Sunday - March 13, 2022
"Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?"
-Ven. Fulton Sheen
TODAY'S READINGS
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
Lectionary: 27
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
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 2
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.
or:
Phil 3:20—4:1
Brothers and sisters:
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, beloved.
Verse Before the Gospel
From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:
This is my beloved Son, hear him.
Gospel
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.
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Light in Our Darkness
In this Sunday's Gospel reading, we see Jesus reveal the uncreated light of his true identity and we hear the Father say, "This is my chosen Son; listen to him."
We experience Christ's deepest identity every time we listen to him and allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten our understanding of his words and guidance.
By listening to him, we let his uncreated light consume the darkness that still lingers within us. Then, the people around us experience more of him, because they meet him in us -- in our actions, in our compassion, in our forgiveness, etc. This is evangelization!
Lent is a time of concentrating on our need for Christ to shed his light into our areas of darkness. When we let Jesus enlighten us so that we repent (which means change), seeking and receiving forgiveness and the Holy Spirit's power to change, we become more like Christ. We shine more brilliantly with him. And we enter more fully into his ministry of redeeming the world. Although there is suffering in this ministry, we know that the pain of Good Friday is always followed by the victory of Easter.
It's in the trials and sacrifices of life -- our own crucifixions -- where our holiness changes the world. Do we dare follow Jesus all the way to Calvary? It's the only way to get to Easter! Our trials are his blood being shed again. Our pains are his pains. We're already on the cross with Jesus! So why not embrace this extreme intimacy with him for the sake of those who've scourged us and betrayed us?
By loving those who don't love us, forgiving those who mistreat us, and working hard to replace evil with the kingdom of God, we reveal the light of Christ to those who live in darkness.
Think of a redemption you've experienced, an area of darkness in your life that Jesus shed his light upon when he inspired you to repent. How has this change increased your holiness? What is he inviting you to change now, something that's been difficult to look at or hard to overcome? What would you like to hear from Jesus that will help you turn this darkness into holiness? After you figure it out, take this to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Why is the Passion of Christ your passion? What crosses are you carrying that you hope will help Christ redeem the world from sin and darkness? How does your cross purify your own holiness?
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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