March 1, 2026 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:04In the first reading we hear the Lord
2. 0:06say to Abram,
3. 0:08"Go forth from the land of your
4. 0:10kinsfolk,
5. 0:12from your father's house to a land that
6. 0:14I will show you."
7. 0:17And Abram went as the Lord directed him.
8. 0:22That's it.
9. 0:23No debate, no follow-up questions, no
10. 0:26spreadsheets, no maps,
11. 0:29just a command and a promise.
12. 0:32"Go," he tells him.
13. 0:35If you want to understand Lent,
14. 0:37understand that word, "go."
15. 0:42Because the spiritual life does not
16. 0:43begin with inspiration, it begins with
17. 0:45interruption.
18. 0:48God interrupts Abram's stability,
19. 0:52his routine, his way of life, his
20. 0:54security, his identity.
21. 0:57He says, "Leave."
22. 1:00Leave what is familiar, leave what is
23. 1:03comfortable, leave what has defined you
24. 1:05up to now.
25. 1:08And Abram goes.
26. 1:11Notice what God does not give him.
27. 1:14He does not give him a destination,
28. 1:17no timeline, no explanation, just this,
29. 1:20"I will show you."
30. 1:24That's the entire spiritual life.
31. 1:27We want clarity
32. 1:30without We want clarity before
33. 1:32obedience.
34. 1:34God asks for obedience before clarity.
35. 1:38We want guarantees.
36. 1:41God gives promises.
37. 1:43We want to know how it ends before we
38. 1:46agree to begin.
39. 1:48God says, "Start walking."
40. 1:52Abram becomes Abraham not because he
41. 1:55understood everything,
42. 1:58but because he moved when God asked him
43. 2:00to move.
44. 2:03And here's where it gets uncomfortable.
45. 2:06Lent is not about giving up small
46. 2:08pleasures. Lent is God saying the same
47. 2:11word to you,
48. 2:13"Go."
49. 2:16"Go forth from the land of your
50. 2:17kinsfolk."
51. 2:20What is that for you?
52. 2:23Well, it may be habits or vices that are
53. 2:25slowly hurting your soul.
54. 2:29It may be a version of Christianity
55. 2:31that's comfortable but very shallow.
56. 2:35It may be distraction. It may be
57. 2:38compromise. It may be the quiet
58. 2:40addiction to control everything.
59. 2:44"Go forth from your father's house," he
60. 2:47says.
61. 2:49That means leave the identity you've
62. 2:51constructed for yourself.
63. 2:54Leave the excuses that you defend.
64. 2:58Leave the story you keep telling
65. 3:00yourself, "Well, this is just who I am."
66. 3:04No.
67. 3:06That is who you have settled into being.
68. 3:11The scripture life always begins with
69. 3:13departure.
70. 3:15And here's the truth most of us resist.
71. 3:19You cannot be transformed if you refuse
72. 3:22to move.
73. 3:25And if we look at the gospel, Jesus
74. 3:26takes Peter, James, and his brother John
75. 3:29up a mountain.
76. 3:32You and we know well that in the
77. 3:33scriptures when
78. 3:36that the mountains are places of
79. 3:37revelation.
80. 3:39Moses, Elijah, now Jesus.
81. 3:42Why a mountain?
82. 3:45Well, because of elevation changes
83. 3:47perspective.
84. 3:49Below you see problems. You're in the
85. 3:51thick of it.
86. 3:53From above, you have a different
87. 3:55perspective.
88. 3:57May even be able to see purpose.
89. 4:01On the mountain, Jesus is transfigured,
90. 4:03his face shines, his clothes blaze with
91. 4:06light. And the Father speaks, "This is
92. 4:10my beloved son."
93. 4:12But do not miss the timing.
94. 4:15This happens right after Jesus predicts
95. 4:18his passion.
96. 4:20Before the cross,
97. 4:22he reveals glory.
98. 4:24Why?
99. 4:26Well, because God never asks you to
100. 4:28leave something unless he intends to
101. 4:30show you something greater.
