Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT (Cycle A)
Readings:
Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 33:4-5, 18-20, 22
2 Timothy 1:8b-10
Matthew 17:1-9
Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).
The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity, which is why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings: God's Call and Our Response
God calls all Christians to a vocation. It may be a vocation
dedicated to teaching Scripture, a ministry of prayer, working with the poor,
accepting the call to the priesthood, or religious life. It might be a vocation
of being called to the Sacrament of Marriage and bringing forth the next
generation of Jesus's disciples. We must be aware that His call to all Christians
is to embrace a new existence. Today's First Reading revisits God's invitation
to Abraham to begin a new life. Abraham's call and ours imply three elements
covered in our readings:
The keyword in the Responsorial Psalm is the Hebrew word hesed. It expresses the blessing of a unique love relationship between God and His people based on the bond of a covenant. Biblical covenants are agreements between God and His chosen people in which God promises His divine protection, and the people pledge their exclusive loyalty to God. Biblical covenants also form a family bond between God, the Divine Father, and His covenant people, who are His obedient children.
The Second Reading is from St. Paul's second letter to St. Timothy, believed to be his last letter from his prison cell in Rome before his martyrdom in c. AD 67. Paul urged Timothy not to be ashamed of giving his testimony of Christ nor of Paul's suffering that resulted from proclaiming the Gospel message of salvation. Instead, he urged Timothy to embrace suffering for the sake of the Gospel, and he presented the theological basis for Timothy and all Christians to confront difficulties with courage in presenting the Gospel. We have been called by God, who revealed Himself as our Savior (verse 9), and the salvation God brings manifested in the Incarnation of Christ (verse 10). Paul identifies four essential aspects of salvation:
The Gospel of salvation has always been God's divine plan from the beginning of Creation, and Jesus's entire work of redemption will reach its climax when Jesus returns in glory at the end of the Age of Humanity (1 Thes 6:16-18; 1 Tim 6:14; 2 Tim 4:1, 8). Jesus's work of redemption has two effects: victory over death (both physical and spiritual) and the gift of eternal life. These gifts make our earthly suffering for the Gospel of salvation a small price to pay compared to our eternal reward.
The story of the Transfiguration provides hope for all professing Christians. It is the vision that all of us who accept Jesus's call to discipleship hope to witness. We will either see Jesus in His glory when we stand in judgment before God's throne with Jesus as our Advocate or if He comes before we die, we will see Him in all His transfigured glory at the time of His Second Coming. The hope of this vision should give us the confidence to cry out: "Come, Lord, Your servant is waiting!"
The First Reading Genesis 12:1-4a ~ The Call of Abraham
1 The LORD said to Abram: "Go forth from the land of your
kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. 2 I will
make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great
so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse
those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find a blessing in
you." 4a Abram went as the LORD directed him.
At this point in God's relationship with Abram, He had not changed his name to "Abraham." A name change in Scripture usually reflected a change of destiny. These verses begin the saga of Abraham and his unique relationship with the God he and his descendants came to know as both Yahweh and El Shaddai (Gen 15:2; 17:1). God called Abram to "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great so that you will be a blessing" sounds wonderful on this side of salvation history. However, at the time in which Abram lived, to set out for an unknown land without the protection of one's extended family was a test of faith that we cannot appreciate.
God made three promises that would become part of a threefold covenant with Abram/Abraham if he accepted his divine call:
In the second blessing in verse 2b, to make Abram's "name great," was God's promise of a living history through Abram/Abraham's descendants who would carry his bloodline and remember his name.
Within verses 2-3, there are seven elements associated with Abram's call, applying the symbolic number of completeness to the blessing:
In Abram's divine call, God returned to His original plan before Adam's Fall from grace, which was to bless all humanity (Gen 1:28; repeated in 9:1). Abram, like Noah, became a new Adam and the father of a new branch of humanity (CCC 59, 762).
