Reading I Gn 15:5-12, 17-18 The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.” Abram put his faith in the LORD, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
He then said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.” “O Lord GOD,” he asked, “how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He answered him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Abram brought him all these, split them in two, and placed each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not cut up. Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram stayed with them. As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.
When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch, which passed between those pieces. It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the 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.
Reading II Phil 3:17—4:1 Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and observe those who thus conduct themselves according to the model you have in us. For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord.
Mt 17:5 From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard: This is my beloved Son, hear him.
Gospel Lk 9:28b-36 Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER By revealing his glory in this way, Jesus ensures that the cross, the trials, the difficulties with which we struggle, are resolved and overcome in Easter. Thus this Lent, let us also go up the mountain with Jesus! But in what way? With prayer. Let us climb the mountain with prayer: silent prayer, heartfelt prayer, prayer that always seeks the Lord. Let us pause for some time in reflection, a little each day, let us fix our inner gaze on his countenance and let us allow his light to permeate us and shine in our life. (Angelus, 17 March 2019)
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.
S.JOHN PAUL 2 - HOMILY 15-3- 92 On this second Sunday of Lent the liturgy presents the episode of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor. which reaches its highest point in the words of the Father: "This is my Son, my chosen one. listen to him!" (Lk 9:35). Let us contemplate this moving event, in which Jesus manifested His glory in order to prepare His beloved disciples for the difficult passage of His Passion. Luke writes: "Jesus took Peter, John and James with Himself and went up the mountain to pray" (Lk 9, 28). It is a characteristic of Luke to highlight the habit of Jesus with the prayer, as a moment of solitude, contemplation and intimacy with the Father. TThe Evangelist tells The Evangelist tells us that He was praying at the Jordan when the Father's voice first revealed itself (Lk 3:21). and before choosing the Twelve, when He stayed up all night in prayer (Lk 6:21), and in His frequent retreats to solitary places (Lk 6:21). in his frequent retreats to solitary places (Lk 5:5-16) and, above all, in Gethsemane, where he "knelt down and prayed: - Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me" (Lk 22:39-46). These examples and the frequent exhortations that He addressed to His disciples tell us that prayer must have the first place in the Christian life, especially in this time of Lent which is a privileged time of communion with God.
2. On Tabor, while Jesus was praying, His face changed in appearance, His garment became white and radiant. and two men appeared beside Him, Elijah and Moses, who spoke of "His departure, which He was to bring to completion in Jerusalem" (Lk 9:31), that is, of His imminent Passion and Death. Moses and Elijah are famous characters of the Old Testament: one the leader and legislator of the people. the other the prophet of fire that destroys iniquity; two prefigurations of the Messiah, the new the new liberator and bearer on earth of the new fire of salvation. The beauty of the vision fascinates the three Apostles.
BENEDICT XVI - ANGELUS - St Peter's Square - Sunday, 24 2 -2013 Today, the second Sunday of Lent, we have a particularly beautiful Gospel, that of the TRANSFIGURATION of the Lord. The evangelist Luke places particular emphasis on the fact that Jesus TRANSFIGURED himself while praying: his is a profound experience of relationship with the Father during a sort of spiritual retreat that Jesus lives on a high mountain in the company of Peter, James and John, the three disciples always present at the moments of the divine manifestation of the Master (Lk 5:10; 8:51; 9:28). The Lord, who shortly before had foretold His death and resurrection (9:22), offers the disciples a foretaste of His glory. And also in the TRANSFIGURATION, as in the baptism, the voice of the heavenly Father resounds: "This is my Son, the chosen one; listen to Him!" (9,35). The presence of Moses and Elijah, who represent the Law and the Prophets of the ancient Alliance, is very significant: the whole history of the Alliance is oriented towards Him, the Christ, who makes a new "exodus" (9:31), not towards the promised land as in the time of Moses, but towards Heaven. Peter's intervention: "Master, it is good for us to be here" (9:33) represents an attempt to make a new "exodus". (9:33) represents the impossible attempt to stop this mystical experience. Saint Augustine comments: "[Peter]...on the mountain...had Christ as food for his soul. Why should he have come down to return to labors and sorrows, while up there he was filled with feelings of holy love for God and which therefore inspired him to holy conduct?" (Sermon 78:3: PL 38:491). Meditating on this Gospel passage, we can draw a very important lesson from it. First of all, the primacy of prayer, without which all commitment to the apostolate and charity is reduced to activism. In Lent we learn to give the right time to prayer, both personal and communal, which gives breath to our spiritual life. Moreover, prayer is not an isolation from the world and its contradictions, as Peter wanted to do on