February 28, 2021: Second Sunday of Lent

Today's Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022821.cfm

The focus of this Sunday’s Gospel is the Transfiguration of Jesus. In it, there is a statement that reads “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him”. When reading this, one’s first thoughts would be that Peter, James, and John were being told to follow Jesus’ commands. However, my thoughts when reading this made me think of something I often reflect on: listening to and following God’s plan for each of us. 

Every one of us is on a journey to fulfill God’s will and live out His word in the hope we will be united with Him in heaven, but we are each on our own individual paths in doing so. At times, though, it can be easy to stray from the path. We can be faced with difficult choices, pain and loss, and moments where we find ourselves questioning our faith and God, Himself. In looking back at my own faith journey, I strayed from the path when I was a teenager and continued to for almost five years before finding my way back to my faith and love in God. When we face a tragedy in our lives or we find ourselves questioning our faith, we can forget how bountiful and endless God’s love for us is, so when he speaks to the disciples saying “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him”, we are reminded that He never abandons us. 

We have to hold on to that same faith and trust that we are called to have in God when it seems as if everything in our lives are going great but then things take a turn for the worse or we encounter suffering. God might close a door to events or circumstances that will do more harm than good for our lives, He removes people from our lives because there were conversations He heard that we did not, He provides for us even when we sin, and though it may not seem like, He never gives us more than we can handle. God intervenes in our lives to ultimately help us on our journeys because God loves us deeply, and we have to remind ourselves to believe that we are living out His purpose for us. God has many hopes for us and through His word we can strive to live those out. 

- Molly Heller, '21

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