In Matthew’s Gospel, the Father speaks only twice—at the Transfiguration, and at his Son’s baptism. And both times he says the same thing: “This is my beloved Son! Listen to him!”
When we listen to Jesus, we acknowledge that he is not just one great philosopher or teacher out of many, but that he is the fulfillment of all our hopes and desires; he is God-Made-Man, whose glory is beyond anything we can imagine or comprehend. All we need to do is “Listen to him,” and we too will be transfigured.
Abraham and Paul leave their comfort zone
But listening to Jesus is not always easy or comfortable. In the first reading, Abraham was living a happy, prosperous life when God told him to leave everything, saying, “Go to a land I will show you.” That’s really vague, isn’t it? But Abraham listened and obeyed. He stepped out of his comfort zone and put his trust in God, and today, because of Abraham’s faith, we are now a part of God’s family.
St Paul had a similar experience. He was on the fast track to success in the Jewish faith when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus and invited him to take a different path. And it wasn’t an easy path. That’s why he writes to Timothy in the second reading, “Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.” Paul’s share of hardship included shipwrecks, imprisonments, beatings and, finally, martyrdom.
Listening to Jesus, hearing and obeying him, means willingly stepping out of our comfort zone for the sake of the gospel.
Let Christ conquer your heart
Pope John Paul II commented on this Gospel passage in his Angelus address on February 24 2002: “Life changes,” he said, “when the heart has been conquered by Christ.”
We all love Jesus; that’s why we’re here. But we’re also here because we feel a need to change our lives. Deep down we know we have not reached the spiritual maturity and peace of heart that we were created to have. Our hearts need to be fully conquered by Christ. But Jesus is too respectful to conquer our hearts against our will.
Today the Father is inviting us to let ourselves be conquered anew by Jesus Christ. How? By spending more time in heartfelt prayer, by delving into the marvelous teachings of the Church, by steeping ourselves in the living waters of the Gospels and the rest of Holy Scripture, by accompanying Christ himself truly present in the Eucharist, by serving Christ in our neighbors, and most of all by doing his will each day with faith, hope, and love, no matter the cost.
Most of us have probably given up something for Lent. That’s good; it reminds us that we have to govern our natural inclinations if we want to root out sin in our lives and become spiritually mature. But maybe we also need to take up something for Lent. It's good to weed a garden, but it is equally necessary to water and fertilize it, if we want the plants to grow.
We still have most of Lent ahead of us. Let’s take up something that will help us listen better to Jesus, like more prayer time, more Bible reading, more charity towards our relatives and friends. Christ is going to give himself to us again today in this Mass. Let’s not leave without giving him something in return: a specific promise to become better listeners.