Tabor, but prayer leads back to the path, to action. "Christian existence," I wrote in the Message for this Lent, "consists in a continual ascent of the mountain of the encounter with God, and then descent bringing the love and strength that come with it, so as to serve our brothers and sisters with the same love of God" (no. 3). Dear brothers and sisters, I feel this Word of God addressed to me in a special way at this moment of my life. Thank you! The Lord is calling me to "go up the mountain", to devote myself even more to prayer and meditation. But this does not mean abandoning the Church; on the contrary, if God is asking me to do this it is precisely so that I can continue to serve her with the same dedication and love with which I have tried to do so until now, but in a way that is more suited to my age and strength. Let's invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary: She will help us all to always follow the Lord Jesus, in prayer and hard-working charity
PAPA FRANCIS March 17, 2019 On this Second Sunday of Lent, the liturgy makes us contemplate the event of the TRANSFIGURATION, in which Jesus grants to His disciples Peter, James and John a foretaste of the glory of the Resurrection: a glimpse of heaven on earth. The evangelist Luke (cf. 9:28-36) shows us Jesus TRANSPIGURED on the mountain, which is the place of light, a fascinating symbol of the singular experience reserved for the three disciples. They go up the mountain with the Master, they see Him immersed in prayer, and at a certain point "His face changed in appearance" (v. 29). Accustomed to seeing Him daily in the simple semblance of His humanity, they are astonished at this new splendour, which also envelops His whole person. Moses and Elijah appear next to Jesus, talking with Him about His coming "exodus", that is, His Passover of death and Resurrection. It is a foretaste of the Passover. Then Peter exclaims: "Master, it is good for us to be here". (v. 33). He would like that moment of grace to never end! The TRANSFIGURATION takes place at a very precise moment of Christ's mission, that is, after He has confided to the disciples that He must "suffer greatly, [...] be killed and rise again on the third day" (v. 21). Jesus knows that they do not accept this reality - the reality of the cross, the reality of Jesus' death - and so he wants to prepare them to endure the scandal of the passion and death on the cross, so that they may know that this is the way by which the heavenly Father will bring His Son to glory by raising Him from the dead. And this will also be the way of the disciples: no one arrives at eternal life unless he follows Jesus, carrying his own cross in his earthly life. Each one of us has his own cross. The Lord makes us see the end of this path which is the Resurrection, the beauty, carrying our own cross. So, the TRANSFIGURATION of Christ shows us the Christian perspective of suffering. Suffering is not a sadomasochism: it is a necessary but transitory passage. The point of arrival to which we are called is as luminous as the TRANSFIGURED face of Christ: in Him is salvation, bliss, light, and the boundless love of God. By showing his glory in this way, Jesus assures us that the cross, the trials, the difficulties in which we struggle, have their solution and their overcoming in Easter. Therefore, this Lent, let us also climb the mountain with Jesus! But in what way? With prayer. Let us climb the mountain with prayer: silent prayer, prayer of the heart, prayer always seeking the Lord. Let us remain for a few moments in recollection, every day a little while, let us fix our inner gaze on his face and let His light pervade us and radiate into our lives. In fact, the Evangelist Luke insists on the fact that Jesus TRANSFIGURED Himself "while He was praying" (v. 29). He was immersed in an intimate conversation with the Father, in which the Law and the Prophets - Moses and Elijah - also resounded, and while He adhered with all of Himself to the Father's will of salvation, including the Cross, the Glory of God invaded Him and radiated outwards. This is how it is, brothers and sisters: prayer in Christ and the Holy Spirit TRANSFORMS a person from within and can enlighten others and the world around them. How many times have we found people who illuminate, who emanate light from their eyes, who have that glowing look! They pray, and prayer does this: it makes us luminous with the light of the Holy Spirit. Let us continue our Lenten itinerary with joy. Let us give space to prayer and to the Word of God, which the liturgy offers us abundantly in these days. May the Virgin Mary teach us to remain with Jesus even when we do not understand Him. For only by remaining with Him will we see His glory.
Reading I
RispondiEliminaGn 15:5-12, 17-18
The Lord God took Abram outside and said,
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
He then said to him,
“I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans
to give you this land as a possession.”
“O Lord GOD,” he asked,
“how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
He answered him,
“Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat,
a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Abram brought him all these, split them in two,
and placed each half opposite the other;
but the birds he did not cut up.
Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses,
but Abram stayed with them.
As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram,
and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.
When the sun had set and it was dark,
there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,
which passed between those pieces.
It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram,
saying: “To your descendants I give this land,
from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the 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.
