Podcast: 2nd Sunday of Lent, Year A

Hi and welcome to the Modern Psalmist Podcast. I’m Rebecca De La Torre.

Now we have reached the 2nd Sunday of Lent, so we are 10 days into our 40 day Lenten journey. The scriptures for today encourage us to stay the course and keep our focus on the Lord. We are reminded to seek God’s face, place our trust in the Lord, and listen to His word.

In our entrance antiphon from Psalm 27 verses 8 & 9, we echo our own heart’s deepest desire as we proclaim:

“Of you my heart has spoken: Seek his face.
It is your face, O Lord, that I seek;
hide not your face from me.”

Notice that it says

“of you my heart has spoken”

Our hearts seek God, our creator. If we take time to step back from this age of endless distraction and constant busyness, we can seek the Lord through prayer *and* by meditating on his scriptures. And in turn, we will meet our heart’s truest, deepest desire.

While the entrance antiphon focuses on seeking God’s face, the psalm encourages us to place our trust in the Lord and have faith that he will be merciful toward us.

Taken from Psalm 33, the response is

“Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.”

So far we have been encouraged us to seek God’s face and place our trust in the Lord. And in both the gospel acclamation and communion antiphon we are told to *listen* to God’s son, Jesus Christ.

The Gospel reading for the 2nd Sunday of Lent, whether it’s cycle A, B, or C, is always the story of the transfiguration. This year it’s from the book of Matthew, as is the gospel acclamation verse.

In the transfiguration, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with him up a high mountain by themselves to pray and Jesus is transfigured before their very eyes and Moses and Elijah appear and converse with him.

Can you imagine how magnificent that must have been to see? Peter must have been shocked out of his mind because he starts talking about building tents for Jesus and the two ancient prophets, when a bright cloud casts a shadow over them.

This brings us to our gospel acclamation from Matthew chapter 17, verse 5:

“From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:
This is my beloved Son, hear him.”

We need to seek God, put our trust in Him, and especially *listen* to him. I say “especially” because the communion antiphon repeats the same verse from Matthew chapter 17 verse 5:

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.”

But we have to be still first so we can hear his voice, don’t we?

Being still – quieting our hearts – that in itself is a challenge in this, the noisiest age ever know to mankind. And the noise is just multiplying exponentially with time.

By turning our hearts to the Lord, seeking his face, trusting in him, and listening to him, we will be blessed with profound inner peace that no stress or problem in this noisy world can disrupt. This is the promise echoed in the communion antiphon verses today.

There’s a song by Jacques Berthier from the Taizé community titled “Oculi Nostri” which is Latin for “our eyes” that really encompasses the message of the scriptures for today. The full refrain is

“Oculi nostri ad Dominum Deum
Oculi nostri ad Dominum nostrum”

which means

“Our eyes are on the Lord God
Our eyes are on our Lord”

Here is my interpretation of this beautiful Taizé hymn.

That was Oculi Nostri for the 2nd Sunday of Lent, year A. Links to each of the song recordings and sheet music can be found in the show notes below.

As you continue through Lent, remember to regularly turn your focus on the Lord, trust Him to take care of you, and repeatedly listen to His word.

See you next week for the 3rd Sunday of Lent. God bless you.