My friends,
This weekend’s readings are so full of astonishing comfort... I hope you didn’t miss it.

First, let’s tackle the First Reading. It is the story of Abraham and Isaac. It is the story of a loving father. It is a story of his only beloved son. A story of the father willing to sacrifice that son. A story of the son willingly carrying the very wood that would lead to his execution up a hill. The son laying upon that wood for the sacrifice. It taking place—quite possibly—in the same precise spot where all these things would take place again 2000 years later.

In our gospel for this second Sunday of Lent, we heard the account of Christ’s transfiguration. The transfiguration is a very significant moment in the salvific work of Christ. It was a source of motivation for Christ and a source of inspiration for future believers. It futures prominently during the second Sunday of Lent to remind believers that though Lent invites us to make sacrifices, it is very much a journey to grace and glory.

There are many reasons the event of the transfiguration took place. But chief amongst all the reasons proposed is the revelation of the divine nature of Christ. And this has some implications for our lives as believers. Today, I will like to reflect on two of those implications.

If you haven’t heard, every Wednesday of Lent, I’ll release a short video on our website and Parish Facebook Page. This past Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) was just the primer for the weeks to come. And this coming Wednesday’s video will be about some things we might want to remove from our lives. But we don’t just want to create a vacuum. We need to fill our lives with good things...holy things. I know of just the opportunity for some of you.

Today is Valentine’s Day. (If you need to set this down and run to the local grocery store’s floral department— no worries—I’ll wait right here......you back? Okay.) It’s all about love. And some commercialism. But mostly LOVE.

It is the perfect word to describe our God. Everything God creates and everything God does and even everything God allows emanates from love. It can be so hard to believe or understand in various seasons of life, but that doesn’t diminish from its truth.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus encounters a leper. Take note of the wording here: a leper. Not a man suffering from a disease. The disease has become the identity.

Early last week, at about 6pm Arizona time, and 2am Nigerian time, my kid sister Alice called me on the phone and she sounded very nervous. I thought my mom was having a health crisis. My mom has a high blood pressure condition. But it was not about my mom. It was about my kid brother who has been battling with alcohol and drug addiction. He came to Makurdi to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the family. So we asked him to stay in Makurdi for some time while we plan on helping him get some treatment for his addiction. But that night, he came back drunk and was very violent. It scared me to death. But thank goodness he calmed down and went to bed.

Would you like an uplifting quote from the Bible to get you through these tough times? Well join me, won’t you? Let’s go to today’s First Reading!

“If in bed I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again.” (from Job 7)

Yeah. Well. Hang on. First things first.

Don’t most of us feel this way sometimes? Some of us more often than others?