2nd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 2nd Sunday in Lent are:

1. Genesis 15: 5-12, 17-18
   
2. Psalms 27: 1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
3. Philippians 3: 17-4:1
   
4. Luke 9: 28b-36

• Children of Promise
  
• Scripture is full of promises that God has made to His people.  It's hard to take those promises seriously in a world that is so uncertain, so fraught with unexpected and hard to understand change.
• Are there any promises of God that you think of on a regular basis?
• Do you feel that God has been faithful, that He has delivered on His promises to you and your various communities?
• If you don't feel that God has been faithful, have you talked with him about that?
• What did He say?
  

• God's bounty
  
• Our God is a bounteous God.  His blessings to us are always abundant.  But sometimes, those blessings are hard to see.
• What are you grateful to God for?
• Were you always grateful to Him for those blessings?
• Were they necessarily what you were looking for when He gave them to you?
• Would you be more open to those same blessings today?
• How have those blessings helped you grow?
  

• A model Christian
• None of us would ever tell anyone else "live your life just the way that I do."  We know that each person has their own destiny, their own path to greatness, their own genius given them by God, and they need to find, celebrate, and give those gifts away in their own way.
• If you were able to go back in time to an earlier day, and sit down with that younger version of yourself, what would you want to tell them?
• Do you think that that younger version of you would listen?
• If you were to write an autobiography, what lessons from your life would you want to impart to your readers?  How would you present your story, your life, yourself?
• If someone came to you and said "I admire you as a person, you have been such an influence for good in my life and the lives of others that I've seen.  How do you do it?"  What would you say?
• Where has God been in that narrative?
  

• Who are you?
  
• Last week's Gospel showed Satan attempting to temp Jesus in the wilderness.  Part of Satan's ploy was to acknowledge who Jesus is, but then try to lead Jesus into taking advantage of his position.  This week, Jesus parts the curtains of His incarnation just a little and we get a different perspective on who He is.
• Athletes train, musicians practice, doctors constantly learn new techniques, medicines, all of these order their lives around their chosen vocation.  What is your vocation?  What do you organize your life around?
• How does that vocation help you make decisions in your life?
• Does that discipline make you feel constricted, hemmed in, or liberated?
• How long have you felt that way about your destiny?
• Are you sure that what you are doing is your destiny?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where are God's promises inviting me this Lent?
2. Where is God's bounty inviting me today?
3. Where can I be a better model for others?
4. Am I fulfilling God's destiny for me?

Shalom and a blessed Lent to you!