2nd Sunday of Lent

Transfiguration is at the heart of Lent. God longs for us to be transfigured into the likeness of His Son. Jesus gives the three Apostles a glimpse of His glory, not only to sustain them through the coming suffering and perplexity of His passion and death, but to deepen their longing to share in His new life and His glory.

Our Lenten exercises should help to deepen our love of the Lord, give us time and opportunity to draw closer to Him, to hear His Voice, and to respond to His call to each one of us individually.

Are we conscious of journeying towards Heaven – or of moving away from the things of God, and remaining earth-bound?
Do I sincerely seek the life of Heaven here and now?

Everything we think, do or say (or what we don’t think, do or say – our sins of omission) either moves us a step nearer to God and to the life of Heaven, or a step further from Him and from Heaven…

It is logically impossible to move forward without first being freed from the things which hold us back. We need to be released from all that impedes our progress. Our selfish sinfulness restricts us from finding and fulfilling our God-given destiny. We have marred the image of God in us (in whose likeness we were created) and need to be transfigured by Him who longs to restore us to the likeness of His Son.

We try to fool ourselves if we think that we can do without the God-given gift of forgiveness which, as physical beings, we need to be made tangible, real and assured. Only in the Sacrament of Confession (sometimes called Reconciliation or Penance) can this forgiveness be experienced in its fullness and assurance.

The Catechism (No. 2042) sees Confession, not just as the obligatory means of being absolved of serious sin, but as one of the habitual and necessary means of spiritual progress; while the Compendium to the Catechism (No. 432.2) makes no mention of the need for serious sin but formulates the precept as: “To confess one’s sins, receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation at least once each year”. We need to remind ourselves that the deadly (ie. mortal) sins are seven – pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth – and that each poisons the soul in its own way.

Finally, the obligation to annual confession aids us in combatting the sin of presumption before God’s judgment.  (Zenit)

Confessions at St Joseph’s are every Saturday: 10.30-11.30 and 5.15-5.45pm