Abram did not receive any of these promised blessings during his lifetime. Instead, some of the promises were partly fulfilled by the children of Israel, who called Abraham their ancestral father and took possession of the land of Canaan, which became the Kingdom of Israel. However, Abram's descendant, Jesus of Nazareth, perfectly fulfilled the three-fold promises:
St. Paul wrote: There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither slave nor freeman, there can be neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And simply by being Christ's, you are that progeny of Abraham, the heirs named in the promise (Gal 3:28-29).
Responsorial Psalm 33:4-5, 18-20, 22 ~ Trust in the Lord
The response is: "Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place
our trust in you."
4 Upright is the word of the LORD, and all his works are
trustworthy. 5 He loves justice and right; of the kindness [faithful covenant
love = hesed] of the LORD, the earth is full.
Response:
18 See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
those who hope for his kindness [hesed], 19 to deliver them from death and
preserve them despite famine.
Response:
20 Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our
shield. 22 May your kindness [hesed], O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope
in you.
Response:
[...] = literal Hebrew, IBHE, vol. II, page 1412-1413.
The keyword in this passage is the Hebrew word hesed. It expresses a special love relationship between God and his people based on the bond of a covenant. Biblical covenants are agreements between God and His chosen people in which God promises His divine protection, and the people pledge their exclusive loyalty to God. Biblical covenants also form a unique family bond between God, the Divine Father, and His covenant people who become children in His family and no longer children in the fallen family of Adam.
Verses 4-5 focus on God the Creator and His works of righteousness as He reveals Himself to the faithful in the fullness of His covenant love. In verses 18-20, the psalmist expresses awe of God's providence over humanity, especially those who fear to offend Him and have hope in His faithful, covenant love. God's love sustains them when they experience temporal hardships and even death. In verse 22, the psalmist concludes by petitioning God for his covenant love to always be with His people who have put their hope and faith in Him alone.
When Christians read this psalm, they praise the Lord for the revelation of Himself through the Divine Word, Jesus Christ, and our bond of love with Him in the New and eternal Covenant (Jer 31:31; 50:5; Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:23-25). God the Creator made all things through His Word, Jesus Christ, through which He sustains all things (Jn 1:1; Col 1:15-17).
The Second Reading 2 Timothy 1:8b-10 ~ Be Prepared to Embrace
Suffering for the Sake of the Gospel
8b Bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the
strength that comes from God. 9 He saved us and called us to a holy life, not
according to our works, but according to his own design and the grace bestowed
on us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10 but now made manifest through the
appearance of our Savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and
immortality to light through the Gospel.
St. Paul's second letter to St. Timothy is believed to be his last letter from his prison cell in Rome before his martyrdom in c. 67 AD. It is, therefore, regarded as St. Paul's spiritual "last testament." In verse 8, Paul urges Timothy not to be ashamed of giving his testimony of Christ nor of Paul's suffering from proclaiming the Gospel message of salvation. Instead, he asks Timothy to embrace suffering for the sake of the Gospel, and he presents the theological basis for Timothy and all Christians to confront difficulties with courage in presenting the Gospel. We have also been called by God, who revealed Himself as our Savior (verse 9), and the salvation God brings manifested in the Incarnation of Christ (verse 10). Paul identifies four essential aspects of salvation:
The reference to "before time began" in verse 9 is literally "from the times of the ages" and refers to eternity. In other words, Paul writes that the Gospel of salvation has always been God's divine plan from the beginning of Creation. The reference to "the appearance of our Savior" in verse 10 refers to the Incarnation (Tit 2:11; 3:4) and includes Jesus's entire work of redemption, which will reach its climax when Jesus returns in glory (1 Thes 6:16-18; 1 Tim 6:14; 2 Tim 4:1, 8). Jesus's work of redemption has two effects:
These gifts make our earthly suffering for the Gospel of salvation a small price to pay compared to our eternal reward.
The Gospel of Matthew 17:1-9 ~ The Transfiguration
1 Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother, and led
them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And
behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. 4 Then Peter
said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I
will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While
he was still speaking, behold a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from
the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased; listen to him." 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate
and were very much afraid. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise,
and do not be afraid." 8 And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no
one else but Jesus alone. 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus
charged them, "Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been
raised from the dead."
