Beloved Sons and Daughters of a Loving Father Second Sunday of Lent Year A

Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 33; 2 Timothy 1:8b-10; Matthew 17:1-9

            Today’s Gospel passage describes Jesus’ transfiguration when, on a high mountain, Jesus’ divinity shone so intensely through his body that not only did “his face shine like the sun” but even the very clothes he wore “became white as light.” 

         In this state, witnessed by Peter, James, and John, Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah. As he was conversing with Moses and Elijah, a bright cloud, representing the Holy Spirit, “cast a shadow over them” and the Heavenly Father’s voice spoke, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”.

         Jesus knew that he is a beloved Son. Jesus knew that his Heavenly Father, in the love of the Holy Spirit, is delighted by his beloved Son.

         Some of us, perhaps many of us, or even all of us, do not deeply believe that our identity in Jesus is being a beloved son and daughter whom the Heavenly Father, in the love of the Holy Spirit, delights in. However, the Heavenly Father’s delight in us as beloved is the essential truth of who we are. 

         According to Saint John Paul II, the root cause of our sins stems from not accepting the truth that the Heavenly Father deeply loves us and beholds us with delight. ^[1] Identity lies that contradict who we actually are, beloved by a loving father, include, writes Bob Schuchts: “I am not loved; I am not wanted; I am alone; no one cares [about me]; [I am powerless; I cannot do anything. [Nothing] make[s] sense; [Everything is confusing.]; [I cannot trust anyone for if I do] I will be hurt; I am [never] safe. I am bad, dirty, stupid…it’s all my fault. Things will never change.” Schuchts summarizes these lies into lies of rejection, abandonment, powerlessness, confusion, fear, shame, and hopelessness. ^[2]

         When our identity is informed by these lies, we are much more likely to sin. 

         Today, with the help of the Holy Spirit, may we reclaim our true identity, which is being a beloved son and daughter of the most loving Father, the Heavenly Father. May we listen deeply and hear the tender voice of our Heavenly Father, asserting that we are beloved. May we believe more deeply, in the words of Father Henri Nouwen, “Being the beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.”^[3]

         I invite all to participate in the following exercise of Bob Schuchts. In describing this exercise, he writes:

Let’s put this into practice: Suppose someone said something that offended you, and you are left feeling rejected. Try praying the following: In the name and authority of Jesus Christ, which I received in my Baptism, I renounce the lie that I am not loved or loveable. I renounce the curse of rejection that comes from the father of lies. I renounce the authority that I have given to anyone else but you, Father, to tell me my value and worth. You, Father, are the only one who completely knows me and loves me as I am. I acknowledge that by virtue of my Baptism, I am loved and delighted in by you, Father. I also acknowledge that, by virtue of my blessing in Baptism, you have given me your Holy Spirit, whose love is poured out into my heart. I am one with Jesus, your beloved. Amen.^[4]

May God Bless You All. – Father Peter

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^[1] John Paul II, “Dominum et Vivificantem, On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World,” vatican.va, https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_18051986_dominum-et-vivificantem.html, 37, 39.

^[2] Bob Schuchts, Be Transformed: The Healing Power of the Sacraments, 25.

^[3] Bob Schuchts, Be Transformed: The Healing Power of the Sacraments, 46. Cited Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved, 33.

^[4] Bob Schuchts, Be Transformed: The Healing Power of the Sacraments, 49-50.