SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT – C – 2022
INTRODUCTION
Every year on the second Sunday of Lent
the liturgy invites us to reflect on the Transfiguration of the Lord
Jesus.
Last Sunday we reflected on the mystery
of Jesus being tempted like any one of us. We learned from him to fight against
the temptations with the Word of God.
Today, let us be filled with the light
of the Transfigured Lord, and let us listen to Him as the Father invites us.
Our reflection on the readings will be
from the point of view of the Covenant.
FIRST READING Gn 15:5-12; 17-18
This reading
speaks of one of the covenants that God made with Abram. God had not yet
changed his name.
« The Hebrew word for covenant is berit
(used to describe the relationship between a lord and his servant, it is a
unilateral promise, wholly gratuitous and free on the part of the lord). The
Greek word for covenant is diatheke.
With these two words the Bible describes different kinds of covenants.
Let us see some of them:
o
The first and the most gratuitous is the covenant of
creation. Creation comes from the
gracious and loving initiative of God, who could not even consult us since we
did not exist yet. Creation is a continuous act of God, thus the covenant made by God with his
creation is permanent and continuous.
o
We find
different types of covenants in Scripture:
§ God gives
without asking anything in exchange = promise
Gn:8-11; 12-17
§ God enters into a covenant through a rite: Gn 15:7-10.17
God enters into a bilateral
covenant with his people: Jos 24:1-28
« The
covenant we find in the
first reading belongs to the second type of covenant: the covenant between God
and Abram is made through a rite.
Let us
analyze the biblical story
« Before the verses we will read this coming
Sunday, God says to Abram “do not be afraid, because your reward will be
abundant.” To these words of God Abram replies “what use do these gifts do to
me since I do not have children, and my servant is the one who is going to
inherit my possessions?”
« Let us reflect on the reading for this Sunday
o The descendants of Abram will be as numerous
as the stars in the firmament. Abram believes that YHWH can do what he says and
thus he is justified, made just, saved.
o The promise is this: I will give to you the
land you walk on
o God reminds Abram of all that he has done for
him up to that moment. The faith of Israel and the Christian faith, as well, is
grounded in tradition, in the memory of God’s mighty deeds for us. Last week we read how Israel repeats his
tradition in prayer “My father was a wandering Aramean”
o Abram asks God how he will know that the land
will be his.
o God enters into a covenant with Abram. God
relates to us in the way we understand according to our own culture, so that we
may understand his message given to us.
o In the ancient religions the divinities were
the witnesses to the covenants made by men, here in this text of the Bible YHWH
himself is the witness and at the same time the one who makes the
covenant.
o Abram prepares everything for the ceremony of
the covenant God is going to make with him.
o He prepares the wood for the fire and on it
in two separate piles of wood he puts the cow that had previously being cut in
two. Each part is put on a different pile of wood facing each other.
o The persons who entered the covenant had to
walk between the two parts of the animal and say: let it be done to me as it
has been done to this animal, if I am not faithful to the covenant I am about
to enter.
o Abram feels asleep, and at the same time,
terror invades him.
o The presence of God is very attractive to the
human being, but at the same time it is terrifying, because God is the OTHER,
completely different from us.
o Then Abram sees amid the darkness of night
something like a burning torch passing between the two parts of the cow.
o In the burning torch, he discovers the symbol
of the presence of YHWH who is passing between the two parts of the animal. God
commits himself to be faithful to the covenant.
o As we can see this type of covenant is unilateral,
only God commits himself, Abram is only an observer.
o After that YHWH pronounces the words of the covenant which he makes with Abram on that day “To your descendants I will give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River Euphrates.”
RESPONSORIAL
PSALM
Ps 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14.
R. (1a) The
Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my
salvation.
Hear, O LORD, the sound of my call;
have pity on me, and answer me.
Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.
R. The Lord is my light and my
salvation.
Your presence, O LORD, I seek.
Hide not your face from me;
do not in anger repel your servant.
You are my helper: cast me not off.
R. The Lord is my light and my
salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty
of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my
salvation.
SECOND READING : Phil 3:17- 4:1
ü Paul invites or exhorts the community of Philippi
to be faithful and to look towards those who live according to the teachings he,
(Paul) has given them.
