A Homily - The Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year A)

A Homily - The Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year A)

 

First Reading – 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 22(23) ©

Second Reading – Ephesians 5:8-14 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 8:12

The Gospel According to John 9:1 – 41 ©

 

(NJB)

 

The readings for today begin with a proper myth; though it should be noted that a religion purporting to have been founded by the Spirit of Truth cannot be rooted in myth, the meaning of which will by necessity change time, and which when concretized into a form of fundamentalism encourages the reader to recast what had been intended as allegory into literalism.

When this happens it becomes too easy for the reader to overlook the wisdom predicated in following statement from the reading: “God does not look at the man but at the heart,” and focus on the inconsequential: “The spirit of God seized David and remained with him thereafter.”

Be mindful!

God, the creator of the universe, God is not a respecter of persons. There was nothing at all special about David, God is not a kingmaker and God does not intervene in the course of human events.

 Everything has its existence within God, every living being, each and every one of us, without God not one of us would be. God brings all of us into life, seizing us from the virtual-nothingness of mere potentiality, carried us into the light of actuality, and from the first moment of our being God is with us, as God is with everyone.

 David was not special, no more than you or I.

 Listen to the psalmist; God is the shepherd of us all. If we walk in the way of God, we will be shepherd to our sisters and brothers, our mothers and fathers, our sons and daughters.

 Know this, our time in this world is brief, and when it ends it is not the end of all things. If we are hungry, we are hungry only for a short time. If we thirst, it is but for a moment. In times of scarcity we must show our generosity, giving to those in need, trusting in God’s providence and finding our peace. It is not only because God loves you that God guides you; God blesses and guides us so that we may in turn may be a guide and blessing to others.

 Remember.

 The power of death and sin are temporary, only the divine endures forever. The divine spirit dwells within us, within each of us. Through the atonement, we also endure forever.

 If God has set a table before you, share it with the world; turn your adversaries into friends.

 Consider these words from the apostle; reflect on their meaning:

 What is exposed in the light will become light!

 The Gospel promises a time when their will be no darkness, when light will cover everything, and everything will be transformed by the light – into  light.

 We have a choice to make: we can wait for grace to break into our lives, or we can give up our shameful ways, our greed and jealousy, our miserliness and hatreds. We came give them up and walk into the light on our own.

 Be mindful!

 We are all walking in the way; the way does not exclude anyone. We are all moving inexorably toward God, the divine source of all being.

 Consider the Gospel reading for today!

 The intrigue presented here casts a pall over the best parts of the reading itself. Such is foibles of all human endeavors…handle it with care.

 When the good news is interwoven with internecine conflicts, legalisms and partisanship, its brightness is diminished; the way becomes lost in the fog.

 We do best when keep the preaching of Jesus focused on core principles and simple precepts.

 The way is light, the life of Jesus exemplifies this, he was anointed because of the quality of the life he lived. Christ is a light in the world.

 Follow it!

 Along the lighted way the blind will see, even those who have lived in perpetual darkness will see…we will all see…clearly.

 Believe it!

 The Gospel is hope; any reading that detracts from this hope, does not originate in the actual teaching of Jesus, but are in fact the interpolations of lesser men.

Discern them and reject them.

  

First Reading – 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13 ©

David is Anointed by Samuel

The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king among his sons.’ When Samuel arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands there before him,’ but the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him: God does not see as man sees: man looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.’ Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen these.’ He then asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have?’ He answered, ‘There is still one left, the youngest; he is out looking after the sheep.’ Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he comes.’ Jesse had him sent for, a boy of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. The Lord said, ‘Come, anoint him, for this is the one.’ At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed with him from that day on.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 22(23) ©

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

The Lord is my shepherd;

  there is nothing I shall want.

Fresh and green are the pastures

  where he gives me repose.

Near restful waters he leads me,

  to revive my drooping spirit.

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

He guides me along the right path;

  he is true to his name.

If I should walk in the valley of darkness

  no evil would I fear.

You are there with your crook and your staff;

  with these you give me comfort.

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

You have prepared a banquet for me

  in the sight of my foes.

My head you have anointed with oil;

  my cup is overflowing.

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me

  all the days of my life.

In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell

  for ever and ever.

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

 

Second Reading – Ephesians 5:8-14 ©

Anything Exposed by the Light Will Turn into Light

You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; be like children of light, for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and right living and truth. Try to discover what the Lord wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness but exposing them by contrast. The things which are done in secret are things that people are ashamed even to speak of; but anything exposed by the light will be illuminated and anything illuminated turns into light. That is why it is said:

Wake up from your sleep, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 8:12

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life.

