Commentary
Sunday, 3/12/2016, Second Sunday in Lent
Follow Me and I Will Make You a Blessing
First Reading Commentary Genesis 12:1-4a
The LORD told Abram to leave his father’s house and the land of his kinsfolk and go to the land that the LORD would show him. In effect, the LORD was saying, “Follow Me” in the same way that Jesus said, “Follow Me” to the disciples. The LORD was telling Abram to give up everything of this world, even those things which were most near and dear to him, leave them behind and go where the LORD wanted him to go.
Abram did as the LORD directed him. Why wouldn’t he? The LORD made Abram an offer he could not refuse. The LORD promised to make Abram a great nation blessing those who blessed him and cursing those who cursed him. The LORD promised that the name of Abram would be great and that all of the communities on earth would find blessing in Abram.
What Abram, who would later be called Abraham by the LORD, did not realize was that the woman’s Son promised in Genesis 3:15 would be one of his descendants. So the promise that the LORD made to Abram was even sweeter than he realized.
God always offers us a deal much sweeter than our imagination can fathom. But we usually fail to take the deal and follow God the way that Abram did. That is because the evil one also makes deals with us. The difference is that the devil’s deals appear to be good but in, reality they are packed with empty promises and lies. Nevertheless, we fall for them.
In last week’s gospel, we saw the devil tempt Jesus in the desert. Quoting Scripture, the devil used a good thing in his effort to bring about evil. Camouflaging his evil ways with something good is one of the cunning tactics that the devil uses against us in his efforts to lead us into sin. These cunning tactics are nothing more than lies but we must be on alert to recognize them and strong enough to not follow them.
In his lies to Jesus, the devil made promises that he could not keep. This is another one of the devil’s favorite tactics. He knows exactly what to say to press our buttons. He knows what our needs are and what our desires are and will say exactly what we want to hear as he lies with empty promises.
The devil’s third attempt to tempt Jesus into sin was rather funny if you think about it. He promised Jesus the world. All of creation belongs to the Creator so how can the devil promise Jesus—The Alpha and Omega the world?
But the LORD’s promise to Abram was all-together different. Yes, it is true that the LORD promised Abram the world. The LORD can do that because He created the world and can give it to whomever He wants. But that is not even the issue.
The LORD made a much bigger promise to Abram. Before taking a closer look at the bigger promise, consider this: the devil camouflages his evilness making it difficult and sometimes impossible to see until we have committed the sin. God will sometimes hide the ultimate prize until we have committed ourselves to following Him.
Again, the LORD promised Abram a great nation and to make the name of Abram great. The LORD also promised that all the communities of the earth would find blessing in Abram. Those three things may sound like the prize but; not really.
The real prize was God, Himself in the person of the Son who would come to save the world giving His own life on the cross. Christ would be a direct descendant of Abram and salvation would be possible for all of mankind through Christ. That was the real prize.
Abram did not know that but Abram did know the LORD. He knew that it was the LORD who was speaking to him and he had enough faith in the LORD to follow Him and that is the lesson for us. This is what we should remember as we meditate on Abram’s calling from the LORD—God called—Abram answered.
Lent is a time for us to answer God’s call to repent for our sins and as we do, we can remember the deal that God offered to Abram knowing that the deal that God offers us is just as sweet.
The devil may do a great job at camouflaging his lies but make no mistake about it—the devil can only promise eternal death in hell. The reward for us with the promise from God is eternal life in heaven.
We Must Do Our Part
Second Reading Commentary 2 Timothy 1:8b-10
In his second letter to Timothy, St. Paul tells us to bear our share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. Paul is reminding us that Christ went to the cross for our sake and that if Christ can sacrifice Himself and accept the supreme punishment of the cross, we can at least admit to our sins and repent. After all, Christ felt the weight of each and every sin, past, present and future of all mankind. We only have to deal with our own individual sins, all of which, we made by choice.
From the beginning, we were meant to be holy. God created us in His image which means that there is good in each of us and that before sin, we were holy. But because of sin, we had to be saved. Christ gave His life and defeated death with His Resurrection so that we would be saved. But in order for that salvation to be fulfilled, we must do our part.