Reading II
Phil 3:17—4:1
Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and sisters,
and observe those who thus conduct themselves
according to the model you have in us.
For many, as I have often told you
and now tell you even in tears,
conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Their end is destruction.
Their God is their stomach;
their glory is in their “shame.”
Their minds are occupied with earthly things.
But our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will change our lowly body
to conform with his glorified body
by the power that enables him also
to bring all things into subjection to himself.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters,
whom I love and long for, my joy and crown,
in this way stand firm in the Lord.
Mt 17:5
From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:
This is my beloved Son, hear him.
Gospel
Lk 9:28b-36
Jesus took Peter, John, and James
and went up the mountain to pray.
While he was praying his face changed in appearance
and his clothing became dazzling white.
And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus
that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.
Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep,
but becoming fully awake,
they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.
As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,
“Master, it is good that we are here;
let us make three tents,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
But he did not know what he was saying.
While he was still speaking,
a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,
and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.
Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”
After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
They fell silent and did not at that time
tell anyone what they had seen.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
RispondiEliminaBy revealing his glory in this way, Jesus ensures that the cross, the trials, the difficulties with which we struggle, are resolved and overcome in Easter. Thus this Lent, let us also go up the mountain with Jesus! But in what way? With prayer. Let us climb the mountain with prayer: silent prayer, heartfelt prayer, prayer that always seeks the Lord. Let us pause for some time in reflection, a little each day, let us fix our inner gaze on his countenance and let us allow his light to permeate us and shine in our life. (Angelus, 17 March 2019)
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.
S.JOHN PAUL 2 - HOMILY 15-3- 92
RispondiEliminaOn this second Sunday of Lent the liturgy presents the episode of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor.
which reaches its highest point in the words of the Father: "This is my Son, my chosen one.
listen to him!" (Lk 9:35). Let us contemplate this moving event, in which Jesus
manifested His glory in order to prepare His beloved disciples for the difficult passage of His Passion.
Luke writes: "Jesus took Peter, John and James with Himself and went up the mountain to pray" (Lk 9,
28). It is a characteristic of Luke to highlight the habit of Jesus with the
prayer, as a moment of solitude, contemplation and intimacy with the Father. TThe Evangelist tells The Evangelist tells us that He was praying at the Jordan when the Father's voice first revealed itself (Lk 3:21).
and before choosing the Twelve, when He stayed up all night in prayer (Lk 6:21), and in His frequent retreats to solitary places (Lk 6:21).
in his frequent retreats to solitary places (Lk 5:5-16) and, above all, in Gethsemane, where he "knelt down and prayed:
- Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me" (Lk 22:39-46). These examples and the frequent
exhortations that He addressed to His disciples tell us that prayer must have the first place in the Christian life, especially in this time of Lent
which is a privileged time of communion with God.
2. On Tabor, while Jesus was praying, His face changed in appearance, His garment became white and radiant.
and two men appeared beside Him, Elijah and Moses, who spoke of "His
departure, which He was to bring to completion in Jerusalem" (Lk 9:31), that is, of His imminent Passion and Death. Moses and Elijah are famous characters of the Old Testament: one the leader and legislator of the people.
the other the prophet of fire that destroys iniquity; two prefigurations of the Messiah, the new
the new liberator and bearer on earth of the new fire of salvation.
The beauty of the vision fascinates the three Apostles.
BENEDICT XVI - ANGELUS - St Peter's Square - Sunday, 24 2 -2013
RispondiEliminaToday, the second Sunday of Lent, we have a particularly beautiful Gospel, that of the TRANSFIGURATION of the Lord. The evangelist Luke places particular emphasis on the fact that Jesus TRANSFIGURED himself while praying: his is a profound experience of relationship with the Father during a sort of spiritual retreat that Jesus lives on a high mountain in the company of Peter, James and John, the three disciples always present at the moments of the divine manifestation of the Master (Lk 5:10; 8:51; 9:28). The Lord, who shortly before had foretold His death and resurrection (9:22), offers the disciples a foretaste of His glory. And also in the TRANSFIGURATION, as in the baptism, the voice of the heavenly Father resounds: "This is my Son, the chosen one; listen to Him!" (9,35). The presence of Moses and Elijah, who represent the Law and the Prophets of the ancient Alliance, is very significant: the whole history of the Alliance is oriented towards Him, the Christ, who makes a new "exodus" (9:31), not towards the promised land as in the time of Moses, but towards Heaven. Peter's intervention: "Master, it is good for us to be here" (9:33) represents an attempt to make a new "exodus". (9:33) represents the impossible attempt to stop this mystical experience. Saint Augustine comments: "[Peter]...on the mountain...had Christ as food for his soul. Why should he have come down to return to labors and sorrows, while up there he was filled with feelings of holy love for God and which therefore inspired him to holy conduct?" (Sermon 78:3: PL 38:491).
