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An unexpected large bill arrives in your inbox. The shower drain gets clogged. You almost forget an important birthday. You slip on the ice and strain your shoulder. Your teenager has become unusually quiet and reserved. Your parents are seriously slowing down and need extra support to manage daily tasks. The UVA basketball team destroys your alma mater. Sound familiar?

Life is messy. At times, life can be complicated, exhausting and discouraging. It is very easy to get distracted along our journey and take our gaze off the Lord. It is easy to give in to harmful temptations in the midst of the craze of life and do things that hurt God, family and self. It is easy to wander from the path that leads to Jesus and find ourselves lonely, disgusted and wondering if life has much meaning.

Lent is here. Lent is the church’s gift to us — the sounding of an alarm and an invitation to turn back to God with our hearts, our precious time and our full attention. Lent is a powerful invitation to pause, take an honest look at our lives and refocus. Sometimes, Lent is a challenge to do a 180-degree turn. Have I gotten trapped in a rut where I am trying to do everything on my own, stupidly failing to turn to Jesus for guidance and strength, and to take refuge in his tender embrace? Am I letting everyday burdens get in the way of engaging my God who loves me more than I can ever imagine?

To encourage us today, the church presents us with Abraham in our first reading from the Book of Genesis. Abraham’s story is one of remarkable faith in God. Abraham is an old man when God approaches and asks him to do something difficult and unexpected. The Lord asks Abraham to place tremendous faith in God’s goodness and wisdom by picking up his very large extended family (he and Sarah have no children at this time), packing up all his belongings and starting off on a journey to an unknown destination. It is a radical invitation to profound trust. The request is completely unreasonable from a purely human standpoint. Yet, Abraham responds with a mighty act of faith and does what God asks.

As the story unfolds, Abraham is enormously blessed. God cannot be outdone in generosity. God establishes an everlasting covenant with Abraham and his descendants, promising that they will be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. God takes him by his strong right arm and gently leads him on a challenging journey to a promised land. God sends him a beloved son, Isaac, who is essential to the fulfillment of

God’s promise. Abraham becomes our father in faith. He models the call to trusting faith and teaches us that God’s ways, even when not fully understood, lead to the fullness of life.

In our Gospel today, Jesus promises his Apostles strength for the journey and provides them with a spectacular revelation of his power and glory. Jesus leads Peter, James and John up a high mountain where he is transfigured before their very eyes. His face and clothes shine with a wonderful brilliance. Jesus grants these important leaders of the early church a glimpse of his full identity as God’s only begotten Son. In addition, two of the greatest Old Testament figures, Moses and Elijah, also appear and converse with Jesus. Their presence during this revelation suggests that all the Old Testament is being fulfilled in their presence. Jesus is now the definitive revelation of God for mankind. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus wants to provide moments of inspiration and encouragement for you and me as well, especially when we need them most. Jesus greatly desires to reveal himself to us in a personal and definitive way. He longs to shower his mercy upon us and bring us the glorious peace of knowing we have been genuinely forgiven. Jesus comes to us today to heal our broken hearts and grant us newness of life. Jesus restores our hope in him and invites us to place our great trust in his goodness and providential care. Jesus equips with all that we need to bring his light into the world.