Courage to Follow God’s Dreams The Second Sunday in Lent

                                          Courage to Follow God’s Dreams

The Second Sunday in Lent

March 13, 2022

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Genesis 15:5-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36

 

          The stories we heard today remind us of God’s dream for the world, a vision that includes being in harmonious relationship with us and all of creation. We start with Abram, our great ancestor in the faith, who leaves his home in Iraq, and enters into a promised land where he sets us an altar, which will be transformed into a sign of the covenant. After preparing the worship space, Abram falls into a trance where he has an experience of God that reveals his plan for a special relationship with Abram’s descendants. 

 

          Luke tells us of the Transfiguration, in which the three disciples have an experience of God, the Father, whose presence transforms the person of Jesus into his chosen Son. From this experience, the disciples are confirmed in their belief that Jesus is the Holy One of God, and his life is one that reveals the thoughts of God to humanity. God’s dream for the world is taking on a different, clearer vision.

 

          Dreams arise from emotions, not reason. Dreams arise from our human experience of God, which might not be as dramatic as the Transfiguration but are equally as real. God is able to relay God’s personal vision for us through these dreams and experiences. When we dream, we are impelled to embrace processes that encourage us to abandon our comfort zones and change the way we look at larger society so that we might respond to needs that are more pressing. Abram had to do this when he left home at age 75 for an unknown land; Jesus had to do it when he left Galilee and had to set his face toward Jerusalem.

 

          We need to leave behind ideologies, illusions, and habitual methods that once seemed permanent and unchanging, and we have to embrace novelty. As we study the life of Jesus, he often broke with convention. Some laughed at him, others with scorn, still more were furious as they threatened his life. We, as individuals and as a People of God, need to move forward with courage to handle unexpected situations that arise from the margins of our lives. They are the places of surprise for us. 

 

          We have many inspiration people who have put their dreams into practice, especially in difficult times. We have to examine the mindset and attitudes they had as they persevered with their practices. As we emerge from the two-year stranglehold of COVID, we have to learn to do things differently, to shake up the status quo, so that we can be faithful to that which God has revealed to us in our personal experiences. Initiating these processes involve walking down new paths without knowing where they will lead you, and opening up new horizons that allow the Holy Spirit to tact. Many of us want to return to a time before COVID when matters seemed clear and settled, and if we are true to ourselves, we realize they were not. When one experiences God, it is destabilizing, but we walk forward knowing that Jesus will be with us each step of the way. 

 

          Abram needed courage to settle into a new land; Jesus prayed for courage to turn all his thoughts towards his Passion in Jerusalem; the disciples woke up and prayer for courage to accompany their friend on this dangerous journey. Being bold and taking risks evokes our need for courage as we walk down new and sometimes dangerous paths. God is aware of what God is asking us to do. We have the strength of being in communion with one another and guided by the Spirit, with the person of Jesus, to embark on new ways to be faithful to God’s dream for us and the world. Let’s pray for courage that we can do this together. 

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

Monday: (Daniel 9) We have rebelled against you God and sinned, but you have remained faithful to us in the covenant. You, O Lord, have justice on your side. 

 

Tuesday: (Isaiah 1) Wash yourselves clean and make justice your aim. Obey the commandments and take care of your neighbor.

 

Wednesday: (Jeremiah 18) The people of Judah contrived against Jeremiah to destroy him by his own words.

 

Thursday: (Jeremiah 17) Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings. More tortuous than all else is the human heart. The Lord alone probes the mind and tests the heart.  

 

Friday: (Genesis 37) Israel loved Joseph best of all, which created resentment among his brothers, who later sold him into slavery for twenty pieces of silver. 

 

Saturday: (Micah 7) God removes guilt and pardons sins and does not persist in anger. 

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 6) Jesus said, “Be merciful,” and “Stop judging because you will be judged by the way you judge.”

 

Tuesday: (Matthew 23) The scribes and Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Be wary of someone’s teaching if they have no integrity between their words and actions. 

 

Wednesday: (Matthew 20) As Jesus went up to Jerusalem, he told his disciples, “Behold. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests, condemned to death, handed over to Gentiles, an crucified, and will be raised on the third day.”

 

Thursday: (Luke 16) A rich man dressed in purple garments died shortly after Lazarus, a beggar. In heaven, Lazarus was rewarded and the rich man was tormented in hell. He appealed to God to spare his family, but was told that they would not listen to Moses or to anyone who was raised from the dead.

 

Friday: (Matthew 21) Jesus told the parable of a vineyard owner, who entrusted the land to servants, but these men seized the land and possessed it. They killed the servants and the heir. When the owner returned, he cast the wretched men into a tormented death. 

 

Saturday: (Luke 15) Jesus is accused of welcoming sinners and eats with them. He then tells the story of the prodigal one who was well received by his father upon his return. The one who was lost has been found. 

 

Saints of the Week

 

March 17: Patrick, bishop (389-461), is the revered Apostle of Ireland and patron saint of many U.S. dioceses. He is credited for bringing the faith to all of Ireland. He was abducted and enslaved at age 16 by pirates and taken to Ireland where he worked as a cattle herded and shepherd in the mountains. He escaped after six years and eventually returned to his native Britain where he became a priest. Pope Celestine sent Patrick as a missionary to Ireland to evangelize them. Though he was under constant risk from hostile pagans, he converted many of them and developed a native clergy by the time of his death. 

 

March 19: Joseph, husband of Mary is honored today for his support of Mary in their marriage. He is portrayed as a righteous man who obeys the will of God. Therefore, his ancestry is upheld as a virtuous stock through which God’s promises come true. We seldom contemplate his marital relationship to Mary and his responsibility to love and raise Jesus as his son. He was a descendent of King David and a carpenter or builder by trade. In Matthew's dream sequence, Joseph was embarrassed by Mary's pregnancy before their marriage, but went through with the wedding because he was a righteous man. He considered dissolving their marriage because of Mosaic Law, but is told in a dream to take Mary as his wife and to raise Jesus as his own. He is honored as the earthly father of Jesus. 

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• March 13, 1568. John Segura and five companions set sail from Spain for Florida, a fertile field of martyrs. (Nine Jesuits were killed there between 1566 and 1571.) 
• March 14, 1535. Ignatius received his degree from the University of Paris. 
• March 15, 1632. The death of Diego Ruiz, a great theologian, who studied on his knees. 
• March 16, 1649. The martyrdom in Canada of St John de Brebeuf, apostle to the Huron Indians. Captured by the Iroquois along with some Christian Hurons, he endured horrible tortures. 
• March 17, 1964. The death of Joseph O’Callaghan. He was awarded the US Medal of Honor for heroism as chaplain on the USS Franklin, off Japan on March 19, 1945. 
• March 18, 1541. Two letters arrived from Lisbon from Francis Xavier. One was addressed to Ignatius, the other to Frs. LeJay and Laynez. They were written just before his departure to India. 
• March 19, 1836. By imperial decree, the Society was allowed to re-enter the Austrian dominions.