The Collect for the Second Week of Lent

O God, Who have commanded us to listen to Your beloved Son, be pleased, we pray, to nourish us inwardly by Your word, that, with spiritual sight made pure, we may rejoice to behold Your glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

Who have commanded us to listen to Your beloved Son – In this Sunday's Gospel, we hear about Jesus' transfiguration. A cloud casts a shadow over the mountain, ad the Father's voice rings out, “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him.” How well do we listen to Jesus? Do we allow His words in Sacred Scripture, in Sacred Tradition, through the Magisterium of the Church, and whispering in our hearts to shape our lives and our being? Or do we only listen to Jesus when it is convenient or when His words match what we already think? The Father places no qualifier on His commandment. We are to listen to Jesus at all times. Remember, too, that in the original Greek of the Bible, the word for listen also holds the additional connotations of pay attention and obey.

nourish us inwardly by Your word – “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Thus says Jesus to the tempter in Matthew 4:4, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. Our Lord's words are meant to feed us spiritually, to help us grow and flourish in love. What's more, Jesus is the Word of God Who nourishes us in a special way in the Holy Eucharist when He comes to us Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

with spiritual sight made pure – We need to ask ourselves if we are seeing clearly or if the eyes of our spirits and souls have become cloudy through sin and distraction. Then we must pray to God to purify our spiritual sight so we may see Him as clearly as possible in this life and face-to-face in eternity.

we may rejoice to behold Your glory – We often talk a lot about our goals. We set them frequently, some manageable, others not so much, some worldly, others spiritual, some we would be better off not making, others that are helpful in many ways. But we often lose sight of our first goal, the one that must take precedence over all other goals: attaining everlasting, perfect joy in the presence of God. God made us to become saints and dwell with Him in Heaven forever. If that isn't our highest goal, then we need to adjust our priorities.