Reflection by Br Tony Clark FMS; All of us have had the experience at one time or another of encountering a sense of God’s presence as we gazed into the night at the millions of stars that stretch endlessly across the sky, or when climbing a mountain and seeing a beautiful landscape unfolding before our eyes, or watching a sunset that paints the sky with beautiful colours. These awesome moments can leave us speechless. We are often tempted to want to stay and enjoy this moment for as long as possible in peace and sheer enjoyment, or we feel moved to preserve the moment with a photo or by taking away a small memento.
Today’s readings, on this Second Sunday of our Lenten journey, refer not only to awesome moments like these where we have a beautiful encounter God, but also what God ultimately wants to reveal to us in these encounters that draws us into the deeper mystery of life itself, and our relationship with God.
In the First Reading, God takes Abram outside to count the stars in the night sky, to reveal to him that his descendants will number as many of the stars at night, together with an idea of the land his descendants will occupy. We can imagine Abram, being an old man, feeling totally overcome with joy with God’s generous promise. What is Abram’s reaction after preparing a thanksgiving sacrifice? He falls into a trance and “a deep, dark terrifying darkness envelops him”. God’s responds to this by producing a flaming torch, a fire-pot and making a sacred covenant with Abram to fulfill the promise made to him.
In the Gospel account of the Transfiguration, Jesus takes Peter, James and John hiking up the mountain to spend some time together alone in prayer. While on the summit, Jesus’ appearance is transformed to become dazzling white. What are the disciples doing while this transfiguring is going on? They have all fallen into a deep sleep – living in their own darkness. When they do awaken, they manage to see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah, two significant Old Testament figures. Peter, trying to come to his senses, starts to babble on about wanting to stay on the mountain, living in tents. Like Abram’s experience, the group is then overshadowed in cloud, usually signifying God’s presence. The disciples become terrified! A voice then comes from the cloud; “This is my chosen Son, Listen to him!”. Everyone is then brought to silence.
Listening to another person is one of the greatest gifts we can give to her or him. Listening from the heart is being open and waiting for the other to speak what is really I their heart. An actual sacred space is created between two people when we heart listen. Listening with the heart does not mean “agreeing,” but making room for the other person to express themselves and make themselves known. Nor does it mean allowing oneself to be hurt or harmed, since listening supposes that both the one who listens and the one who is speaking are placed in a reciprocal parity of respect and acceptance. Listening with the heart is trying to under-stand the other even in their silences.
This Lent is a graced opportunity to open ourselves to some heart listening to Jesus. We already know we can hear Jesus’ voice through listening to, reading and praying the Gospels. This year, in the Liturgy of the Word, we are privileged in listen to Jesus through the Gospel of Luke.
Jesus also speaks to us through our sisters and brothers, especially through the stories and faces of those who are in need. The Project Compassion campaign presents to us the stories of three people, Toefuata’iga, Lam, and Irene. These three people present stories of strength, resilience and courage that invite us to support them, and people like them, to overcome challenges, build better futures and to thrive.
Another way of listening to Jesus is when we listen to our sisters and brothers in the Church, in our local and Diocesan faith communities. Recently, over two hundred people from all across the Diocese opened themselves to listening to Jesus’ voice, the voice of the Holy Spirit, through ‘heart listening’ to each other about the pastoral priorities of the Diocese for the next five years. Instead of being enveloped in darkness, or feeling terrified, there was a genuine experience of light, hope and unity for a mission-driven future.
In the words of Pope Francis, let us pray that the Holy Spirit "inspire and sustain us" during these 40 days leading to the great celebration of Easter, so that we may experience the "divine splendour" of Jesus "and thus, confirmed in faith, persevere in our journey of hope together with him, glory of his people and light of the nations". Amen.
