Second Sunday of Lent

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Father Daniel Schomaker

Guest

On this, the Second Sunday of Lent, we hear the account of the Transfiguration of our Lord on Mt. Tabor. As Jesus converses with Moses and Elijah, Peter, in awe and shock of what is happening, says to the Lord: “It is good that we are here.” In this encounter had by the Lord, we see the fullness of the Church — the Old Testament and the New Testament — brought together through the teachers of the faith of old (Moses and Elijah) and the “new” teachers of the faith (Peter, James and John), with the Lord in their midst.

This made me start to reflect on when the Lord Jesus is most in our midst — at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is there that we encounter the Lord in four ways:

  1. In the community gathered at prayer.
  2. In the minister who is in persona Christi capitis (in the person of Christ the head).
  3. In the proclamation of the Sacred Scriptures.
  4. And most importantly, in his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity really and truly present in the Eucharist.

We believe that when we participate in the celebration of Holy Mass, we are partaking in a Divine Mystery — where the whole Church, across space and time, gathers in worship. So, not only do we get to have an encounter with Jesus, but with the Church. Therefore, we should echo the words of St. Peter: “It is good that we are here!”

Our beloved Catholic faith is very personal, but it is not individualist — it is communal. I need you, and you need me, and we need each other in order to get to heaven. In a real way, we NEED to be here at Mass!

That personal relationship with the Lord is developed primarily at Holy Mass through its twofold end — the glorification of God and the sanctification of his people. And it’s not a one-off. Every time we go to Mass, we glorify God in our worship of him, and hence we are made holy. The more we are made holy (sanctification), the greater the desire one has to enter into worship (glorification). This then leads to holiness and then back to worship, and on and on and on and on until we stand before the throne of the Almighty. It’s kind of the Church’s version of the chicken and the egg.

So, let us be sure this Lent we are showing up so that we can express like St. Peter: “It is good that we are here!”

Father Daniel Schomaker is pastor, Blessed Sacrament Parish, Ft. Mitchell and director, Office of Worship and Liturgy for the Diocese of Covington, Ky.