Second Sunday of Lent, A

Sunday, March 12, 2017, Second Sunday of Lent Theme: Go up to the Mountain We are invited this Second Sunday of Lent to go up to the mountain to manifest our faith and union with God. Today’s First Reading tells us of Abraham’s call and manifestation of faith in God. His faith warrants him to be called our Father of Faith. He accepts to go to an unknown destination and he believed in an unknown God. God blessed him and he received the promise of becoming the father of a multitude. Later, in the reading of Genesis, Abraham had difficulties having a biological son from his union with his legitimate wife Sarah. Even when he finally had a son, God ordered him to offer Isaac in sacrifice on the mountain. Lent is also the passage by mount Tabor, that of Transfiguration. Jesus’ life that ends on the Cross is connected with the heavenly visit he receives on this mountain. God reassures Him of His salvation mission. The Father encourages Jesus to go on as He shall be with Him. The event on this mountain reveals what will happen to Jesus. As God led Moses and Elijah to the Holy Mountain to witness His glory (Ex 33:18; 1K 19:9), so too does Jesus lead the apostles. They also climb the mountain and there Jesus manifests His glory to them. In the transfiguration, the Holy Apostles were introduced to a new range of ideas, into a new sphere of contemplation and into the glimpse of a new heaven. The transfiguration is one of the most important manifestations of God in the New Testament. Some scholars call it the “summary of all revelation.” The Law and the Prophets spokesmen, Moses and Elijah, (all of the Old Testament) presents Christ to the Apostles Peter, James and John who will be responsible for preaching the Gospel. More than a mere vision, today’s gospel is an excellent example of the ingredients that constitute an intercession, praise or thanksgiving prayer. It tells us that prayer is a response to Christ’s invitation to come up to the mountain, that is, to leave behind, for a while, our ordinary, everyday concerns and place ourselves quietly in God’s presence. It is an invitation to be alone with Christ. The story’s climax is the command from the cloud: “This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him”. Prayer consists, above all, of listening and hearing Jesus’ Word. In this season we are invited, like Abraham, Elijah, Moses and the Apostles, to go up to the mountain and encounter God; particularly nowadays when many live in noisy environments with our senses constantly under assault and our minds distracted. In such a world, we easily become spiritually deaf to God’s voice – and indeed spiritually dumb: unable to utter a prayer either for ourselves or for anyone. We should not only remain on the mountain like Peter “building three tents”, but we are also invited to preach the message of the Cross and resurrection and invite more people to Go Up To The Mountain. Fr. Jude Thaddeus Langeh, cmf Please pray for me