Meditating on this Gospel passage, we can draw a very important lesson from it. First of all, the primacy of prayer, without which all commitment to the apostolate and charity is reduced to activism. In Lent we learn to give the right time to prayer, both personal and communal, which gives breath to our spiritual life. Moreover, prayer is not an isolation from the world and its contradictions, as Peter wanted to do on Tabor, but prayer leads back to the path, to action. "Christian existence," I wrote in the Message for this Lent, "consists in a continual ascent of the mountain of the encounter with God, and then descent bringing the love and strength that come with it, so as to serve our brothers and sisters with the same love of God" (no. 3).
Dear brothers and sisters, I feel this Word of God addressed to me in a special way at this moment of my life. Thank you! The Lord is calling me to "go up the mountain", to devote myself even more to prayer and meditation. But this does not mean abandoning the Church; on the contrary, if God is asking me to do this it is precisely so that I can continue to serve her with the same dedication and love with which I have tried to do so until now, but in a way that is more suited to my age and strength. Let's invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary: She will help us all to always follow the Lord Jesus, in prayer and hard-working charity
PAPA FRANCIS March 17, 2019
RispondiEliminaOn this Second Sunday of Lent, the liturgy makes us contemplate the event of the TRANSFIGURATION, in which Jesus grants to His disciples Peter, James and John a foretaste of the glory of the Resurrection: a glimpse of heaven on earth. The evangelist Luke (cf. 9:28-36) shows us Jesus TRANSPIGURED on the mountain, which is the place of light, a fascinating symbol of the singular experience reserved for the three disciples. They go up the mountain with the Master, they see Him immersed in prayer, and at a certain point "His face changed in appearance" (v. 29). Accustomed to seeing Him daily in the simple semblance of His humanity, they are astonished at this new splendour, which also envelops His whole person. Moses and Elijah appear next to Jesus, talking with Him about His coming "exodus", that is, His Passover of death and Resurrection. It is a foretaste of the Passover. Then Peter exclaims: "Master, it is good for us to be here". (v. 33). He would like that moment of grace to never end!
The TRANSFIGURATION takes place at a very precise moment of Christ's mission, that is, after He has confided to the disciples that He must "suffer greatly, [...] be killed and rise again on the third day" (v. 21). Jesus knows that they do not accept this reality - the reality of the cross, the reality of Jesus' death - and so he wants to prepare them to endure the scandal of the passion and death on the cross, so that they may know that this is the way by which the heavenly Father will bring His Son to glory by raising Him from the dead. And this will also be the way of the disciples: no one arrives at eternal life unless he follows Jesus, carrying his own cross in his earthly life. Each one of us has his own cross. The Lord makes us see the end of this path which is the Resurrection, the beauty, carrying our own cross.
So, the TRANSFIGURATION of Christ shows us the Christian perspective of suffering. Suffering is not a sadomasochism: it is a necessary but transitory passage. The point of arrival to which we are called is as luminous as the TRANSFIGURED face of Christ: in Him is salvation, bliss, light, and the boundless love of God. By showing his glory in this way, Jesus assures us that the cross, the trials, the difficulties in which we struggle, have their solution and their overcoming in Easter. Therefore, this Lent, let us also climb the mountain with Jesus! But in what way? With prayer. Let us climb the mountain with prayer: silent prayer, prayer of the heart, prayer always seeking the Lord. Let us remain for a few moments in recollection, every day a little while, let us fix our inner gaze on his face and let His light pervade us and radiate into our lives.
In fact, the Evangelist Luke insists on the fact that Jesus TRANSFIGURED Himself "while He was praying" (v. 29). He was immersed in an intimate conversation with the Father, in which the Law and the Prophets - Moses and Elijah - also resounded, and while He adhered with all of Himself to the Father's will of salvation, including the Cross, the Glory of God invaded Him and radiated outwards. This is how it is, brothers and sisters: prayer in Christ and the Holy Spirit TRANSFORMS a person from within and can enlighten others and the world around them. How many times have we found people who illuminate, who emanate light from their eyes, who have that glowing look! They pray, and prayer does this: it makes us luminous with the light of the Holy Spirit.
Let us continue our Lenten itinerary with joy. Let us give space to prayer and to the Word of God, which the liturgy offers us abundantly in these days. May the Virgin Mary teach us to remain with Jesus even when we do not understand Him. For only by remaining with Him will we see His glory.