2 DOM QUARESIMA FAUSTI - The heart of the mystery of Jesus is revealed. The disciples are admitted to enter into the knowledge of the Father/Son. Obedience to "Jesus alone", which the Father commands - "Listen to Him" - is the highlight of the Story. It is the eighth day, Sunday, the eternal today of the open sky on the earthly today of the Nativity scene and Baptism, of Capernaum and of Calvary: it is the Kingdom opened up to man by the life of Jesus which begins on the wood of the manger and ends on the wood of the Cross. It is the day of the Lord, the "dies dominica" in which we feast with Him in the Coena Domini. It is both the end and the beginning, with a continuous dynamism that grows infinitely, transforming us from Glory to Glory (2 Cor 3:18). Already now we are what will then appear (1 Jn 3:2): children of God! All creation participates in the generation of this new man. The destiny of creation is not disfiguration and death, but the transfiguration and glory of God. Although still in exile, we are children of the King, who are returning to the house of the Father. As before breaking the Bread, Jesus took the Apostles with Himself, so now He takes with Himself Peter, John and James. Jesus unites them to Himself by His initiative: He takes them and transposes them into a particular situation of revelation: He takes them with Himself into the secret space of His Communion with the Father. They ascend the mountain, known to the disciples, the mountain par excellence, the mountain of prayer and election, the mountain of revelation; the disciples are burdened with slumber and the descent from the mountain will take place the next day. Sleep and night can only be enlightened by Communion with the Father. The praying of Jesus becomes a complement of time and place, almost the space that contains the Transfiguration, Revelation of the Father and Glory of the Son. It is the place where we discover God as Abba, our source and are generated in the Glory of the Son. Luke stops to contemplate the Face of Jesus, emphasizing His visible image, as other, different, holy! Of this Face he gives us the true aspect, invisible and now revealed, through one trait, the Glory, God in His splendor of beauty. It is a luminosity that comes from the inside eliminating every shadow, it shows on the face the hidden reality, it gives visibility to the invisible. Of this glory he describes the dress. It is white and emanates lightning. If so is the dress, what will the Body be? But the Body itself is the dress of the person and the humanity of Jesus, in turn, is the dress of His Divine person, from which it fully emanates the "dynamis" of the glory of God. The lightning, expression of God, is the attribute of the garment! Jesus in the Transfiguration, reveals Himself as the center of everything, of God and of man, united in a single story, incredible if it were not witnessed by Moses and Elijah. Moses, the law, and Elijah, father of the prophets, are in dialogue with Jesus. He answers them because He is the One who the law and the prophecy have promised and expected. The Glory of the Law and of prophecy is the obedient Son, the Word itself, the perfect Hearer of the Father. It is the Glory of the God of law and prophecy, who fulfills the promise and fills the expectation. The Transfiguration is that anticipated experience of the Resurrection, the opening of the disciple's eye on Jesus' Communion with the Father, his being awake with Jesus praying. "Look to him and you will be radiant" (Ps 34:6).
-->The disciples wish to arrest the visible Glory of the Lord. The experience made by Peter and his friends is that of beauty, the original beauty of the Face of the Son who has raised a strip of the veil that covers it. On the eighth day, in the light of its splendour, it breaks the sleep and the night of the disciples. The cloud is a sign of the Glory of God, they enter into it, that is, into the potency of God that envelops: this is obeying to the " Voice " that comes out, this voice is Jesus himself, Eternal Word of God, obedient Son, Who must be Listened ."This is my Son, the Elect, listen to Him!" It is the centre of the Transfiguration, where the vision is linked to listening. That God who has no face has a Voice: a Voice who seeks a face. Jesus, the perfect Face of the Father, the obedient Son, the Word accomplished, full of Love. Obedience to Jesus, Which is addressed to all, indicates the path by which we can all be among those the three who come to the vision of the mystery of the Son. Listening to Him is the tent that contains the Glory. Those who listen see the Face of the Father in the Son now reflected in their own faces.
GOSPEL of Luke 9:28-36 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness. Then he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess." But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates...."
