2nd Sunday of Lent

This Sundays readings help us in our exploration of the theme discipleship.

At the heart of our discipleship is prayer and it is because of pray that we are called to suffer with the pain and loss of those around us. For pray is our daily conversation with God and it is in this time with God that we become more God-like and so see and feel as God does for his creation.

‘God-like’ means that we our lives become increasingly focused on the needs of the other so that when those around us weep we weep and when those around us laugh we are able to laugh with them. It is prayer that transforms our lives so that we are able to bear our own suffering and that of others. St Paul speaks of this in our second reading from the Philippians this morning:

He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for,
my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

In the week ahead this lent  we are given the the example of Abraham, who is able to talk with God and admit to his deepest needs, so that we can turn and ask of ourselves whether we are as open with God in our lives.

It is to the words of St Paul that we can turn when we feel unfit or unsure of Gods ability to transform our weakness into his glory. For he writes “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.”

It is to the example of Jesus unafraid of Herod and his threats, determined even in the face of death that we place our hope and trust. It is to Jesus who weeps over Jerusalem that we must open our heart and know that he has the power to save.