March 5, 2023

Second Sunday of Lent

Readings:

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

The text below printed in color and italics is sung.

To hear a recording of the song, click on the button below.

Only part of the song was actually sung during the homily.

Our God is an awesome God,
who reigns from heaven above
with wisdom, power and love,
our God is an awesome God!

Our God called an old man and old woman
to go far from home
with a simple promise
that one day what seemed impossible
would come to pass.

They had no idea what the final destination would be,
but our God promised to show them the way.

They only knew that God had made them a promise,
and that was enough for them.

Our God is an awesome God!

The Psalmist today reminds us:
Upright is the word of the Lord,
and all God’s works are trustworthy.
God loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full.

Our God is an awesome God!

The letter to Timothy today tells us:
God saved us and called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to God’s own plans.

God bestowed on us grace in Christ Jesus before time began,
which God has revealed to us
through the coming of Christ
who destroyed death
and brought us life and immortality.

Our God is an awesome God!

And when Peter, James and John weren’t sure
what to make of all that Jesus had been telling them,

our God showed them a glimpse of divinity
as Jesus was transfigured before their very eyes.

They saw his glory!

Our God is an awesome God!

As we gather here,
around the table of the Word
and the table of the Eucharist,
our God reveals mercy,
wisdom, power and love,
once again.

Our God takes words on a page,
and speaks to our hearts in words we might understand,
words that might transform us
into the very sons and daughters of God.

Our God tells us stories of wonders long past,
so that we might recognize the wonders of God
all around us.

Our God is an awesome God!

And our God takes simple things,
like bread and wine,
fruits of the earth and works of human hands,
and transform them into wondrous gifts:
the Body and Blood of Christ our Lord.

And then God give them to us to eat,
so that we might become the dwelling place of God,
so that we might become the Body of Christ,
so that Christ’s Precious Blood might flow through our veins and arteries.

Our God is an awesome God!

And so, like Peter, we cry out,
“Lord, it is good that we are here.”

Like Peter, we hardly know what to make of it all.

Our God is with us,
in us,
all around us.

And our God shouts out to us,
”This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.”

  • words similar to those spoken when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan!
  • words God whispered to us when we, too, were baptized
    when we, too, became the beloved sons and daughters of God,
    those with whom God is well pleased!

Our God is an awesome God!

Yet unlike Peter, James and John,
we are not told to keep what we see and hear a secret.

We know that the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.

And so, when we leave this place,
we are invited to go and tell the world
what we have seen and heard.

We are invited to go in peace
to love and serve the Lord,
to announce the Gospel of the Lord,
to glorify the Lord by our lives.

We are sent to proclaim to all the world
that our God is an awesome God.

Our God is an awesome God,
who reigns from heaven above
with wisdom, power and love,
our God is an awesome God!