PSALM 27 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh-- my adversaries and foes-- they shall stumble and fall. Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! "Come," my heart says, "seek his face!" Your face, LORD, do I seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation! I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
Philippians 3:17-4:1 Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
2 DOM QUARESIMA FAUSTI - The heart of the mystery of Jesus is revealed. The disciples are admitted to enter into the knowledge of the Father/Son. Obedience to "Jesus alone", which the Father commands - "Listen to Him" - is the highlight of the Story. It is the eighth day, Sunday, the eternal today of the open sky on the earthly today of the Nativity scene and Baptism, of Capernaum and of Calvary: it is the Kingdom opened up to man by the life of Jesus which begins on the wood of the manger and ends on the wood of the Cross. It is the day of the Lord, the "dies dominica" in which we feast with Him in the Coena Domini. It is both the end and the beginning, with a continuous dynamism that grows infinitely, transforming us from Glory to Glory (2 Cor 3:18).
RispondiEliminaAlready now we are what will then appear (1 Jn 3:2): children of God!
All creation participates in the generation of this new man.
The destiny of creation is not disfiguration and death, but the transfiguration and glory of God.
Although still in exile, we are children of the King, who are returning to the house of the Father.
As before breaking the Bread, Jesus took the Apostles with Himself, so now He takes with Himself Peter, John and James. Jesus unites them to Himself by His initiative: He takes them and transposes them into a particular situation of revelation: He takes them with Himself into the secret space of His Communion with the Father. They ascend the mountain, known to the disciples, the mountain par excellence, the mountain of prayer and election, the mountain of revelation; the disciples are burdened with slumber and the descent from the mountain will take place the next day. Sleep and night can only be enlightened by Communion with the Father. The praying of Jesus becomes a complement of time and place, almost the space that contains the Transfiguration, Revelation of the Father and Glory of the Son.
It is the place where we discover God as Abba, our source and are generated in the Glory of the Son.
Luke stops to contemplate the Face of Jesus, emphasizing His visible image, as other, different, holy! Of this Face he gives us the true aspect, invisible and now revealed, through one trait, the Glory, God in His splendor of beauty.
It is a luminosity that comes from the inside eliminating every shadow, it shows on the face the hidden reality, it gives visibility to the invisible. Of this glory he describes the dress. It is white and emanates lightning. If so is the dress, what will the Body be?
But the Body itself is the dress of the person and the humanity of Jesus, in turn, is the dress of His Divine person, from which it fully emanates the "dynamis" of the glory of God.
The lightning, expression of God, is the attribute of the garment!
Jesus in the Transfiguration, reveals Himself as the center of everything, of God and of man, united in a single story, incredible if it were not witnessed by Moses and Elijah.
Moses, the law, and Elijah, father of the prophets, are in dialogue with Jesus. He answers them because He is the One who the law and the prophecy have promised and expected.
The Glory of the Law and of prophecy is the obedient Son, the Word itself, the perfect Hearer of the Father. It is the Glory of the God of law and prophecy, who fulfills the promise and fills the expectation.
The Transfiguration is that anticipated experience of the Resurrection, the opening of the disciple's eye on Jesus' Communion with the Father, his being awake with Jesus praying.
"Look to him and you will be radiant" (Ps 34:6).
-->The disciples wish to arrest the visible Glory of the Lord. The experience made by Peter and his friends is that of beauty, the original beauty of the Face of the Son who has raised a strip of the veil that covers it. On the eighth day, in the light of its splendour, it breaks the sleep and the night of the disciples. The cloud is a sign of the Glory of God, they enter into it, that is, into the potency of God that envelops: this is obeying to the " Voice " that comes out, this voice is Jesus himself, Eternal Word of God, obedient Son, Who must be Listened ."This is my Son, the Elect, listen to Him!" It is the centre of the Transfiguration, where the vision is linked to listening. That God who has no face has a Voice: a Voice who seeks a face. Jesus, the perfect Face of the Father, the obedient Son, the Word accomplished, full of Love.
RispondiEliminaObedience to Jesus, Which is addressed to all, indicates the path by which we can all be among those the three who come to the vision of the mystery of the Son.
Listening to Him is the tent that contains the Glory. Those who listen see the Face of the Father in the Son now reflected in their own faces.
GOSPEL of Luke 9:28-36
RispondiEliminaNow about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.
And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.
Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.
They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.
While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.
Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
READINGS Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
RispondiEliminaHe brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be."
And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Then he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess."
But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?"
He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates...."
PSALM 27
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh-- my adversaries and foes-- they shall stumble and fall.
Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me!
"Come," my heart says, "seek his face!" Your face, LORD, do I seek.
Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation!
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.
For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears.
Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.
But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.