II Sunday in Lent:[2012]:Gen22:1-2,9-13,15-18;Rom 8:31-35,37;Mk9:2-10

II Sunday in Lent:[2012]:Gen22:1-2,9-13,15-18;Rom 8:31-35,37;Mk9:2-10

This Sunday's first reading is the covenant is the one that God made with Abraham. Abraham manifested a living faith in God, a quality of faith that the world had never seen before. He left his homeland of Ur and went to the land of Canaan out of faith in God. Though his wife Sarah and he were too old to have children, he believed God's promise that he would be the Father of many nations. He was ecstatic when Isaac was born, the son through whom Abraham would live on as the Father of many nations; yet he still trusted in God to be true to his promise even when God told him to sacrifice Isaac. When God saw the extent of Abraham's faith, his confidence that God would fulfill his promises, even though this meant killing his son, God stopped Abraham and then covenanted that not only would Abraham be the father of many nations but also that his descendants would be as countless as the stars of the sky or the sands of the seashore. God's return to Abraham for his faith was the promise that Abraham's memory, his faith, his very life would continue in countless numbers of people throughout the ages. And indeed, Abraham is recognized as the Father of the Faith not just by Catholics, but by all Christians, by the Jewish people and by the Moslem people.

The covenant God made with Abraham he makes with us if we, like Abraham, do everything we can to cultivate a living faith. When you and I take a step of totally trusting in God to take care of us, though we have no idea how he could possibly do this under some present difficulty, then God responds both by caring for us and by giving life to our faith so that the world will witness our faith for more generations than we could ever imagine.

Joke : A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist.

Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and messy. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me."

"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

Elisha’s story: There is a mysterious story in 2 Kings that can help us understand what is going on in the transfiguration. Israel was at war with Aram, and Elisha the man of God was using his prophetic powers to reveal the strategic plans of the Aramean army to the Israelites. At first the King of Aram thought that one of his officers was playing the spy but when he learnt the truth he despatched troops to go and capture Elisha who was residing in Dothan. The Aramean troops moved in under cover of darkness and surrounded the city. In the morning Elisha’s servant was the first to discover that they were trapped in and feared for his master’s safety. He ran to Elisha and said, “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” The prophet answered, “Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” But who would believe that, when the surrounding mountainside was covered with advancing enemy troops? So Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:8-23). This vision was all that Elisha’s disciple needed to reassure him. At the end of the day, not only was the prophet of God safe but the invading army was totally humiliated.

The Transfiguration: The Transfiguration of Jesus happened at a stage in his public ministry when he was pretty much in the same situation as Elisha. His foes were closing in on him and his disciples led by Peter were feeling very much like the servant of Elisha, afraid and anxious for their master’s safety. Just before the Transfiguration Jesus had asked his disciples whom the people and they themselves thought he was. Peter gave the correct answer the he was Christ the son of the living God. Jesus congratulated him and then proceeded to forewarn them and prepare them for his unavoidable suffering, death and resurrection. But Peter was not ready for this. He protested visibly; he took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Jesus sharply corrected him, telling him that he was seeing things from a purely human point of view (Matthew 16:13-23). He needed, like Elisha’s servant, a vision from God’s point of view, to see that in spite of the death sentence hanging over the head of Jesus, God was still with him, God was still in control of events, God would see to it that in the end he triumphed over his foes as Elisha did. What Peter and his fellow disciples needed was for God to open their eyes and then give them a glimpse of God’s abiding presence with their master Jesus. The transfiguration was that experience.

The Transfiguration experience was, therefore, God’s way of delivering the disciples from a crisis of faith. The cause of their crisis of faith was the way in which they saw people and things around them. God helped them out of it by enlightening their vision so that, at least for a moment, they could see from God’s own perspective. Seen from below, in ordinary human light, people and things around us may look drab, commonplace and sometimes repulsive. But seen from above, in the light of divinity, the same people and things take on a more honorable, resplendent and lovable appearance. This glimpse into the true nature and divine aspect of persons and things can be called a transfiguration experience.

Conclusion : Where can one get this Transfiguration experience? Everywhere. Our Sunday worship is a good starting point. Outside the church, right from the church parking lot, we tend to see one another as competitors. On the road we see other road users as obstacles impeding our speedy arrival to our destinations. In the work place we see others as rivals vying with us for the ladder of success. But at Mass we have the singular experience of looking one another in the eye and calling them “brothers and sisters.” God sees us here as people of faith, people, human beings, who are begging God to help them grow in faith.  This is indeed a Transfiguration. The challenge for us is to live in the light of this awareness until we come together again next Sunday to renew our faith vision.

Introduction:  Second Sunday of Lent

Message: Abraham offers the ultimate sacrifice of thanksgiving, the gift of his very son.  This sacrifice prefigures the sacrifice of Jesus who died for us all.  In his transfiguration, Jesus discloses a suffering messiahship.

7^th Wednesday: Saints Perpetua and Felicity, martyr

Perpetua, a noble lady and Felicity, her slave, at Carthage in 203 under Septimus Severus; names mentioned in the Roman Canon.

8^th Thursday: Saint John of God, religious

John of God, 1550 in Granada; shepherd, soldier, and entrepreneur before his conversion at age forty-two; laid foundation (1537) for the Order of Hospitallers, today numbering about 1300 religious; patron of hospitals and the sick, of nurses and booksellers.

9^th Friday: Saint Frances of Rome, religious

Frances of Rome, 1440; noble woman, wife and mother; founded a community of Benedictine women oblates committed to serving the poorest of the poor; patroness of widows and motorists.