The disciples and Apostles must have been frightened and discouraged after Jesus's prophecy of His death in Matthew 16:21-23. To give them a vision to grasp in their darkest hour when they would witness the fulfillment of the prediction of His death, Jesus took three Apostles, Peter, James, and John, up a "high mountain" where He allowed them to witness a manifestation of His glory. What they saw confirmed that Jesus is the Son of God and has the power to come in glory after what He has told them takes place. These three Apostles would also be separated from the others when Jesus faced His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.
It is significant that Jesus "took them up a high mountain." Mighty works/revelations of God often occurred on mountains, including the Theophany of God on Mt. Sinai and the Sermon on the Mount (Gen 22:2, 11; Ex 19:16-20; 1 Kng 18:19-39; 19:11-18; 1 Chr 21:15-17; 2 Chr 3:1; and Mt 5:1-2). As the "new Moses," Jesus ascended the mountain not to find a revelation of God but to give a revelation of God the Son to three of His Apostles. Two traditions identify the mountain. One tradition names Mount Hermon at Caesarea Philippi as the mountain of the Transfiguration. However, the more popular tradition is Mount Tabor, an isolated mountain about six days' journey from Caesarea Philippi and west of the Sea of Galilee in the northeast portion of the Plain of Esdraelon that rises to a height of 1,843 feet. Christians have celebrated Mount Tabor as the site of the Transfiguration since the 4th century AD.
2 And he was transfigured before them; his face shone
like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and
Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him.
In Greek, the word "transfigured" is metamorphoo. The
description of Jesus in His glory recalls Moses's glowing face when he was in
the presence of God (Ex 34:29-35). Jesus's radiant appearance and white garment
also recalled Daniel's vision of the mysterious man (probably the pre-Incarnate
Christ) dressed in linen with a belt of fine gold around his waist, whose body
was like chrysolite, his face shone like lightning, his eyes were like fiery
torches, his arms and feet looked like burnished bronze, and his voice sounded
like the roar of a multitude (Dan 10:5-6). The description resembles the
glorified Christ in St. John's vision in Revelation 1:12-15.
The three Apostles saw Moses and Elijah greeting Jesus, a
vision that is proof of the immortality of the soul. In the Old Testament, Moses
was the Exodus liberator who ratified the Sinai Covenant and communicated God's
Law to His chosen people. Elijah was the prophet who served as God's representative
to the disobedient Old Covenant people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Together
they represent the Law and the Prophets and, therefore, the sum of divine
revelation in the Old Testament.
The disciples and Apostles knew Jesus in His human form. However, in the encounter on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus revealed Himself in His divine glory to the hierarchy of His Church, Simon-Peter and the brothers James and John Zebedee, in the presence of the Old Covenant law-giver and liberator Moses and the prophet Elijah. In the epiphany on the Mount of Transfiguration, the three Apostles witnessed the coming together of the Old and New Covenants with Jesus as the beginning and the end of divine revelation. Moses and Elijah embodied the law and the prophets of the old Israel, and Peter, James, and John represented the hierarchy of the new Israel, the New Covenant Church of the people of Jesus's Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. It was a vision of the supernatural the Apostles needed to strengthen themselves and their brother Apostles and disciples in the covenant ordeal they faced in the final year of Jesus's ministry.
4 Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good
that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one
for Moses, and one for Elijah."
John's Gospel does not mention the Transfiguration. St. John
rarely repeats what the Synoptic Gospels sufficiently covered. However, he does
mention, in the second year of Jesus's ministry, that He went to Jerusalem for
the pilgrim feast of Sukkoth, known in English as the Feast of Booths, also
called "Shelters" or "Tabernacles" (Jn 7:1-2, 10). According to Mosaic Law, it
was a feast every man of the covenant must attend (Ex 23:14-17; 34:23; Dt 16:16; 2 Chr 8:13).
The covenant obligations for the festival are in Leviticus 23:33-43. In verse 42, God commanded: "During this week every native
Israelite among you shall dwell in booths, that your descendants may realize
that, when I led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, I made them dwell in
booths, I, the LORD am your God."
