Every year on the second Sunday of Lent, the first reading
highlights an aspect of Abraham’s relationship with God and the Gospel recounts
the Transfiguration. What struck me
about these readings this year is that Abram, Moses, Elijah, Jesus, Peter,
James and John all heard the voice of God; they listened to God and acted on
God’s directives. God tells Abram to
“Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land
that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1–2) and “Abram went as the LORD directed
him” (Genesis 12:4). Moses listened to
God, liberated the children of
In his Message for Lent 2026, Pope Leo XIV focuses on, Listening
and Fasting: Lent as a Time of Conversion. The Holy Father tells us that, “In
revealing himself to Moses in the burning bush, God himself teaches us that
listening is one of his defining characteristics: “I have observed the misery
of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry” (Ex 3:7).
God Listens to us and hears us. We, in
turn, should listen to God. Pope Leo writes, “Our God is one who seeks to
involve us. Even today he shares with us what is in his heart. Because of this,
listening to the word in the liturgy teaches us to listen to the truth of
reality…. In order to foster this inner openness to
listening, we must allow God to teach us how to listen as he does.”
Peter, James and John heard the voice of God proclaim the
transfigured Jesus His “beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” They did listen to Jesus and in spite of
their human failings and weaknesses; they became the fathers of our
church. Like these great men of
scripture, God tells us to listen to Jesus.
We hear the word of God proclaimed every Sunday. Last week we heard
Jesus remind the devil that “one does not live on bread alone, but
on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).
Jesus listened for his Father’s voice in moments of fasting,
solitude and prayer. Lent is the perfect
time for us to be still, to be silent, to fast, to pray and to open our hearts
and minds so that we too can hear the voice of God directing our lives. All we have to do is stop, open our hearts
and “listen to him.”
