Homily   Second Sunday in Lent   March 7, 2004

 

We continue in our Lenten Journey.  Ash Wednesday is not that long ago. But can we remember some of the things that perhaps we aimed at as we began this Lenten Journey? What were the goals we set for the trip? Are we staying to the course?

 

We are on a journey to Easter.  We are on a quest toward salvation and wholeness and wisdom and faith.

 

Speaking of a journey Confucius says, “It does not matter how slowly you go, so long s you do not stop.”

 

When a monk asks, “what is the Tao?” Master Unmon replies, “Walk on.”  It is important to keep moving. We have a decent part of Lent to do.

 

We know that in the Bible, journey plays a central role in the Old and New Testaments.  The Jews wandered in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land.  Jesus of Nazareth took the long, hard road to Jerusalem.  And Saul was converted – transformed – to Paul on the road.

 

The quest/journey might be physical. People walk the Appalachian Trail because its good for them spiritually.  Kent Nerburn in his “Letters to My Son” says we need to journey/travel. If we don’t offer ourselves, he says, to the unknown, our senses dull.

Throughout history, people looking for spiritual renewal have undertaken pilgrimages to sacred sites. Lourdes - Medjugorie – Guadaloupe. Muslims are under the obligation to journey to Mecca. They set out with high hopes for the quickening of their faith.

 

But while the physical journey is important for many the inward quest is as well. Trappist monk Thomas Merton writes:  “Our real journey in life is interior; it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts.”

 

And so we need to look at these days as travel time – questing – journeying. Our Lent needs to be a time of movement.

 

Our first reading gives us the image of Abram – the essential quester. The truth is that Abram put one foot in front of the other always into the unknown. His trust in his God is what helped him move.  And God gives Abram and Sarah the image of the end of the journey – the promise – the hope.  The story of Abram and Sarah is a story of relationship. Their relationship and trust in each other and especially their trust that this God who leads them on will fulfill the promise. God promises much and asks only that their faith guide them – their trust in God move them – their belief that each step is worth it will guide them.

 

And Paul in the second reading gives us the reason for the journey. We belong not mired in the mundane – in the everyday – in the petty. Our citizenship is in heaven, Paul says. And so we are called to move toward that way of living that is part of the credentials of citizens of heaven. We live different – we look different – we love differently. Our questing- movement is to bring us to that place.

 

And of course in our Transfiguration Gospel Jesus gives Peter, John and James the impetus to travel with him to Jerusalem. Peter would have them stop – would dig in and make things stable and stagnant. But the mountaintop is only the beginning.

 

We know that the beginning our quest is our baptism.  And journey is to realize what that means.  What is our faith? What does our way of life mean? How do we live out who we are in the day to day?

 

How do we live Jesus’ call to love – not only those who love us but the others – the unkind, the insensitive, the enemy as well?

 

How do we treat the other – the one who is easy as well as the one who grates on our nerves and upsets our way?

 

How do we live as citizens of the reign of God while we are journeying in the day to day world that contradicts the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

 

This is what our journey of Faith – this Journey of Lent is about.  This ongoing trip takes discipline, courage, and perseverance.  The Indian philosopher and poet Sri Aurobindo reminds us, “The spiritual journey is one of continuously falling on your face, getting up, brushing yourself off, looking sheepishly at God and taking another step.”

 

The reality is that there will always be a gap between the call of our baptism and where we really are. We are always trying to get there – we are always reaching for the reign of God. Maybe we can look at these days of Lenten traveling as a gap-closing time.  The dreams we had on Ash Wednesday, the resolutions we made at the beginning of this season of renewal and reform are the gap-closers. And they reach beyond the forty-day trip we’re on.

 

The French writer Leon Bloy said the greatest sadness in life is to not be a saint.  If we fail to be the unique, one-and-only, fully alive person that God created us to be, then how sad it is.  This Lenten quest challenges us to aspire to be as Godlike as possible in forgiving and loving.  We are to reach for the potential, to aim at the goal.

 

Let’s keep moving – keep questing – keep following the road.