II SUNDAY OF LENT Homily An elderly gentleman was quite hard of hearing, and he had been feeling sad and was extremely depressed for a long time, so he went to see his doctor. The doc did his best to cheer him up, but two days later, he was shocked to see him with a young blond on his arm, and a big grin on his face. “As you see, doc,” he said, “I took your advice!” “Good heavens, what did I tell you?” “You said, ‘Find a hot mamma, and be cheerful.’” “No! You have a heart murmur, so be careful.’” He’s not the only one who’s hard of hearing! We all have that problem. We hear what we want to hear or expect to hear. And that does harm: to our lives and to our loves. And it steals something precious from our friendship with the Lord. That’s why we began Sunday’s mass with the prayer: “Lord, help us to hear your son”. The Lord is the best friend we’ll ever have, and the smartest as well. He knows more about us, that we’ll ever know, even in heaven. And he cares more about us than we even care for ourselves. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect mentor, someone we really ought to listen to? So why don’t we listen to him? The first reason is that quiet often we think we already know what he’s going to say –or what he ought to say. Have you ever noticed how some people try to complete your sentences for you, but almost always get it wrong? We do that with God. Growing wise means recognizing how much our biases and wants cloud our vision, and how much we need God’s help to see the big picture and to find the real truth. There’s another big reason we don’t listen to much to the Lord, and that is fear. What might he tell me about myself? What might he make look at? What might he ask me to do? Listening to him is just too risky! That could make some kind of sense if God didn’t like us. But he does like us, a lot, even on our bad days. And with all the intensity of a good father, he wants to help us grow up and grow whole. St. Paul said: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”. Well, God is for us, completely and forever. If we could bring ourselves to trust that, to trust that God would never do anything to hurt us, then we could begin to relax in His presence and listen to whatever it that He wants us to see and understand. The most important part of our prayer comes after we stop talking. If our spirit is open, relaxed, trusting, and quiet, he will speak to us from deep inside, silently, without words. So relax in the Lord, trust his love for you, be quiet with him. He’ll show you the
way, and a day at a time, he’ll give you everything you need to walk all the way home. Relax in the Lord, and listen. Lord Jesus, keep me always alert and awake to you, to your word, your action, and your daily presence in my life. Let me see your glory. Amen. Entrance We continue our journey through Lent. Where will the road lead us? For Jesus it led to Jerusalem, to the cross. But we know that the end will not be death but life, not suffering but resurrection. That is why we see an encouraging vision on the mountain. God is with us, he sees us, he loves us. We trust him. • Lord, here you forgive our sins and enable us to forgive one another. Lord, have mercy. • You strengthen our faith and deepen our hope. Christ, have mercy. • Word of God, you nourish us with the bread of eternal life. Lord, have mercy.
Prayer of the Faithful God is on our side. Therefore, let us bring our needs before him, confident that we will receive a sympathetic hearing. Merciful God, give us a love for what you command and a longing for what you promise, so that amid this world’s changes, our hearts may be set on the world of the lasting joy. We ask this prayer through the same Christ our Lord.