Second Sunday of Lent
Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 - Philippians 3:17-4:1 - Luke 9:28-36
“I am with You”
The Transfiguration was a powerful experience for the three apostles. God showed up on the mountain top in a very palpable way. Jesus was transfigured before them—engulfed in a dazzling light. The apostles knew they were in the presence of something greater than themselves—it was a God moment. A God moment is an experience that you can’t fully explain, a time when God shows up in the midst of ordinary life in an extraordinary way. The apostles witnessing of the transfiguration strengthened them for the suffering and trials they would soon encounter. They knew God was with them.
Timothy Radcliff, a Dominican priest and recently ordained a Cardinal, shared a story in his first Synod Retreat Meditation: 'Hoping Against Hope.' He shared a God moment: “One of my Dominican brothers in the east of Ukraine went to say Mass for some sisters who were moving. Everything was packed. All they could offer for the paten was a red plastic plate. He wrote: ‘This was how God showed us that he was with us. ‘You are sitting in a basement, in the damp and the mould, but I am with you — on a red child’s plate, and not on a golden paten.”’ Those gathered for Eucharist that day knew God would be with them as they embarked on a dangerous journey to a new home.
A God moment can be a felt experience of God while watching a sunset, a peace that washes over us in a turbulent time, an unexpected visitor, or a spontaneous hug from a child. A God moment can happen anytime and anywhere and often when we least expect a visit from God. The hope is that we become attuned to God moments, cherish them, and be transfigured by them—changed just a bit to live more fully as followers of Christ in both good times, and even more so, in difficult ones.
Sr. Theresa Rickard, OP