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

 

The Gospel According to John – John 9:1 - 41 ©

The Blind Man Went Off and Washed Himself, and Came Away with His Sight Restored

As Jesus went along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, for him to have been born blind?’ ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned,’ Jesus answered ‘he was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

‘As long as the day lasts I must carry out the work of the one who sent me; the night will soon be here when no one can work. As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.’

Having said this, he spat on the ground, made a paste with the spittle, put this over the eyes of the blind man, and said to him, ‘Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (a name that means ‘sent’). So the blind man went off and washed himself, and came away with his sight restored.

His neighbours and people who earlier had seen him begging said, ‘Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘Yes, it is the same one.’ Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him.’ The man himself said, ‘I am the man.’ So they said to him, ‘Then how do your eyes come to be open?’ ‘The man called Jesus’ he answered ‘made a paste, daubed my eyes with it and said to me, “Go and wash at Siloam”; so I went, and when I washed I could see.’ They asked, ‘Where is he?’ ‘I don’t know’ he answered.

  They brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. It had been a sabbath day when Jesus made the paste and opened the man’s eyes, so when the Pharisees asked him how he had come to see, he said, ‘He put a paste on my eyes, and I washed, and I can see.’ Then some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man cannot be from God: he does not keep the sabbath.’ Others said, ‘How could a sinner produce signs like this?’ And there was disagreement among them. So they spoke to the blind man again, ‘What have you to say about him yourself, now that he has opened your eyes?’ ‘He is a prophet’ replied the man. However, the Jews would not believe that the man had been blind and had gained his sight, without first sending for his parents and asking them, ‘Is this man really your son who you say was born blind? If so, how is it that he is now able to see?’ His parents answered, ‘We know he is our son and we know he was born blind, but we do not know how it is that he can see now, or who opened his eyes. He is old enough: let him speak for himself.’ His parents spoke like this out of fear of the Jews, who had already agreed to expel from the synagogue anyone who should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ. This was why his parents said, ‘He is old enough; ask him.’

  So the Jews again sent for the man and said to him, ‘Give glory to God! For our part, we know that this man is a sinner.’ The man answered, ‘I don’t know if he is a sinner; I only know that I was blind and now I can see.’ They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He replied, ‘I have told you once and you wouldn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it all again? Do you want to become his disciples too?’ At this they hurled abuse at him: ‘You can be his disciple,’ they said ‘we are disciples of Moses: we know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ The man replied, ‘Now here is an astonishing thing! He has opened my eyes, and you don’t know where he comes from! We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but God does listen to men who are devout and do his will. Ever since the world began it is unheard of for anyone to open the eyes of a man who was born blind; if this man were not from God, he couldn’t do a thing.’ ‘Are you trying to teach us,’ they replied ‘and you a sinner through and through, since you were born!’ And they drove him away.

  Jesus heard they had driven him away, and when he found him he said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said, ‘You are looking at him; he is speaking to you.’ The man said, ‘Lord, I believe’, and worshipped him.

  Jesus said: ‘It is for judgement that I have come into this world, so that those without sight may see and those with sight turn blind.’

Hearing this, some Pharisees who were present said to him, ‘We are not blind, surely?’

Jesus replied: ‘Blind? If you were, you would not be guilty, but since you say, “We see,” your guilt remains.’

 

The Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year A)

A Homily – The Third Sunday of Lent (Year A)

A Homily – The Third Sunday of Lent (Year A)

 

First Reading - Exodus 17:3-7 ©

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 94(95):1-2, 6-9 ©

Second Reading – Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 4:42, 15

The Gospel According to John – 4:5 - 42 ©

 

(NJB)

Listen!

God, the creator of the universe, God is not a miracle worker and God does not intervene in human affairs, that is not how the divine interacts with the world. God did not cause water to flow from the rock in Horeb. God did not lead the people through the desert as a pillar of fire and a column of smoke; these are metaphors. God had nothing to do with any of the events described in the reading for today.

These cannot be presented as literalisms, because the faith of the Church cannot be built on lies. These events, while they may refer to a historical reality, they did not happen as described. We may take the narrative metaphorically; if we do we may then extract this meaning…trust God.

Trust in the divine while enduring your immediate struggle, God will not free you from it, you must bear it to the end, but trust in the divine that in the end all will be well.

Be mindful!

God is the author of our wellbeing, and God will bring us to it…in the end. The divine seed that God planted in you will blossom and come to fruition in the end, and this is true of everyone. We will be face to face with God, who is wellbeing, in the place beyond where God is all in all.

This is a sustaining hope, one that is wise to hold.

Remember.

The whole of creation belongs to God, all that is good and all that we fear, everything comes from God, and everything we experience will redound to the good.

This is the faith of that leads to the way.  

Listen!

God is not a king.

It is good to show our respect for the creator and sing songs in praise of God, but God is not a lord, rather the divine person is our loving parent, active in the life of every person, preparing each of according to God’s wisdom for the divine blessing that awaits us all.

Consider the teaching of the apostle.

When we say that we are judged as righteous, and that we are at peace with God by faith; we mean to say that our trust in God’s promise of peace, and God’s promise regarding the restoration of the entire world, allows us to lead lives that are humble, just and merciful and this is the path to righteousnesss.

If we boast that our faith, this trust in God’s plan for the entire human race allows us to see the coming of God, it is only because we know that God dwells within us already, and in the relationships we have with each other. We know that when we look into each other’s hearts, we are able to see the beauty of the divine, the same divine spirit present in ourselves, and fully manifest in the love care we show toward each other.

Understand this!

Contrary to what the apostle taught and the church upholds, Jesus was not a sacrificial victim. His blood did not have magic powers. God, does not love holocausts and burnt offerings. The slaughter of Jesus, and his death on the cross was not a “type” of, or even the “type” of the paschal ritual in the Hebrew cult of animal sacrifice.   

God loves mercy and God love justice, not blood and guts burning in the fire. Jesus himself preached from the prophetic tradition that taught this.

What Jesus did was to act mercifully and with full regard for his followers when he allowed himself to be taken to the cross, many would have died if he had not and he had thousands of followers. He gave his life to save them, to save them in their own time and place, he did not give his life as a cosmic sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Jesus was a man, and this is the truth, and the Church must contend with it.

Consider the gospel for today.

This is not a story about who Jesus is. Though most readers and interpreters of the sacred text treat it as such. This is not a story about the Messiah or the Christ or living water, and it is not a story about baptism or even the benevolent mercy of Jesus. In sitting down with the woman by the well Jesus was not doing anything extraordinary. He was simply following the way; teaching its principles through simple actions.

This is a story about discipleship, and the first Apostle of the Christian Church; she was a woman, she was a woman without a husband, she was an outsider and a she was Samaritan.

It is clear from the text that this Samaritan woman was a person of influence in her community, we know this because after she met Jesus she went to speak with the people of her town, and on the strength of her testimony we are told that the entire community converted to the faith.

This community became the very first organized group of Christians, they are an an entire community of believers, formed by the witness of this woman, who shared with them a story about the compassion of Jesus, which opened their hearts to the way.

Jesus says to the disciples who arrived late in the day, after his encounter with his first apostle; he tells them that the harvest is already coming in, speaking of the work that he had just begun with this woman and without them. Jesus and the woman by the well had sewn the field, with honesty and kindness, and the harvest was gathered without delay.

This is why Jesus told the disciples that they would take credit for the work that others had done, because even though this story endured, the woman by the well is not given credit for the work she did in forming this first Christian community, one or another of the disciples took the credit in the end.

Be mindful of this, follow Jesus in the way, do not emulate the prideful nature of the disciples.

First Reading - Exodus 17:3-7 ©

Strike the Rock, and Water Will Flow from It

Tormented by thirst, the people complained against Moses. ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt?’ they said. ‘Was it so that I should die of thirst, my children too, and my cattle?’

Moses appealed to the Lord. ‘How am I to deal with this people?” he said. ‘A little more and they will stone me!’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take with you some of the elders of Israel and move on to the forefront of the people; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the river, and go. I shall be standing before you there on the rock, at Horeb. You must strike the rock, and water will flow from it for the people to drink.’ This is what Moses did, in the sight of the elders of Israel. The place was named Massah and Meribah because of the grumbling of the sons of Israel and because they put the Lord to the test by saying, ‘Is the Lord with us, or not?’

 

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 94(95):1-2, 6-9 ©

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;

  hail the rock who saves us.

Let us come before him, giving thanks,

  with songs let us hail the Lord.

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

Come in; let us bow and bend low;

  let us kneel before the God who made us:

for he is our God and we

  the people who belong to his pasture,

  the flock that is led by his hand.

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

O that today you would listen to his voice!

  ‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,

  as on that day at Massah in the desert

when your fathers put me to the test;

  when they tried me, though they saw my work.’

