Second Sunday in Lent C.  March 4, 2007.  Our Lady of Grace 5:15, 7:30, 9:30.  Genesis 15: 5-12, 17-18.   Philippians 3:17-4:1.  Luke 9: 28b-36.

Marriage is a lot of work.  When I ask young people preparing for marriage what their parents taught them about being successful in marriage, they usually say two things.  First, a good marriage and a family are the most important accomplishments in life.  Second, a good marriage is a lot of work.   I hear elderly parents saying much the same thing.  When they look back over their lives their children and their grandchildren are their most important accomplishment.  At the same time, raising children is not for the weak and the wishy washy.  Raising children is a lot of work.   Whenever we look at any task in our lives we must be honest about both the joy of accomplishment and the hard work that it will take to achieve the goal.

If you were climbing Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in the world, would it be most important to focus attention on how heavy your feet are as you inch up the mountain, or would it be most important to keep your eyes fixed on the top of the mountain and the joy of success?  In today’s gospel Jesus teaches us that keeping our eyes on the goal is the secret to succeeding in winning the race and accomplishing the task.  Jesus brings his disciples up onto a mountain so that they can see, in their minds and hearts, the journey that lies ahead.   For a brief moment they were given a vision of Jesus in all the splendor of his Resurrection and two great Saints, Moses and Elijah.   Jesus, Moses and Elijah were speaking together about the painful journey of the Cross that Jesus was about to endure in Jerusalem.  The humanity of Jesus cried out for the courage that would come from a vision of the Resurrection on the other side of the Cross.  The disciples needed to see the Risen Christ in a preview, so to speak, so that they would not give up when they saw the horrifying price of success demanded of Jesus on the Cross.

What did Jesus think about as he hung on the Cross?   Did he think about the nails?   Did he think about the crown of thorns?  Did he think about his pain and suffering?    What do married people think about when their marriage is in trouble and the price of being married seems to be too much?  What do parents think about when their teen is in trouble?   I believe that what we choose to see is what in fact we get.  If we chose to see evil, then evil will probably fill our minds and hearts and lead us to the place where evil dwells.  If we are standing in the midst of hell and choose to see good, then the goodness we see will lead us and guide us peacefully home.   Jesus chose to see the loving face of his heavenly Father as he hung on the Cross.  Jesus chose to see the glory of the Resurrection in the midst of his suffering.

 A very wise mother told her teen that he had to learn that there are two dogs inside each of us.  One of the dogs is mean, negative, ferocious and destructive.  The other dog is peaceful, positive and loving.  These two dogs are always trying to get our attention.  The teen said, “I know that these two dogs are inside of me.  I often feel the peaceful, positive dog and the ferocious negative dog challenging one another.  I am not sure which one is going to win.”  The mother said, “The answer is a very easy one. The dog that you feed is the dog that is going to win. You get to choose.  The things that you feed with your attention are the things that will ultimately dominate and guide your life.”

One of my very favorite memories of my dad happened at this time of the year.  I had been given the responsibility of bringing my little brother with me to the corner store.  My little brother dashed out into the street and was hit by a car.  I ran all the way home to tell my dad who was sitting in a big stuffed easy chair.  My father went running out of the house through the yard and over to the store with his attention set so completely on my brother than he did not realize that he was running through deep snow in his stocking feet.  He was paying attention neither to the snow nor to his feet.  All that we wanted to see was his son who had been hit by a car and needed him.  What we focus on is where we go.

God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can.  Just that many your descendants shall be.”   Abraham believed in the vision God showed him in the stars in the sky.  Even though he was an old man and had no children at all, he trusted that God would give him as many children as there are stars.   When God began to fulfill his promise by giving him a son, Abraham believed God even when God demanded that he sacrifice his son Isaac.  Abraham never saw the millions of children that have descended from him, but he believed in what he saw in the vision of the stars, and he let that vision guide his life.

When our lives are like a ship that is being battered by the wind and the waves it doesn’t help very much to keep looking at the roaring water.  When the storm is really bad we need to keep our eyes fixed on God.  It is possible to walk on raging waters; it is possible to walk head on into battle with the forces of evil if we keep our minds and hearts focused on God. Keeping our eyes, our minds and our hearts fixed on God and God’s promise of resurrection is the way to peace and eternal life.  For the God-given vision of life and hope that guides our lives we give God thanks and praise.