Second Sunday of Lent_A - Renewal of the Mind_030820

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Renewal Of the Mind”

Second Sunday of Lent, Year A

In his letter to the Ephesians St Paul instructed them: “You should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.” (Eph 4:22)

When Peter, James and John see Jesus in the fullness of his glory, they, quite naturally, want to hang on to the moment. In an effort to hold on to this moment they want to erect three tents perhaps so that Moses, Elijah, and Jesus can stay with them for a while. But that was not to be. The vision doesn’t last. Before you know it, it’s all over and the time comes to return to the ordinary, routine affairs of daily life.

Hold on to the vision, Christ tells them. Keep this all to yourself until the Son of Man has been raised from the Dead! What an impossible task! Yet there can be no doubt that these men were deeply affected by what they saw. Seeing Christ in the fullness of His glory affected their thinking, their behavior, and their attitudes. Does what we hear today do the same for us?

If we so desire, the words of our Gospel today can have a great impact on our life. We too can be renewed in the spirit of our minds and be given a new mindset, one that will transform every aspect of our lives, renew and enliven our inner beings, empower us to do the difficult interior work that will allow us to grow more spiritually mature. St. Paul describes this process, “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Cor 5:17). It is being renewed from the inside out.

Peter, James and John were fortunate to have been given this glimpse of the divine Jesus. We are somewhat more challenged today since we will not experience this until our life’s end. But now that the story has been told, we have this vision implanted in our heads AND hearts. It is a vision that beckons us to begin the difficult, life-long work of crafting our new selves created in God’s way, a work that will come to completion only when we become one with him in what we refer to as, “the life to come.”

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Close Encounter Of The Best Kind

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Close Encounters Of The Best Kind”

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Year A

Today’s readings describe “close encounters” of the best kind...unimaginable encounters that take place between God and man. The first one is the story of Daniel and his vision of heaven in which he sees the Ancient One upon His throne...with flames of fire...and wheels of burning fire... Daniel sees thousands upon thousands ministering to this mysterious figure as the court was convened and the books were opened. Daniel foretells the day of The Lord, the day of judgment. He foretells a time when this Ancient One will appear coming on the clouds of heaven to receive dominion, glory, and kingship presumably from those who have anticipated His coming. Daniel encounters the Living God in all His glory during this vision and shares it with us so that we may contemplate the fullness of God’s Glory and place ourselves in the service of the Ancient One.

The second “close encounter” between God and man takes place during the event we know as the “Transfiguration”, when Jesus is revealed in His glory to the amazement of Peter, James, and John.

Throughout the course of Sacred Scripture God breaches the gap between His dwelling place and our earthly abode. We see God making His presence known to Moses in the form of the “Burning Bush” and again in the “Pillar of Fire” as God leads the Israelites through their ordeal of crossing the desert. When Jesus was being baptized in the Jordan, a voice from heaven was heard to say, “This is my beloved Son”. And, of course, we know that in the Person of Jesus, God took up a physical presence in our world to teach us that above everything else, God loves us and cares for us and that God’s greatest desire is for us to love Him in return.

As we continue on our spiritual journey we do well to focus on deepening our relationship with God. Are we doing our part to be mindful of God presence during the day, arranging some quiet time for our own “close encounter” with God and by making ourselves present to Him? That’s really all He asks of us, for us to be present to Him so that He can be present to us; so He can reveal Himself to us as the God who loves, who forgives, who shares our pains and sorrows, and who longs to fill us with His peace, joy, and His love. May we all experience a “close encounter” with our Lord and may that encounter be the beginning of a deeper and liberating experience.

Enjoy the day!

 Deacon Tom

Renewal Of The Mind

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Renewal Of The Mind”

Second Sunday of Lent, Year A

In his letter to the Ephesians St Paul instructed them: “You should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.” (Eph 4:22)

When Peter, James, and John see Jesus in the fullness of His glory, they, quite naturally, want to hang on to the moment. In an effort to hold on to this moment they want to erect three tents perhaps so that Moses, Elijah, and Jesus can stay with them for a while. But that was not to be. The vision doesn’t last. Before you know it, it’s all over and the time comes to return to the ordinary, routine affairs of daily life.

Hold on to the vision, Christ tells them. Keep this all to yourself until the Son of Man has been raised from the Dead!  What an impossible task!  Yet there can be no doubt that these men were deeply affected by what they saw. Seeing Christ in the fullness of His glory affected their thinking, their behavior, and their attitudes. Does what we hear today do the same for us?

If we so desire, the words of our Gospel today can have a great impact on our life. We too can be renewed in the spirit of our minds and be given a new mindset, one that will transform every aspect of our lives, renew and enliven our inner beings, empower us to do the difficult interior work that will allow us to grow more spiritually mature. You can call this renewal of the spirit of our minds a new thinking paradigm.

Peter, James, and John were fortunate to have been given this glimpse of the divine Jesus. We are somewhat more challenged today since we will not experience this until our life’s end. But now that the story’s been told, we have the vision. And the vision in today’s Gospel beckons us to begin the difficult, life-long work of crafting our new selves created in God’s way, a work that will come to completion only when we become one with Him in our eternal home.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom