March 16, 2019 // The Sunday Gospel
Jesus is our only access to true and eternal life
Second Sunday In Lent
Luke 9:28b-36
The Book of Genesis is the source of the first reading. It is a story about Abraham, whom the Jews regarded, and still regard, as the father of their race. Also, Abraham is seen as the spiritual father of all who know and honor the one God; hence he is a special figure in the religious traditions of Christians and Muslims.
Scholars believe that Abraham was an actual person, not the figment of imagination or a figure constructed in some literary effort. He actually lived.
Several points are important in hearing or reading this passage. First, God communicates with Abraham, and God is in Abraham’s world, but God is above and beyond Abraham’s world. God is no human’s peer. People do not relate to God as if God were an equal; nevertheless, God is present and interacts with them.
God has command over nature and the living beings of nature. God can order Abraham to capture animals and then to sacrifice them. Since the animals that Abraham captured were sacred, as they were intended for sacrifice to praise God, Abraham protected them from being taken away by predators.
It is not as if birds of prey were inherently evil, although Jewish tradition later would proscribe eating the flesh of any bird of prey, or any other predator. Rather, they simply were victims of their own instincts and impulses. God is merciful and protects the good.
Abraham himself is vulnerable. Darkness overtakes his heart and mind. Literally, the sun sets. He is terrified. God promises him, and his offspring, life in a place of their own, a place of utter security.
The second reading is from the Epistle to the Philippians. Philippi was a city Greek by background. Its name honored the father of Alexander the Great, although it was home to a Christian community. For Christians, temptations to defect were many.
Paul wrote to the Christian Philippians to give them direction and encouragement. He expanded their knowledge of Jesus. He challenged them to be loyal and fervent disciples.
In this reading, St. Paul says that human beings are imperfect; even more so because of their willful sinning. Human bodies are “lowly,” because they are subject to death, the epistle declares.
Christ elevates and restores humans. In Jesus, human beings will never die if they earnestly follow the Lord.
St. Luke’s Gospel provides the last reading. It is Luke’s story of the Transfiguration, a story found also in Mark and Matthew. The story is powerful. As is so often the case in New Testament accounts, apostles are with Jesus at a very important moment. In this case, Peter, James, and John accompany Jesus. The apostles knew Jesus. They interacted with Jesus. They certainly saw the human characteristics of Jesus.
Because of the Transfiguration,
they saw the divinity of Jesus. The Lord showed them this divinity. On their own, being only human, they were unable to see it. Strong symbols from Hebrew tradition conveyed the reality of this divine identity. God spoke from a cloud. Gleaming light surrounded Jesus.
Jesus perfected the tradition of God’s relating to, and protecting, people. Beside Jesus were the prophets Moses and Elijah, with whom God also had communicated.
Reflection
The Church this weekend offers us several important lessons, intended to strengthen us in our Lenten resolve and ultimately in our Christian commitment.
First: We are not all-mighty or all-knowing. We are humans. Second: In our human limitation we are shortsighted, even blind at times. Third: We all physically will die. Fourth: God loves us with the love shown Abraham and the prophets. He loves us in Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus is our only hope. He is our only access to true and eternal life.
Therefore, using Lent better to relate to Jesus is worth every effort.
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