Second Sunday in Lent

“Listen to him!”

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Mark 9:2-9

by Kalesita Faasisila

Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”

Mark 9:7

I think back to a couple of weeks ago when my daughter knocked at my door late at night to drop off my son who was hurt. He was picked up by his siblings to go sightseeing after he was told not to go anywhere. While riding an electric scooter, he fell and hurt himself.

“Listen,” is an overused word by parents. I know because I use it daily with my grown kids. I still hear it from my mother and my superiors at work. I confess that many times I have blocked my ears from great things and didn’t know it. This was my son on this day. My son had been drinking and was told not to go anywhere. But he left the house anyway.

Reflecting on the Scripture, we are to listen to God’s beloved son, Jesus. Mark reminds us that our connection with God is by listening to the teaching, healing, and nourishment through Jesus. Describing the dazzling white cloth, I imagine looking at the sun and being unable to fully capture its brightness. When we are overshadowed by our struggles through life we can listen to others and end up on an unfamiliar and unwanted path rather than lifting our prayers directly to Jesus. Mark reminds us in this Scripture that the only voice we should be listening to is the Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Loving Father, thank you for reminding us to hear your Beloved Son, whom you so love. Teach us to listen daily to all the good things you have created and provided. Amen.

Kalesita Faasisila is serving her second year as dean of Mission u for the California-Nevada Conference United Women in Faith. She is a proud mother of five and a grandmother. She is currently training to become a certified lay minister. She proclaims, “Here I am Lord, I am listening, send me!”

The photograph is from the 2024 Prayer Guide.