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

 

Second Reading – Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 ©

The Love of God Has Been Poured Into Our Hearts

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith we are judged righteous and at peace with God, since it is by faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of grace in which we can boast about looking forward to God’s glory. And this hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us. We were still helpless when at his appointed moment Christ died for sinful men. It is not easy to die even for a good man – though of course for someone really worthy, a man might be prepared to die – but what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 4:42, 15

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

Lord, you are really the saviour of the world: give me the living water, so that I may never get thirsty.

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

 

The Gospel According to John – 4:5 - 42 ©

A Spring of Water Welling Up to Eternal Life

Jesus came to the Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well is there and Jesus, tired by the journey, sat straight down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’

His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.

The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?’ – Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritans. Jesus replied:

 

‘If you only knew what God is offering and who it is that is saying to you:

 

Give me a drink, you would have been the one to ask, and he would have given you living water.’ ‘You have no bucket, sir,’ she answered ‘and the well is deep:

 

how could you get this living water? Are you a greater man than our father Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his sons and his cattle?’

Jesus replied:

 

‘Whoever drinks this water will get thirsty again; but anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again:

 

the water that I shall give will turn into a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life.’

‘Sir,’ said the woman ‘give me some of that water, so that I may never get thirsty and never have to come here again to draw water.’

‘Go and call your husband’ said Jesus to her ‘and come back here.’

The woman answered, ‘I have no husband.’

He said to her, ‘You are right to say, “I have no husband”; for although you have had five, the one you have now is not your husband. You spoke the truth there.’

‘I see you are a prophet, sir’ said the woman. ‘Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, while you say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’ Jesus said:

 

‘Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know:

 

for salvation comes from the Jews. But the hour will come – in fact it is here already – when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth:

 

that is the kind of worshipper the Father wants. God is spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth.’

 

The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah – that is, Christ – is coming; and when he comes he will tell us everything.’

 

‘I who am speaking to you,’ said Jesus ‘I am he.’

At this point his disciples returned, and were surprised to find him speaking to a woman, though none of them asked, ‘What do you want from her?’ or, ‘Why are you talking to her?’

The woman put down her water jar and hurried back to the town to tell the people. ‘Come and see a man who has told me everything I ever did; I wonder if he is the Christ?’ This brought people out of the town and they started walking towards him.

Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, do have something to eat; but he said, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples asked one another, ‘Has someone been bringing him food?’

 

But Jesus said:

‘My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to complete his work.

Have you not got a saying:

 

Four months and then the harvest? Well, I tell you:

 

Look around you, look at the fields; already they are white, ready for harvest!

Already the reaper is being paid his wages, already he is bringing in the grain for eternal life, and thus sower and reaper rejoice together.

For here the proverb holds good:

 

one sows, another reaps; I sent you to reap a harvest you had not worked for. Others worked for it; and you have come into the rewards of their trouble.’

 

Many Samaritans of that town had believed in him on the strength of the woman’s testimony when she said, ‘He told me all I have ever done’, so, when the Samaritans came up to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed for two days, and when he spoke to them many more came to believe; and they said to the woman, ‘Now we no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves and we know that he really is the saviour of the world.’

 

The Third Sunday of Lent (Year A)

Observation - March 8th, 2023, Wednesday

Observation

 

The sky is a dirty gray

Fine wet snow falling as a mist

 

A single brown leaf

Clings to the maple

Outside my window

 

Stubborn little thing

Wavering in the breeze

Observation - March 7th, 2023, Tuesday

March 7^th, 2023, Tuesday

Observation

  

The sky is a field of blue and white

 The march sun is welcome

 The walkways are wet

            There is ice in the shadows

 Rabbit tracks disappearing in the melting snow

A Homily – The Second Sunday of Lent (Year A)

A Homily – The Second Sunday of Lent (Year A)

First Reading – Genesis 12:1-4 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 32(33):4-5, 18-20, 22 ©

Second Reading – 2 Timothy 1:8-10 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 17:5

The Gospel According to Matthew – 17:1 - 9 ©

 

(NJB)

  

Believe!

 Believe that it is possible for the entire world to be blessed through the actions of a single person.

 Believe it! Everything we say and do is a part of the whole, the reality of what is, conditioning he possibility of what may be. In this capacity we are divine agents in the process of creation.

 Know this:

 God, the creator of the universe, God does not intervene in human affairs. God does not show preference to one nation above another, one tribe over another, or one person over their sister and brother.

 God does not build nations, or intervene in their progress to make them great. God does not distribute blessings and curses capriciously. God has made every person, and the entire universe free.

