Martin Jumbam
Mother Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, February 21, 2016, as the Second Sunday of Lent – Year C. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “Remember your mercies, Lord, your tenderness from ages past. Do not let our enemies triumph over us; O God, deliver Israel from all her distress. Amen.” The story of Abraham, in the First Reading, reminds us that through our baptism we are called to trust God completely. God gives many opportunities to whoever opens his or her heart to the word of God and takes it seriously by spreading it around. Abraham believes in God’s word and becomes the perfect example of what faith should be. He prefers God’s word to human security and is therefore rewarded as “Our father in faith.”
In the Second Reading, from the Letter to the Philippians, Saint Paul urges his community of Philippi to live in accordance with their Christian faith. He invites them to walk in the footsteps of the Lord if they are to be glorified with him. However, he warns that he who loves Christ and wants to share in his glory must be willing to carry his cross and follow him. In the Gospel, Saint Luke presents the scene of the Transfiguration, which comes at the climax of Christ’s public ministry in Galilee. The time is now drawing near for him to be taken to heaven and so he resolutely sets out for Jerusalem where he will be arrested, judged and killed, but will rise again on the third day. Before then, he first has to let his disciples experience his glorious presence, attested to by the presence of Moses and Elijah, the two Old Testament figures who had been gifted with a direct experience of God. In the course of this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace to put all our trust in God so that, like Abraham, we can receive the rewards he grants all those who believe and obey him.
First Reading: Genesis 15: 5-12. 17-18.
Taking Abram outside, the Lord said, ‘Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants’ he told him. Abram put his faith in the Lord, who counted this as making him justified. ‘I am the Lord’, he said to him, ‘who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to make you heir to this land.’ ‘My Lord, the Lord’, Abram replied, ‘how am I to know that I shall inherit it?’ He said to him, ‘Get me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.’ He brought him all these, cut them in half and put half on one side and half facing it on the other; but the birds he did not cut in half. Birds of prey came down on the carcasses but Abram drove them off. Now as the sun was setting Abram fell into a deep sleep, and terror seized him. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, there appeared a smoking furnace and a firebrand that went between the halves. That day the Lord made a Covenant with Abram in these terms: ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the wadi of Egypt to the Great River.’
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Genesis is the first of the first five books of the Bible. It deals with the origin of the world, of mankind and of the people of Israel; the second is Exodus, which recounts the Israelites’ escape from Egypt; the third is Leviticus, which gives the lists of the laws of the priests of the tribe of Levi; the fourth is Numbers, which gives the list of those who came out of Egypt and wandered about in the desert, and the fifth is Deuteronomy, which recounts the main events at the end of the forty years the Jewish people spent wandering in the desert under Moses. These five books form a unit known collectively as the Pentateuch (from the Greek word for five books), or as the Torah (the Hebrew word for the Law).
Shortly before the passage of this day’s reading Abraham tells God that he cannot understand how God can keep the promise he made to him in Haran since he – Abraham – has no offspring of his own. This is a severe test of his faith and anything else God may give him falls far short of his expectation. This is the first time Abraham speaks directly to God and their conversation is the first friendly dialogue the Bible records between God and a man since the dialogue he had with Adam in paradise (Gen 3: 9-12). It is a conversation between friends and it shows the intimacy that exists between them. Abraham makes his concern known to God. He needs an heir to take over from him when God calls him to himself. God assures him that he will have a successor and that because of his faith in the word of God he will be the father of all those who believe in God and his saving word.
Abraham is therefore not only the father of the Jewish people according to the flesh but also the father of those of us who without being Jews have become members of the new people of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom 4: 9-14). His faith is revealed through his obedience to God’s word, especially when God asks him to leave his homeland for another land, he does so without asking why. His trust in God is complete. Later when God asks him to sacrifice his son, Isaac, there too he is prepared to do it without any hesitation.
So what lesson do I take home from this reading? Abraham’s obedience stands out as a challenge for me. It is this aspect of Abraham’s obedience to God that Saint James emphasizes in his letter when he writes: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’; and he was called the friend of God’ (Jas 2: 21-23).
As God makes a special covenant with Abraham, so too does he make one with those who obey and do his will. Just as he rewards Abraham’s faith by making him father of all nations, he will reward our faith too and reward us abundantly. Let us pray to God to strengthen our faith and make us true inheritance of his saving kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Second Reading: Philippians 3:17-4.1.
