Reading 1 Gn 15:5-12, 17-18
“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 Ps 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
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 Phil 3:17—4:1
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 cf. Mt 17:5
From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:This is my beloved Son, hear him.
Gospel Lk 9:28b-36
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.
AN IN-TENTS EXPERIENCE
"I am talking about those who are set upon the things of this world." –Philippians 3:19
During their forty years in the desert, God accompanied the Israelites, dwelling in a tent called the Meeting Tent (see Ex 40:2). When it was time to journey on, the Lord rose in a cloud which hovered over the Meeting Tent. When the cloud moved, the people packed up the Meeting Tent and followed the cloud. When the cloud stopped, the people pitched the Meeting Tent, and God descended from the cloud to dwell in the Tent in the midst of the people (Ex 40:34-38).
God's sacred presence on Mount Horeb (Sinai) prefigures His presence on Transfiguration Mountain (Ex 24:15; Lk 9:29, 35); so also does the cloud in the Meeting Tent prefigure the sacred presence of God at the Transfiguration (Ex 40:34ff; Lk 9:34). The Old Covenant, represented by Moses and Elijah (the law and the prophets), joins the New Covenant, that is, Jesus and the apostles. Though Peter wants to erect three tents, he did not need a tent to enter the Presence of God; he was already standing in the Presence of God inside the new transfigured Meeting Tent and cloud. Standing with their feet on the earth and their heads in God's Presence, the apostles' minds were no longer set upon the things of the world (see Phil 3:19).
At each Mass we attend, we are like the apostles on Transfiguration Mountain. Our feet stand on earth, but the Lord comes down from heaven in the Eucharist. At Mass, we are partly in heaven and partly on earth. Attend Mass daily, or as often as possible, and "be intent on things above rather than on things of earth" (Col 3:2).
| PRAYER: | Father, in this time of Lent, help me to focus on heavenly things rather than on things of earth (Col 3:1ff; Jn 3:1ff; Phil 3:19). |
| PROMISE: | "We have our citizenship in heaven." –Phil 3:20 |
| PRAISE: | Praise You, Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth! |
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