HOMILY SECOND SUNDAY of LENT LISTEN Cycle A March 5, 2023

 SECOND SUNDAY of LENT   LISTEN    March 5, 2023

In the Gospel we just heard God the Father tells, or better commands, the Apostles Peter, James and John something both simple and difficult: “Listen to Him.”  To what, in particular, are they to listen?         A Scripture scholar in the Paulist Biblical Commentary emphasizes that they are to listen to the predictions of the Passion.   Predictions of the Passion!

And so in chapter 16, the chapter prior to ours, we read:

16:21-23  From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he^* must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”     Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Then almost immediately after today’s Gospel passage we have two more predictions of the passion in chapter 17 and then again in chapter 20.   And we are told that the disciples “were overwhelmed with grief.” (17:23)

I can understand the consternation and objections of the Apostles. 

They are hearing what sounds very counter-intuitive:  ¿Jesus is establishing God’s Kingdom by being falsely accused, tortured and killed?  It doesn’t make any sense.  It was difficult, hard, perplexing to hear.

Hence in our Gospel today God urges, “Listen to Him”. 

God wants the Apostles to take Jesus seriously and really listen to Jesus: not just the pleasant and comfortable words, but also, even especially, to the hard, difficult, and uncomfortable words. 

God’s ways are not our ways.

So what about us?  Jesus tells us all sorts of counter intuitive things:  forgive your enemies, share your wealth with the needy, do good to those who hate and hurt you, do not seek revenge.  And all sorts of other crazy stuff like that. 

The temptation is strong to not hear what Jesus says. To ignore all the hard, inconvenient, uncomfortable and weird phrases, and just focus on the easy parts, the good parts, the comfortable parts. 

But that is not listening to Jesus. 

Today’s Gospel is addressed as much to you and to me as it was to Peter, James and John.  Through this Gospel God speaks to each of us today: “Listen to Him.”   To all He says.   //

When I was a seminarian, a wise but rather off-beat and out there priest told us that when we are ordained the bishop will anoint our hands.  But he said that to be good priests the bishop should also anoint our ears.  Listening is so important.  So important, and in today’s world, so rare.

I think that ALL Baptized Christians should have anointed ears: ears to hear the cries of the poor.  Ears to hear the confusion and doubts of the lonely.  Ears to hear the lament of the sorrowing.  Ears to hear the sighing of the sad and depressed.  Ears to hear deeply.  So many people are not heard.

May all of our ears be anointed, not with holy oil, but with grace.  Take to heart the command of God from the cloud to the Apostles.  “Listen to Him.”     AMEN.