Second Sunday Of Lent

Maryknoll Sr. Teresa Hougnon reflects on embracing a courageous, honest peace.

Our Lenten journey is a time to take a long, loving look at why we follow Christ. With prayer, scripture and reflection time, we go into the deepest part of ourselves where we connect with God. It is in this place where we find our Why, our passion, the deep inner spark that is our indwelling of God. In that space is love, hope, and peace, the peace that Pope Leo XIV says in his World Day of Peace message “wants to dwell within us.”

The readings of the Second Sunday of Lent tell of the Transfiguration. Jesus goes out to the mountain side with Peter, James and John. He is transfigured in the apostles’ eyes, with Elijah and Moses. Peter wants to build a tent, but a voice comes from the clouds, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” In Timothy, we are reminded that God called us to this holy life through grace. Ours is only to embrace God’s love, hope and peace that already dwell within us.

In our context today, peace and hope seem to be small glimmers in the face of hatred, violence and fear that is being waged against our immigrant brothers and sisters and anyone who stands as their neighbor. As we seek the unarmed and disarming peace that Pope Leo has presented us, we need to reflect on the peace within us and what we can learn from our own God-given agency as God’s beloved.

In Kenya, I worked with my sisters and the people of Kenya to restore peace in the communities that had suffered post-election violence characterized as ethnic conflict. We gathered people in small groups to have conversations about the events that had taken place and their hopes for peace. We believe social change cannot happen without personal change. We recognized that we had in each group both victim and perpetrator. Indeed, there is a bit of both in each of us.

Pope Leo talks about a disarmament of the soul. We cannot possibly find disarming peace in the world if we do not begin with our own inner self. I was reminded of this every time we gathered in our small circles.

In one such circle, the third in a series of six with the same group, a woman who had been very reserved, expressed the deep anger she was feeling. She was angry because she and other participants were not being honest in their sharings. She recognized that nothing would change without honesty and openness. By expressing her anger, she was disarming her own heart as well as other participants. We need a safe space to express all our feelings that block our capacity to connect with each other. Once she was able to express that anger, she engaged more fully with other participants. And the space was open for others to do the same. That community in Kenya, called Molo, has not experienced such post-election violence since 2008.

Recently, I experienced intense rage when a loved one was challenged by injustice. With reflection, I realized the intensity of my rage went beyond this one incident. I had not allowed myself to feel the rage in me in response to the injustices happening around our country, against immigrants and citizens alike. I wanted only to cling to hope. Once I was able to recognize deep rage within me, I could use that energy to call for justice and make room for real hope, and the disarming peace that dwells within can be used to engage a world of injustice that needs the disarmament of life.

The scriptures remind us, as Abraham’s descendants, we are made to bring blessings to the nations. We can do that by disarming our hearts and minds with as Pope Leo says, “a peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. It comes from God who loves us all unconditionally.”

Sister Teresa Hougnon, MM, led peacebuilding and conflict transformation ministries in East Africa and currently serves as the president of the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation Leadership Team in Maryknoll, New York.