 Be mindful of this!

 It is fitting to praise God. It is wise to trust in divine mercy; but do not expect God to rescue you from the dangers of the world. God does not intervene in worldly affairs, in any matter, public or private, great or small.  

 You have heard this said:

 God knows all things, God understands all things, but did you know that God’s knowledge is not an abstract knowledge of the particular details of individual events. God understands us, God knows our person, the choices we make and reason we make them, the divine spirit bears witness to our lives, understanding us even as we understand ourselves.

 Trust in God’s plan for you, in the plan for creation, but do not wait for salvation. Have faith in the divine who made you well at the beginning, proclaim it.

 We are saved already, we are saved by grace and no-one is excluded.

 Listen!

 We have been given the power to know the truth and love goodness, we are asked to be kind to be kind to one another and show mercy; Jesus showed you the way.

 Know this!

 Before the beginning of time God’s saving purpose was at work in creation. All that we experience here was conceived in the light of God’s salvific will.

 Let your mind dwell on this. God made us in the created order, and when God finished the divine work, God proclaimed that it was good, with us in it.

 Know this:

 God calls us to be holy, at all times the voice of God can be heard speaking in the heart, calling to us, inviting us into a life of compassion, the love that leads to wellbeing.

 God made us this way, and calls to us in this way, out of love. From the beginning of time God made plans for us, for all of us, determining that none shall be lost.

 Remember Jesus who revealed this through the love shared with the world, he showed us the way.

 Follow it!

 Consider the Gospel for today.

 As Christians we are bound to read it being mindful of its truthfulness. Therefore, let the Spirit of Truth guide us, even if it means rejecting the Gospel as written.

 Understand this:

 There may have been an event, when Jesus together with James and John went up the mountain by themselves.

 It may have been that at this time Jesus instructed his companions as to how his ministry was in keeping with that of Moses, the liberator and the law giver; as well as Elijah, the truthteller.

 Something like that may have happened but the supernatural events described in the reading for today…did not. All pretensions to supernatural activity must be read as metaphor or allegory, there is no other way.

 Be mindful!

 God does not engage in supernatural activities. God is the author of nature and of nature’s laws; God does not violate these laws for any reason.

 It may also be that Jesus wanted to connect his ministry to the mythology of Enoch, which was popular at this time, he may have taught this to the disciples, in order to prepare them for his passing and to establish the expectation of his return.

 Jesus did warn the disciples that his ministry would lead to his death, but like Enoch, the Son of Man, death would not stop him.

 Jesus may have wanted them to believe this, just as he may have wanted them to believe that the ministry of John the Baptist was being carried on through him.

 Read the Gospel in such a way that you strip away its fantastical elements, the magic and miracles; if they are not treated as metaphors, they elucidate nothing and insisting they are real is contrary to the way.

 Be mindful!

 This is not a historical narrative, but it tells us something about the historical faith of the community who compiled these texts, preserving them in this way for us to read.

First Reading – Genesis 12:1-4 ©

All the Tribes of the Earth Shall Bless Themselves by You

The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.

‘I will bless those who bless you: I will curse those who slight you.

All the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you.’

So Abram went as the Lord told him.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 32(33):4-5, 18-20, 22 ©

May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.

The word of the Lord is faithful

  and all his works to be trusted.

The Lord loves justice and right

  and fills the earth with his love.

May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.

The Lord looks on those who revere him,

  on those who hope in his love,

to rescue their souls from death,

  to keep them alive in famine.

May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.

Our soul is waiting for the Lord.

  The Lord is our help and our shield.

May your love be upon us, O Lord,

  as we place all our hope in you.

May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.

 

Second Reading – 2 Timothy 1:8-10 ©

God Calls and Enlightens Us

With me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy – not because of anything we ourselves have done but for his own purpose and by his own grace. This grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time, but it has only been revealed by the Appearing of our saviour Christ Jesus. He abolished death, and he has proclaimed life and immortality through the Good News.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 17:5

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

From the bright cloud the Father’s voice was heard:

‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

 

The Gospel According to Matthew – 17:1 - 9 ©

His Face Shone Like the Sun

Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone. There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking with him. Then Peter spoke to Jesus. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘it is wonderful for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered them with shadow, and from the cloud there came a voice which said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’ When they heard this the disciples fell on their faces overcome with fear. But Jesus came up and touched them. ‘Stand up,’ he said ‘do not be afraid.’ And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but only Jesus.

As they came down from the mountain Jesus gave them this order, ‘Tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.’

 

Second Sunday of Lent (Year A)