Father Rick Bolte's Homily

A: Second Sunday in Lent

Our Gospel reading today is the story of Jesus’ transfiguration; Peter, James, and John have a vision that reveals the resurrected Jesus.  This vision is intended to help them to persevere in following Jesus through his passion and death.  We too need a vision to help us persevere in our struggles.  God offers us visions but we often fail to see them.

In my article in the last Companion edition, I talked about some experiences that have been a real blessing for me as a priest.  I wrote about those times when I can see or am told that what I said in a homily or talk really made a difference for someone.  There have been times when I am offering some pastoral advice or help in the Sacrament of Reconciliation that I can see really made a difference.  There are also those special moments when someone is brought into the church, receives Communion for the first time or after being away a long time.  Especially the first ten years of my time as a priest, I took credit for those special moments trying to convince myself I was a good priest. 

However, when I can realize that these moments are not about me, I can humbly be in awe at the wonderful presence of God.  Those are some of best times for me as a priest and when I receive the vision of who God really is.

This is not limited to someone who’s a priest.  There are such times of vision available in all our lives.  As a husband or wife we can have those special moments when we know that something we have said or done touches our spouse more deeply than we can understand.  There are times as a parent as we care for our children’s needs we see something light up inside of them.  Through our regular work, volunteer work, and just in being caring friends we can touch another deeper than we understand.  If we can humbly get out of the way, if we can avoid the temptation to revel in the accolades; we too can see the vision of who God really is.

This is hard to do when we are still trying to establish our credibility and worth in the world.  But as we mature in our faith, we have the opportunity to acknowledge that there is more happening in these graced moments than we can truthfully take credit for.  In these moments we see the glory of God revealed in our ordinary lives.  And like for Peter, James, and John it is meant to give us strength to persevere through the difficult times.

Our first reading is the story of the call of Abram.  His notoriety will not be anything great he himself has done but rather it will be that he trusted in the Lord and what god did for him.  He is called to leave his homeland where we presume all is well to go to a new land.  God promises him that he will be the father of a great nation and a blessing for all.  But his whole life is about trusting in the face of the seemingly impossible.  In the end it is God, when it was obviously impossible for mortals, who will fulfill the promises he made.  Like Abram, we too are called to a journey of faith.  Our life will not be easy as we are called to follow Jesus and the way of the cross.  Our life will continually challenge us to let go of the power and control we like to think we have.  Having been touched by the power of the vision of God, we too can persevere.  The vision inspires us to trust in the awesome goodness of God that is beyond us.  We can believe even when our heart yearns for something that is impossible for us but not God.