Lenten Reflection: Second Sunday of Lent

SECOND SUNDAY
​OF LENT

"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."
What is God's will for me?
​How can I know it?

MEDITATION:
"'This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.'" These words spoken by God the Father in our Gospel reading for this Second Sunday of Lent have been echoed and repeated throughout Sacred Scripture, especially in the Gospels. The same words were spoken at the Baptism of our Lord. Our Blessed Mother likewise urged us to "do whatever he tells you (Jn. 2:5)."
 
These instructions require great faith. We are not told what God is asking of us; we are simply told to listen to Him in all circumstances. How do we do this?  God is willing to give us the grace to obey Him wholeheartedly if only we ask for it.

All the saints of the Catholic Church's two thousand year history have exercised this obedience to God's will. The Blessed Virgin Mary obeyed God when she said, "I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word (Lk. 1:38)." St. Boniface obeyed God when he went to preach to barbarian tribes in Germany; St. Francis of Assisi obeyed when God asked him to repair the Church; St Teresa of Calcutta obeyed when she was called to found the Missionaries of Charity. Each is a shining example of obedience to God and to His commands. They all trusted that God had a greater plan for them than anything they could ask for or imagine.  And because they knew that God loved them, they trusted that his plan for them, even if it involved suffering, was for their good, because God loved them.
 
Use this Lenten season to grow closer to the saints in prayer and friendship.  Through them we can draw closer to Christ and seek to know His will for us.
 
PRAYER:
​"Of you my heart has spoken: Seek his face. It is your face, O Lord, that I seek; hide not your face from me (Ps 27(26):8-9)."   ~Entrance Antiphon 2nd Sunday of Lent
 

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