ü He repeats with words full of tenderness and
love “continue to be faithful to the Lord”
ü We are in the season of Lent, in which we
reflect more deeply on the meaning of the Paschal Mystery of Christ, the New
Covenant sealed in his blood on the Cross. On the cross, he forgave our sins;
he paid for us the price of the covenant to which we have not been faithful.
ü In the same way as the ancient prophets, Paul
reminds them the need to be faithful to the New Covenant.
o Covenant in which the land that is given to
us is heaven, eternal life forever.
o Here faithfulness is to the glorified Christ
who occupies the place that Yahweh occupied in the Old Testament, because he is
God with us.
ü On Sunday I have listened to a homily in which the priest said, Lent it is not the time to look at ourselves, but the time to look at Christ, contemplating and listening to Him, having our gaze fixed in Him with tenderness and love.
GOSPEL Lk 9:28-36
§ Before the event of the transfiguration,
Jesus makes the first announcement of his passion and explains the conditions of
discipleship.
§ Luke says that 8 days later, it refers to the
announcement Jesus makes of his passion.
§ Jesus goes up to a high mountain to pray and
takes with him the three closest disciples, the same that went with him to
Jairus’ home and were witnesses of how Jesus gave back the life to the girl.
They will be also invited by Jesus to be witnesses of his greatest weakness and
vulnerability in Gethsemane. These disciples are Peter, James and John.
§ While he is praying Jesus changes his aspect
and at the same time Moses and Elijah
appear talking to him
o Moses en Elijah the whole Old Testament, the Law,
and the Prophets.
o They speak with him about his exodus, which will be consummated in Jerusalem.
§ Jesus, as well as the two men, is radiant and
his clothes are white, all of this is a sign of the divinity.
§ Luke says that the disciples felt asleep,
would that be the same thing that happened to Abram in the presence of YHWH? Or
what happened to the disciples at Gethsemane?
§ When they awake, they see the glory of Jesus.
§ They do not understand the true meaning of
what is happening on the mountain. Peter speaks for the three of them, he wants
to remain in that situation which is so marvelous, he has forgotten the
invitation of the Lord to follow the Master in his passion.
§ The cloud covers them; the cloud is a symbol
of the presence of God throughout the Old Testament and in the New Testament in
the narrative of the Annunciation.
§ Like Abram who felt fear, the disciples are
afraid when the cloud covers them, and they hear the voice of the Father.
§ What does the voice say? THIS IS MY BELOVED SON,
LISTEN TO HIM.
§ This voice of the Father relates the two
narratives of the transfiguration and of the baptism.
§ But here the Father adds “Listen to him”
§ The three of them have been invited to follow
the Master as disciples, and one thing that a disciple must do is to listen and
to obey.
They shall not say anything to anyone,
probably because before the resurrection this event could not be understood
correctly.
CLARETIAN CORNER
MOTHER
FOUNDRESS
In this vision happened what I have insinuated in the preceding number, that is, to write sometimes with out knowing what I was writing until I had finished. I think that the finger of God wrote many things of those notes, particularly those that treat about correction and warnings for the Prelates of the church, because I never occupied myself about those things, neither was I inclined to do such things, on the contrary, I thought of CLARETIAN CORNERthem all as saints, and in my concept they were irreproachable. I do not know how it happened that I was writing without knowing what I was writing, but this is the truth, that is the way it happened.[1]
FATHER FOUNDER
My God, you have been so good to me! I have been very late in understanding the many great graces you have given me . I have been a useless servant and have not properly invested the talent you have entrusted to me. But Lord, I give you my word that I will work. Be a little patient with me. Don't take my talent away; I'll invest it wisely now. Give me your holy grace and your divine love and I give you my word that I will work.[2]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CLARET, Anthony
Mary. Autobiography.
PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiography
RAVASI, Gianfranco. Según
las Escrituras – Ciclo C. San Pablo 2006.
SCHÖKEL , Luis Alonso, La Biblia de nuestro Pueblo.
CONFERENCIA EPISCOPAL ESPAÑOLA, Sagrada Biblia, Versión Oficial.
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