Sunday Readings
February 17, 2008 :: Second Sunday of Lent
Scripture
GENESIS 12:1 — 4
God tells Abram and Sarai to journey to a new land.
2 TIMOTHY 1:8 — 10
God calls us to a holy calling.
MATTHEW 17:1 — 9
Transfiguration: Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain.
THEME
God calls us to journey. Sometimes we arrive at a beautiful mountaintop, seeing miraculous visions. Other times, we never seem to arrive. We seem to journey on and on with no destination, no order, no plan. We journey because we trust God, and God calls us to a holy calling.
FOCUSING OBJECT
A suitcase, knapsack, or travel bag
REFLECTIONS
• Abram and Sarai had to leave the land of their parents and travel to an unknown destination, trusting only God’s sense of direction. How would you feel if you had to go on an unknown journey? What would you be most afraid of? What would you be sure to bring? What could convince you to make such an unknown journey?
• God told Abram and Sarai that their names would be made great, and that they would be a blessing. God actually tells that to all of us. When does it seem easiest to believe that about yourself? When does it seem most difficult to believe it?
CLOSING
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it wll end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
-The Road Ahead
For complete Sunday reading go to http://www.usccb.org/nab/
In Touch With the Word: Lectionary-Based Prayer Reflections, by Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart (Winona, MN: Saint Mary’s Press, 2004).
Copyright © 2004 by Saint Mary’s Press, www.smp.org.
All rights reserved. Used with permission of the publisher.