Second Sunday of Lent

“This is my chosen Son; listen to him”
 
In this gospel reading, Peter has seen Jesus speaking to Moses and Elijah, and unknowingly says that they should prepare a tent for each one. I have been Peter before, and I can recall the times where I have unknowingly let other things that are not Jesus into my heart.
 
In college, I often allowed anxiety to have a space within me. There was always so much going on with classes, friends, my family back at home, and my job. The anxiety would put a halt on my ability to live a life of freedom within my own mind. I would think of what could go wrong, and I would end up doing nothing. I missed out on opportunities to make new friends, or try a sport I knew I wasn’t good at just because I listened to my anxiety.
 
The devil is quite good at deceiving us into housing things that are not Christ-like. Although Moses and Elijah were not exactly evil, or the work of the devil, they were not the “chosen Son”. The one who was spit on, mocked, and hung on the cross because he loved us. The chosen Son who became the living sacrifice through his passion, death and resurrection and laid down His life in atonement for our sins. It was never meant to be Moses and Elijah who would dwell in us for eternal life. They were only a part of the salvation history, just like you and I are a part of the same story.
 
Although we know this, how do we live this? How am I living a life where I am listening to the chosen Son? It can be the 5 minutes I close my eyes and pray. The time I spend with the Blessed Sacrament, one of God’s tents here on earth. Reflecting on this scripture made me think of the things that I listen to in my life. Is it the anxiety that I listen to, or the peacefulness that I am able to experience as I listen to God in the adoration chapel? So, during this Lenten season remember “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”
 
Jocelyn Alcala is a Notre Dame Echo Apprentice currently serving in the Office of Family Life and Hispanic Ministry.