The Father Speaks

“Then from the cloud came a voice that said,

‘This is my chosen Son; listen to him.’”

Luke 9:35

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First published as “Listen to Him” on March 13, 2022.

On this Second Sunday of Lent the Church proclaims, hears, and ponders Luke’s account of the Transfiguration, where the Father spoke from the cloud affirming Jesus’ identity. But, the Father also spoke to Peter, John, and James, and He speaks to us today the same message and command: “Listen to Him.”

We do not see many times in the New Testament where God the Father speaks directly, but this is one of them. The Father affirms that Jesus is His chosen Son before the Apostles on the mountain and also instructs them to listen to Him. To really see the profundity of this, we have to see what comes right before this. The passages leading up to the Transfiguration are: Peter’s confession of who Jesus is, the first prediction of the passion, and also Jesus’ explanation of the conditions of discipleship. On the mountain, Jesus appeared in His glory, giving the Apostles a glimpse of the Resurrection and what awaits them. This happened only after Peter declared his confession, Jesus predicted what will happen to Him, and Jesus told the disciples what is needed to follow Him (deny oneself, pick up one’s cross, and follow Him). And now, the Father tells the Apostles “Listen to Him.” Listen to who Jesus is. Listen to what Jesus will have to endure for the salvation of souls. Listen to what Jesus says is needed to be in relationship with Him and with the Father. Listen to how much you are loved. Listen to Him.

To be a disciple, to be a Christian means to “Listen to Him.” To be a Christian means to know that we must follow the Lord not only in His glory, but also the path to it — His exodus (cf. Lk. 9:31). Just as Moses led the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt, so too does Christ lead the people out of slavery from their sins. Christ leads a people who have become dead by their attachment to sin to new life in freedom as children of God. There will be glory, but never without the Cross. Never without suffering, never without sacrifice. But we know that this suffering and sacrifice are not meaningless because we have seen His glory. Because Peter, James, and John saw Jesus in His glory, although they fled when the soldiers came to arrest Him, they ultimately walked the exodus and endured the suffering. They listened to Him.

As we continue our Lenten journey, let us spend more time listening to the Lord who speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. Let us listen to Him because He who has loved us with an everlasting love has asked this of us. In listening to Him may we find the courage and strength to live out the exodus of our lives, carrying our crosses, knowing that at the end of our pilgrimage is a happiness and glory that cannot be described with words, a joy and peace that is everlasting.

Watch this week’s reflection below.

Hunger for God

“He ate nothing during those days,
and when they were over he was hungry.”

Luke 4:2b

On the First Sunday of Lent we always hear the account of Jesus’s temptation by the enemy. This temptation by the enemy comes after Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days after being led by the Spirit into the desert. We hear in Hebrews, “Son though He was, he learned obedience from what He suffered” (5:8). In His obedience, Jesus went into the desert where wild beasts and the enemy awaited Him, but He knew that the Father would be there too. During those forty days, the Lord probably prayed and communed with the Father and the Spirit, preparing for the start of His public ministry. Having been fasting, Jesus ate nothing and of course, He was hungry, and the devil saw it as the perfect time to tempt Him.

Seeing that Jesus was hungry and knowing that hunger weakens people and creates an opening for vulnerability, the enemy thought he could for sure tempt Jesus successfully and so he tried. The enemy tempted Jesus three times: change stone into bread, kingdoms and powers if He worships him, and to test the Father’s providence and protection. However, each time Jesus responded with the Word of God. The enemy used the three most worldly desires to tempt Jesus: power, possessions, and fame, but Jesus’s eyes were set on God. Yes, He was hungry from fasting, but He hungered more for God, more for the will of His Father.

During Lent we are called to focus on three things: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We are called to fast from worldly attachments so that we might hunger for heavenly truths. We must remember that we are natural beings made for a supernatural end. We are in this world but are not of it. We are human beings but we were made for God. As such, our lives must be ordered towards that. We must not settle for temporal, fleeting worldly pleasures, but we must rather hunger for true joy, the joy that comes from God Himself.

This Lent, may we, like the Lord, be obedient to the Spirit allowing Him to lead us to the wildernesses of our hearts where yes our darkest secrets and deepest wounds lie, but also where the Lord awaits to meet us and heal us. May our prayer and fasting this Lent lead us to God, who alone can satiate our hunger.

Watch this week’s reflection below.

Duc in Altum

"Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch."

Luke 5:4

Duc in altum means “put out into the deep,” the command and invitation Jesus imparted unto Simon, the fisherman. This comes after Simon had been out all night fishing but was unable to catch anything. Here, on the surface, Jesus, probably an unexperienced fisherman, gives to Simon fishing advice! Yet, Simon entertains Him, saying, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets,” and when he did, the catch was unpredictably enormous.

Some may say it could be a coincidence, and others may call it a timing problem, and many more will doubt that it was providence or a miracle. But it was a miracle. It was the Son of God intervening in nature for the good of man, not simply for a catch of fish, but for a catch of souls, the salvation of souls. Jesus asked Simon to do something that seemed senseless and futile, putting his nets in the water he just did for the entire night that yielded nothing. Yet, knowing this, Jesus asked Simon to anyways because He knew what He was about to do. Jesus never asks us to do something that will be fruitless. Perhaps Simon spent his time in the shallow waters, and so Jesus asked him to try again in the deep waters. Maybe Simon had been unwilling to go into the deep, but rather settled for the safety of the shallow.

Similarly in our spiritual lives, if we constantly stay on the surface or even become content with the superficial, we will find ourselves unable to really connect with the Lord, becoming frustrated and later abandoning prayer all together. We must be willing to go into the deep with the Lord. We have to search and examine the depths of our hearts and bring before the Lord those areas we rather not show or visit. Going into the deep may sometimes be dangerous, but the Lord promises us that it will always be worth it. For to put out into the deep is to place our trust completely in God, and sometimes that can be scary. However, there is no need to fear, because we do not do this alone. Just as Jesus was in the boat with Simon as he cast his nets into the deep, so too will Jesus be with us when we go into the depths of our hearts.

To truly follow Christ, we must do so unreservedly, with our whole beings, with our whole hearts. And I promise you, when you do, your life will never be the same, your life will be filled with the joy and peace that Jesus comes to bring to us because when we live in such a way, it is not longer us who lives, but Christ who lives in us. Perhaps that is the life Jesus came to give to us, a share in His divinity, life with God Himself, and what a catch that is!