Archbishop of Sydney

Second Sunday of Lent

St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney
Gen 12:1-4; 2 Tim 1:8-10; Mt 17:1-9

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
17/2/2008

We are celebrating the Second Sunday of Lent, barely twelve days into this penitential season of preparation for the feast of Easter, when we were redeemed by the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Certainly if you have not decided on your Lenten programme, on what extra prayers, penance and almsgiving you are saying and doing, then I suggest that you make these Lenten resolutions this morning.

It is not enough to decide to make a good contribution to Project compassion, the Caritas appeal for relief and development overseas and ignore the other religious challenges. Is your regular prayer life getting weaker? If so, now is the time to reverse that trend and fit in some extra prayer. Do we sometimes suspect that we are becoming softer and more comfortable, cutting corners on carrying out our duties? Then Lent is the time to do a few extra penances, to train our wills by making small sacrifices so we will be better able to rise to the big challenges, to surmount significant temptations when they arrive. Good intentions are useless with a weak will.

Certainly Lent is a period for everyone to go to confession and receive forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation; especially for those who have drifted from going to regular confession. The practice of individual confession and personal absolution from the priest is better appreciated than it was ten years, because there is more need than ever for the spiritual healing which follows repentance and forgiveness.

Now back to the readings. For many years I wondered why the account of the Transfiguration was placed on this Sunday so early in Lent. In fact the reason is obvious as the Church is calling us to examine the quality of our own faith in Jesus Christ and in the love of His Father for us.

At different stages in a person’s life it can be harder to believe than at other times. Would the post-school years, or perhaps the post-university years before young people settle down, marry and have children be the most difficult for belief? The mystery of childbirth and the practical necessity of deciding what values and truths parents will try to hand onto their children are usually occasions which re-stimulate faith, if it has not been completely extinguished.

Different ages in history demonstrate different patterns of belief.  Recently one author was pondering why it seemed to be almost impossible not to believe in God in the Europe of the 1500’s. While today in Europe, he claimed, the situation was almost the opposite with many finding it difficult to believe. He was of course exaggerating, even for Western Europe, because unbelievers who do predominate, noise-wise at least, among opinion formers try to institute a closed shop. This is something similar to pagan minorities here regularly proclaiming Sydney as sin city, when in fact by Australian standards it is quite religious; certainly more religious than Melbourne and close to being the most religious capital in Australia.

I am sure that the Transfiguration strengthened the faith of Peter, James and John in a spectacular way for the terrible trials that lay ahead for Jesus and then in their lives as apostolic missionaries. They would have been grateful for that extraordinary miracle for the rest of their lives.

Many people have individual moments of grace, of personal illumination which can transform them or confirm them in the paths they have chosen. Recently a person who nearly died told me how this had strengthened his personal faith in God. There are other quite different triggers also.

For some it will be quiet moments of prayer.  For others it might come during the celebration of Mass, perhaps in a grand setting like a Cathedral or a huge gathering like a Papal Mass. Perhaps in the quiet of the evening, before a beautiful sunset or early in the morning confronting the regular mystery of the sun rising. It might be a moment of contentment after a happy family occasion, or perhaps after some personal or community challenge has been surmounted.

We should savour these occasions and not imagine that such an experience is rare. In fact they are not at all unusual. Moments of clarity and faith are particularly useful memories in those black moments, when we feel God is absent, when we don’t feel religious at all.

Lent is not only a time to purify our hearts and improve our moral selves. It is also an opportunity to work at strengthening our faith by prayer, penance and acts of generosity.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.