If the Transfiguration event was near the time for the pilgrim feast of Booths, Peter's suggestion about making booths/tents on the mountain is reasonable. If this was the case, Peter realized that the Old Covenant order was no longer binding, and it was unnecessary to go to the Jerusalem Temple to worship God when they could worship God the Son on the mountain. If this was why Peter suggested building booths, then the event of the Transfiguration took place near the time of the Festival of Tabernacles/Booths.
5 While he was still speaking, behold a bright
cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said,
"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."
The Greek word for the shadow of the cloud cast over them is
episkiazo. It is the same word in the account of the Holy Spirit
overshadowing the Virgin Mary in the Incarnation (Lk 1:35) and the same word in
the Greek translation of Exodus when God's Spirit overshadowed the Ark of the
Covenant (Ex 40:34). A cloud is a frequent vehicle for God's presence in Scripture
(Ex 16:10; 19:9; 24:15-16; 33:9 and 2 Mac 2:8). The Divine Voice they heard was
the same heard at Jesus's baptism (Mt 3:17).
The Divine Voice from Heaven announcing: "This is my beloved Son" is confirmation of Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God that he gave a few days earlier in Matthew 16:16. However, the words "listen to Him" are God's rebuke of Peter's refusal to accept Jesus's prediction of His coming Passion in Matthew 16:22-23. The command "listen to Him" also confirmed that Jesus is the prophet like Moses that God promised the people in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. That prophecy ended with a promise and a warning: I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command. If any man will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it (Dt 18:18-19).
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and
were very much afraid. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and do
not be afraid." 8 And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one
else but Jesus alone.
Like the children of Israel who heard the voice of God in
the Theophany at Mount Sinai (Ex 20:18), and like the vision of the divine that
the prophet Daniel experienced (Dan 9:15-18; 10:7-9), fear filled the three Apostles,
and they fell to the ground. Jesus immediately comforted them, as Daniel was
comforted by the mysterious "man dressed in linen with a belt of fine gold with
burning eyes," who told him not to be afraid and who may have been the
pre-Incarnate Christ (Dan 10:10-12). When the Apostles raised their eyes, they
saw that Jesus's appearance had returned to as He was before the transfiguration
experience.
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus
charged them, "Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been
raised from the dead."
Coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded the disciples
again (see Mt 16:20) not to reveal what they had discovered about Jesus's true
identity until after His Resurrection. The Transfiguration of Christ presents
the Apostles and the readers with the revelation of Jesus's true identity. The miraculous
transformation of the human Jesus into the glorified Divine Son put the coming
Passion and death of Jesus into perspective for the Apostles. The experience assured
them that Jesus's suffering and death would end in the triumph of His glorious
Resurrection on the third day, as He tried to tell them earlier (Mt 16:21). They
would also realize that they witnessed the manifestation of the Most Holy Trinity
with God the Holy Spirit in the Glory Cloud that overshadowed Jesus and the voice
of God the Father from Heaven, in the presence of God the Son.
The story of the Transfiguration provides hope for all professing Christians. It is the vision that all of us who accept Jesus's call to discipleship hope to witness. We will either see Jesus in His glory when we stand in judgment before God's throne with Jesus as our Advocate or if He comes before we die when we see Him in all His transfigured glory at the time of His Second Coming. The hope of this vision should give us the confidence to cry out: "Come, Lord, Your servant is waiting!"
Catechism References (* indicated Scripture is quoted
or paraphrased in the citation):
Genesis 12:1-4 (CCC 145*);
12:1 (CCC 59),
12:2 (CCC 762*, 1669*),
12:3 (CCC 706*, 2676);
12:4 (CCC 2570)
2 Timothy 1:8 (CCC 2471, 2506); 1:9-10 (CCC 257, 1021*)
Matthew 17:1-9 (CCC 554*); 17:5 (CCC 444*)
The Transfiguration (CCC 554*, 555*, 556*, 568)
The obedience of Abraham (CCC 59*, 145*, 146*, 2570*, 2571*)
God's promise to Abraham fulfilled in Christ (CCC 706*)
The call to holiness (CCC 2012*, 2013*, 2014, 2028, 2813*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.