That is why we should confess and repent and that is why we should not be ashamed of the gospel. The gospel is the Word of God, full of good news and promises of our eternal reward in heaven.
So, Paul reminds us that we are called to a holy life according to the design and grace which was bestowed on us in Christ before time began. This means that we should not simply confess and repent but we should sin no more. That is easier said than done which is why Confession is always available to us.
Today’s message from Paul should remind us of last Sunday’s message in Paul’s letter to the Romans where Paul reminded us that through one righteous act, acquittal and life came for all. Today, Paul is telling us to show our gratitude by answering the call of repenting for our sins and following the life that God planned for us from the beginning and that is for us to be one with Him as part of His Mystical Body.
The Transfiguration of the Lord
The Fourth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary
Gospel Commentary for Matthew 17: 1-9
Matthew, Mark and Luke all account for the Transfiguration of the Lord. Today, we hear the gospel of Matthew.
Jesus took Peter, John and James up to the mountain to pray. The face of Jesus changed appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glory with Him and they were having a conversation. Luke tells us that they spoke about the exodus that Jesus was going to make out of Jerusalem.
This event of Jesus going up the mountain relives Moses going up Mount Sinai. The face of Moses became so radiant that the Israelites could not look at him so he covered his face with a veil. The way that Jesus appears at the Transfiguration is also consistent with Daniel’s dream and with John’s vision in Revelations.
It was the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples who went up the mountain with Him. Jesus appeared in His divine state as God the Son although the disciples did not understand what was happening when they first saw Him. Peter, who did not know what to say and had a way of speaking without thinking first, said, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
Peter made the mistake of thinking in human terms and of this world. If Peter knew that it was Moses and Elijah, he should have stopped to think that what was going on was not of this world. We usually try to think of God in a human way. That is not to say that we think of God as being human, although Christ did come to earth as a man, but because our minds cannot conceive God as He really is, we try to make a comparison with something that we can understand.
Before Peter could finish speaking, a bright cloud came and cast a shadow over the disciples and they became frightened. Remember that when God appeared to Moses at the Dwelling in the desert, He came in the form of a cloud which filled the Dwelling and God spoke to Him. Exodus 40:34 God, the Father, spoke here as well and said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” After God spoke, Jesus was alone with the disciples. On the way down from the mountain, Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone about what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
This is the second time that the Father spoke from heaven about Jesus. The first time was when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and the Father said, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17 But this time, the Father said, “Listen to him.” This was a commandment from the Father to the disciples and to all of us and it is very direct—Listen to Jesus. This is why anyone who declares themselves a Christian should follow everything that Jesus said and everything that Jesus did without exception.
The Transfiguration of Jesus points to the Resurrection and all three persons of the Trinity were present. It was the Father’s voice and the Holy Spirit appeared as the bright cloud. Jesus appeared in the glory of the Risen Christ. It also points to the Passion. One reason why is because the climb up the mountain is compared to the climb up to Calvary.
It was important for Peter, John and James to see Jesus in His divine state because this was a confirmation of Jesus being the Messiah. Being able to see Jesus as God, would later give them the understanding that Jesus’ Passion was voluntary and that by way of the cross, Jesus made His exodus from this life to His glory in heaven paving the way for our exodus from this life to our glory in heaven. The Transfiguration would also give them the strength that they needed to complete their mission as Apostles after Jesus was gone.
How can we be strengthened and gain understanding by meditating on the Transfiguration? We were not there to see it but Peter, John and James were. Our human desire for tangible evidence has to come from them. Through their presence, we are all given tangible proof that Jesus is God the Son. By their witness to His Passion and Resurrection, we are all given even more proof.
They were enlightened with the understanding that Jesus went to the cross to prepare the way for all of us. Peter, John and James shared this with the other Apostles and together, they all shared it with us in Acts of the Apostles and in their letters.
From the experiences which the Apostles had with Christ and their sharing of those experiences with us, we must acquire strength and understanding through our faith in God. Strength and understanding are both gifts of the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is ask and we will receive them.