102. 4:34Abram leaves home.
103. 4:36He becomes father of nations, the
104. 4:38apostles leave the shore, they see
105. 4:41divine glory.
106. 4:45But here's the danger.
107. 4:47Peter wants to stay.
108. 4:51"Let us build three
109. 4:52tents," he says.
110. 4:54He wants to freeze the moment. He He
111. 4:57wants to control the experience. He
112. 4:59wants glory without descent.
113. 5:03We do that a lot.
114. 5:06We want consolation without conversion,
115. 5:09inspiration without obedience, mountain
116. 5:12top moments without Calvary commitments.
117. 5:17But Jesus does not let them stay.
118. 5:20The voice from heaven does not say,
119. 5:22"Build."
120. 5:24No, the voice from heaven says, "Listen
121. 5:26to my son."
122. 5:30Not admire,
123. 5:32not discuss,
124. 5:33not analyze, listen.
125. 5:37That means when he says, "Forgive,"
126. 5:39you forgive.
127. 5:41When he says, "Repent," you repent.
128. 5:45When he says, "Trust," you trust. And
129. 5:48then when he says go,
130. 5:50you go.
131. 5:53The spiritual life is not about emotions
132. 5:55or feelings. It's about movement.
133. 5:59Abram went as the Lord directed him.
134. 6:02That sentence should shock us, move us,
135. 6:06because many of us hear the Lord and we
136. 6:09stay.
137. 6:11We hear him in the scriptures, we hear
138. 6:13him in our conscience, we hear him in
139. 6:15the our suffering. We may even hear him
140. 6:17in the homily.
141. 6:20But we delay.
142. 6:22Maybe later.
143. 6:24It's not the right time now to make a
144. 6:27move. It's not a right time to commit
145. 6:30more. Maybe when things calm down, maybe
146. 6:32when I understand the faith more or when
147. 6:35I feel stronger.
148. 6:37Abram did not understand more.
149. 6:41He did not feel stronger.
150. 6:43He moved.
151. 6:46And here's a deeper truth.
152. 6:48The promise follows the departure.
153. 6:52If nothing changes in you this Lent,
154. 6:54it's not because God has been silent.
155. 6:57It's because you've stayed put.
156. 7:01You cannot ask God for transformation
157. 7:04while clinging to what he told you to
158. 7:07leave.
159. 7:08You cannot ask for glory while
160. 7:10protecting your comfort.
161. 7:13You cannot ask for peace while refusing
162. 7:16surrender.
163. 7:18God is speaking.
164. 7:21Go deeper in prayer.
165. 7:24Go to confession.
166. 7:26Go reconcile that relationship that is
167. 7:29hurting.
168. 7:30Go detach what is quietly enslaving you.
169. 7:34Go where obedience feels uncomfortable.
170. 7:39Ask yourself, are you stuck in the same
171. 7:41old same [snorts] old?
172. 7:44The Transfiguration shows us what awaits
173. 7:47us on the other side of obedience.
174. 7:50Glory, clarity, identity.
175. 7:54"This is my beloved son." The Lord says.
176. 7:57And by grace, that voice echoes over us
177. 8:00as well.
178. 8:02But you will not hear it clearly if you
179. 8:04refuse to move.
180. 8:07The entire history of salvation is built
181. 8:10on people who moved when God said, "Go."
182. 8:14So, here's the question.
183. 8:17Not what your spouse needs to leave, not
184. 8:19what your children need to leave, not
185. 8:21what your neighbor needs to leave. What
186. 8:23is God asking you this Sunday to leave?
187. 8:29Because until you leave what is small,
188. 8:31you cannot receive what is great.
189. 8:35This Lent, stop negotiating,
190. 8:38stop delaying, stop over-analyzing,
191. 8:42and I promise you,
192. 8:44if you trust the Lord,
193. 8:47the Lord who calls you out of your
194. 8:49comfort,
195. 8:50is the same God who waits for you on the
196. 8:53mountain of glory.
197. 8:55Amen.