Abram went as the LORD directed him. – Genesis 12
Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you. – Psalm 33
Bear your share of hardship for the gospel
with the strength that comes from God. – 2 Timothy 1
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.” - Matthew 17
The Transfiguration is one of those moments of comfort that Jesus offered to his disciples to prepare them for what is ahead. The Preface (the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer) for the Feast Day of the Transfiguration (August 6th) says,
“He revealed his glory in the presence of chosen witnesses … that the scandal of the Cross might be removed from the hearts of his disciples and that he might show how in the Body of the whole Church is to be fulfilled what so wonderfully shone forth first in its Head.”
The Preface for this Sunday says,
“For after he had told the disciples of his coming Death,
on the holy mountain he manifested to them his glory,
to show, even by the testimony of the law and the prophets,
that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection.”
I need that kind of comforting in Lent. Maybe we all do. If I am renewed in a sense of Jesus’ love for me and even a glimpse into the whole story, I’ll be closer to being renewed than by anything I might do by my own efforts. The “whole story” is what tends to fall into the background, too often. In the midst of some messy set of things that pile up, from time to time, the powerful reality of the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection seems far away. When I’m comforted to remember that all is well. I am loved. I am forgiven. I am not alone. I will live for all eternity in that love.
With that deep renewal, I’ll be better at being freer to love, to forgive, to reach out in mercy, to accompany and comfort others.
This is a journey. Like Abram, we are called to leave our “home” – the unhealthy, deadly, unloving patterns we call home – and to make our home in Jesus. In these words, or with our own words - let us pray.
Dear Lord, I really need your help these days of Lent. Accompany me, guide me, comfort me to receive the gifts and graces you want to offer me, so that I might grow in freedom, in courage and in hope. Make my heart more like yours. Don’t let me be afraid or discouraged. Let me be a source of healing and reconciliation. Let me put my trust in you, as we grow close each day on this journey.
Rev. Andy Alexander, SJ
Co-founder of Creighton’s Online Ministries, Retired 2025
I served at Creighton from 1996 to 2025. I served as Vice-president for Mission for three Presidents, directed the Collaborative Ministry Office and co-founded the Online Ministries website.
I loved seeing the number of faculty and staff who over the years really took up the mission as their own and made Creighton the Jesuit university it is today. I was also consoled to witness the website – a collaborative effort - touch the hearts of so many around the world.
I’m now living at St. Camillus – a Jesuit care facility in Milwaukee. Many of my days are spent dealing with my own health issues, as I carry out the mission we’ve been given, “to pray for the Church and the Society of Jesus.”
