Genesis 12:1–4; Psalm 32(33); 2 Timothy 1:8–10; Matthew 17:1–9
Faith, Hope, and Suffering
Dear friends, today we are the Second Sunday of Lent. Nearly two weeks of this sacred season have already passed. Before entering into the reflection of today’s readings, it is necessary to pause and examine ourselves with honesty. How have we prayed? How have we fasted? How have we given alms? Have we truly repented, or have we merely adjusted our schedules? Lent does not transform us automatically. Grace is offered, but it must be received. If we move through this season superficially, we should not later complain that God has not acted in our lives.
Today’s readings direct our attention beyond the struggle of the present moment to the glory that awaits those who persevere in faith. The journey of faith is rarely comfortable. Its beginning may be uncertain, and its middle marked by fatigue. Yet its end is luminous. Faith enables us to see what is not yet visible. It allows us to endure the cross because we trust in the resurrection.
In the first reading, Abram receives a command that disrupts everything familiar: leave your land, your relatives, your father’s house. From our perspective, the story appears simple because we know the outcome. For Abram, there was no such clarity. He stepped into uncertainty sustained only by trust in God’s promise. Humanly speaking, the promise that he would become the father of a great nation seemed impossible. Age, circumstance, and reality argued against it. Yet faith opened a horizon beyond calculation.
Abram’s obedience required detachment. He had to separate himself from security, from routine, from inherited identity. Often, we remain trapped not because God has not spoken, but because we refuse to detach from what is comfortable. Sometimes growth demands that we leave environments, relationships, or patterns that diminish our vocation. Faith is not passive optimism; it is courageous movement.
St. Paul, writing to Timothy, attributes every good in his life not to personal merit but to divine grace. This grace, prepared from eternity, became visible in Christ Jesus. It is not earned. It is received. The Christian life is sustained not by human strength alone but by participation in the saving work accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ.
The Gospel presents the Transfiguration. After announcing His impending suffering, Jesus perceived the discouragement of His disciples. The prospect of the cross darkened their hope. To strengthen them, He led Peter, James, and John up the mountain. There, His divine glory became manifest. The One who would suffer was also the One who would be glorified.
The vision was not given to eliminate the cross, but to interpret it. The disciples were forbidden to speak of what they had seen. They were to sustain the others not by recounting extraordinary experiences but by steadfast faith. The mountain prepared them for Calvary. Glory did not remove suffering; it gave it meaning. Do you think that the sufferings you are enduring now have a meaning?
Our contemporary world is not lacking in Calvary moments. Communities endure droughts and floods intensified by climate instability. Nations suffer because dialogue yields to pride and power. Innocent people pay the cost of decisions made without conscience. People lose their lives because of the negligence and greed of those charged with the responsibility of serving them. Just the other day, I took a patient who was referred from our health centre for a blood transfusion to a public facility 35 km away. On arrival, the staff there told us that they had blood, but there was a power blackout, so they could not give her blood. It was 3.45 p.m. Everyone knows that blood transfusion doesn’t require electricity. We had to go another 45 km on a slippery road to another facility. On the way, there was a heavy downpour, and the bridges were flooded. We were getting out of time, and had to risk crossing. By God’s grace, we managed. Many live under the weight of uncertainty and fear because of corrupt public systems. Yet divine providence has not withdrawn. God continues to raise men and women who become signs of hope. Often, we ourselves are called to be that sign.
Like the three disciples, we have glimpsed the promise of glory through faith. We are not sent to impress others with extraordinary experiences. We are sent to strengthen them quietly through fidelity, integrity, and endurance. The Christian life is not sustained by a constant search for visible miracles. It is sustained by trust in the definitive act of salvation accomplished on the cross.
Faith matures when it persists without spectacle. It deepens when obedience continues even in silence. The glory that awaits us is not illusion; it is promise. But promise requires perseverance.
May this Lenten season refine our faith, detach us from what enslaves us, and fix our eyes on the glory prepared for those who remain faithful until the end.
Have a blessed Sunday.
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 