of science for the world of faith, and formation for the priesthood. So important to have music that speaks to our heart!
3 Disciples! 3 Ways for us to be transfigured!
- Time
- Talent
- Treasure
Time
- More time saving devices and yet, more busy than ever!
- You may have heard the saying, “If you want something done, ask a busy person” (attributed to Rev. W J Kennedy of Great Britain in 1856)
- Do we carve out time to help those less fortunate than ourselves?
- Do we pause for the cause? (Do we take the time to read and understand a given issue and consider the possible solutions or ways we can help to alleviate the problem?)
- D & P kiosk in the hallway!
Talent
- Do we offer our talents to assist in the mission of the church? (Go and make disciples of all nations.)
(Re-starting our Altar Server Ministry, Both Adults and Children invited to participate. Sign up at the Help & Information Centre.
- Are we generous in using our talents to alleviate the sufferings and burdens of others? (Pick one person as your Lenten outreach.)
- Do we have a discerning heart, that enables us to be proactive in the offering of our talents in a given situation?
When it comes to Treasure….
A Sunday school teacher was just finishing her lesson on stewardship when she asked, “Do you know where children go, if they don’t put their money in the collection plate?”
“Yes ma’am,” a boy blurted out in the back row. “They go to the movies.” (from www.pastoralcareinc.com)
A funny response, but a good starting point to ask…..
- What are the priorities we make when it comes to how we spend our financial treasure?
- Do we allocate some of our extra money to the less fortunate in our world?
- How much of our money do we contribute on a weekly basis to the church to assist in its mission of evangelization? (Why does this building exist?)
- Are we faithful stewards of the finances with which we’ve been blessed?
Like the transfiguration of the Lord, our own transfiguration moments may be scary!
- Scared of losing control of our daily agenda, our way of seeing God.
- Scared of not being up to the task set before us.
- Scared of changing the way we allocate the money we’ve been given.
- Scared of encountering those who are marginalized or who are suffering (in the valley below the mountain)
- Scared of the lifestyle changes we might be challenged to make.
(8 Day Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in Cleveland, OH)
At such times, we may be tempted to lay low and to let the significance of the encounter with the Lord pass by unnoticed. But that’s NOT what Jesus wants! Like the disciples whom he approaches and touches, Jesus encourages us, “ Get up and do not be afraid.”
Let’s not be afraid….
- to allow God’s Holy Spirit change us from the inside out!
- to leave the ways we used to relate to God and others behind and to press onward to a new way of living and relating
- to give generously of our time, talent and treasure, that OTHERS may be themselves transfigured by an encounter with Jesus working through us!
Next weekend, we’ll explore our responses to those who are on the margins of society and written off and what God’s justice requires of us.
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