My brothers, be united in following my rule of life. Take as your model everybody who is already doing this and study them as you used to study us. I have told you often, and I repeat it today with tears, there are many who are behaving as the enemies of the cross of Christ. They are destined to be lost. They make foods into their god and they are proudest of something they ought to think shameful; the things they think important are earthly things. For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the Saviour we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe. So then, my brothers and dear friends, do not give way but remain faithful in the Lord. I miss you very much, dear friends; you are my joy and my crown.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
Four of Saint Paul's letters have customarily been classified as the "Captivity Epistles" of the Apostle to the Gentiles. This is because they were written when he was in prison. These are his letters to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon. Since Saint Paul suffered imprisonment in Ephesus, Caesarea and Rome, it is not always easy to say for sure from where he wrot each of these letters.
Philippi was an important commercial and historic city in Saint Paul’s time. Commercially, it was on the road that ran from east to west and anyone traveling from Asia Minor to Greece would have stopped there. Historically, Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, had built a fortified camp there in the 4th century before Christ, and it was called after him. The Romans overran it in 168 BC and Emperor Augustus later established it as a Roman colony, which meant its inhabitants enjoyed the same rights and privileges as those of any Italian city.
Saint Paul founded the Church of Philippi during his second apostolic journey to Europe around the year 50 or 51 AD. The Acts of the Apostles give a fairly detailed account of this visit in which he was accompanied by Silas, Timothy and Luke. Paul’s preaching made many converts but also some strong enemies, who worked against him, and even had him thrown in prison for sometime before forcing him to leave the city.
In the passage of our meditation, Paul tries to lead his converts of Philippi to the greater perfection of their faith by pleading with them to be united in love and to walk in the footsteps of Christ, who humbled himself even to death on the cross. He backs up his assertion by pointing to his own life, which he has put entirely at the service of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He therefore appeals to them to imitate him by putting aside those external practices they might have learnt from the Jews that go against the cross of Christ. He assures them that though they will be persecuted, like Christ, they will receive glory for their faith in the Lord when he returns.
What lesson do I take home from this reading? Like the Philippians, we sometimes give in to the false doctrines of the numerous false prophets roaming our city of Douala and elsewhere in Cameroon today. We let ourselves be controlled by sensual appetites that enslave us and make us shun the cross of Christ; but without that cross we would have no resurrection at Easter. To attain our own resurrection, we must follow Christ more closely because if we die with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him ( 2 Tim 2: 11-12). Let us therefore pray for the grace to follow Christ more closely, he who is the Lord of all creation. Amen.
Gospel: Luke 9: 28-36.
Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him’. And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen.
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Comment
Shortly before the Gospel reading of this Mass, Jesus has been telling his disciples that he was to go to Jerusalem where the Jewish authorities would arrest him, judge him and kill him. The disciples are understandably saddened and depressed by this news. Jesus then takes with him his most trusted companions, Peter and the sons of Zebedee, James and John, up to the holy mountain to pray. These three will later witness his agony in the Garden of Olives.
As he is praying, he suddenly changes appearance. Saint Luke says that his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightening. It is then that Elijah and Moses appear and talk to him of his death, which he is to accomplish in Jerusalem. This is a sight the Apostles will never forget. Years later, Saint Peter recalls that moment with clarity: “And the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’, we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain’ (2 Pet 1: 17-18).
Peter and his companions are so happy with what they have witnessed that Peter wants to make the moment last longer by asking that they build three tents, one for Elijah, one for Moses and one for Jesus. God’s voice from the clouds tells the Apostle exactly who Jesus is, ‘my Son, the Chosen One’. The question of Jesus’ identity has been a problem to many, notably his townspeople, who think of him as a mere carpenter. They will therefore not listen to someone they think they know so well. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” (Lk 4:22). Not even his disciples themselves are sure who Jesus really is. They wonder: “Who is this who commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey him? (Lk 8: 25).
Jesus then asks his disciples “Who do people say I am?” And the answer varies all over the map, from John the Baptist to the prophets of old. Then he asks them: “But you, who do you say I am?” And it is Simon Peter who replies, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16: 13-16). Peter’s response is confirmed on the mountain by none other than God himself when he tells the puzzled Apostles: “This is my Chosen One. Listen to him” (Lk 9: 35). The Father recognizes Jesus in the presence of his three faithful companions. From now on, his identity is no longer a mystery to them. After his death, it will be these same Apostles who will lead the team that will go all over the world, proclaiming the Good News (Mk 16: 15).
Transfiguration, as someone has so rightly said, is not a solitary event in the Gospel but one that happens over and over again. Christ spends his entire ministry transfiguring many people: the sick, the broken, the marginalized. We too are challenged in this Gospel to transfigure those around us with our love, especially during this Lenten season. We are called not only to fast and pray but also to spread our love around us in the form of concrete actions towards the poor and the needy. When we share with them what we have, we help transfigure their lives for the better. So let us pray to the Holy Spirit to give us the strength and the courage to continue Christ’s transfiguration work wherever we may find ourselves this day. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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