2nd Sunday of Lent; Year C, 2019

As you look forward to sharing in the glory of Christ, may you be more open to share in His sufferings, by recognizing the face of Christ in those who suffer, and reach out to them in love. Happy Sunday+John I. Okoye.

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
Genesis 15, 5-12, 17-18;  Philippians 3, 17-4, 1; Luke 9, 28b-36: 2nd Sunday of Lent; Year C, 2019) 

In this first reading two promises are made to Abram, namely, a multitude of descendants and a vast expanse of land to be given to those descendants. Abram's response is one of faith. This response is credited as righteousness. Righteousness is a relational term. It denotes right relationship either with others or with God. Here the basis of righteousness is neither obedience nor ritual. It is Abram's faith. He accepted God at God's word. At God’s promise of land to his descendants, Abram's requests for a sign of assurance and God replies with the directive that Abram is to procure every type of sacrificial animal. After preparing the animals by cutting then into pieces, Abram is cast into the same kind of trance (tardema) as befell Adam when God built Eve from one of his ribs (cf. Gen 2,21). Abram does not pass between the pieces of the animals he cut as the partners to a covenant would. Only flames, which presumably represent God, pass through them. Does this mean that only God is bound by the covenant? In fact, the cutting (making) of the covenant is God's reply to Abram's request for a sign. It is as if God has magnanimously promised land and then ratifies this promise by cutting a covenant. Both the promise of descendants as numerous as the stars and the promise of land from Egypt to Mesopotamia are extravagant. Such is the generosity of God. It cannot be measured.

In his exhortation to the Philippians Paul compares the fate of the true believers with that of opponents of the gospel. He begins by admonishing his hearers to follow his own example and the example of those who have already imitated him in his commitment to Christian living. He does not speak out of personal arrogance but as a teacher of wisdom. According to that tradition there are only two possible ways of living: the way, or path, of righteousness and that of evil. Paul would have his hearers conduct themselves on the path of righteousness and not walk the path of wickedness. The later group could have referred to Gnostic Christians, whose view of realized eschatology led them to believe that they had already passed into a spiritualized form of existence and could live in this world unscathed by its allurements. They would see little or no value in embracing the cross of Christ, since they were already living resurrected lives. Believing theirs was a spiritual existence, they felt absolved from any kind of dietary restrictions and could occupy themselves with earthly matters without risk of infidelity. True believers, on the other hand, were really aliens in this earthly place. Their citizenship was in heaven. Unlike the enemies of the cross, they knew they would have to embrace that cross, and then, with Christ's coming, they would be transformed into his glory. 

The fullness of their transformation was in the future, and it would be accomplished by Christ. While they were still in this life, they were to live as citizens of heaven, following the admonitions imparted to them by Paul. Paul ends exhorting the Philippians by urging them to stand firm! Even here Paul situates their fidelity in God. The verb (steko) implies that in faith they will achieve a standing that is grounded in God. 

The gospel story is the narrative of the transfiguration of Jesus which has two parts. The first is the actual transfiguration and the conversation between Jesus and the two men from heaven. This was a private experience of Jesus; the disciples were asleep during it. In the second section the disciples have awakened, and they become involved. It was during his prayer that Jesus was transfigured both from the inside (his face was changed) and on the outside (his clothing dazzled). Moses and Elijah appear in glory. These two men represent the law and the Prophets respectively. It is in this glorified state that the men speak of Jesus' imminent exodus, which more or less includes his death, resurrection, and ascension, all the important events in God's plan of salvation. Peter does not want the apparition to end. He offers to construct three tents, dwellings for the glorified men. What was wrong with Peter's perception? Commentators believe it was in his having judged Jesus as an equal with Moses and Elijah. His misunderstanding is corrected by a theophanic experience that has profound christological significance. 

They are all taken into a cloud, a symbol of the hidden presence of God, and a voice from that cloud proclaims Jesus' divine identity in words reminiscent of Isaiah (42, 1) as well as those spoken at Jesus' baptism (Luke 3,22). Jesus is not at all like Moses and Elijah. The voice not only authenticates Jesus' person but also enjoins the disciples to listen to his words, regardless of how challenging or perplexing they might be.

The Second Sunday of Lent celebrates the epiphanies of God, the ways in which God's divine presence is revealed. If Lent is a time for us to be open to the ways through which God can bring us to salvation, we will have to be able to recognize these ways when we come upon them. Lent is a time for such recognition. The first divine epiphany is the manifestation of God as one who initiates a covenant, an intimate relationship with human beings (First reading). Not only does God initiate this agreement, but God also seals it with blood, making it official. This covenant is concrete, as the sacrifice illustrates. It is historical, made with a particular family in a particular place at a particular time. God continues to relate to people in this manner. We see this in the community of the Church, where, through our own rituals, God enters again and again into covenant with us. This is why incorporation into the community through baptism is both celebrated and renewed on Holy Saturday. Although we ritualize our relationship with God in a religious setting, the call to enter into the covenant can come in the ordinary events of life. We could be gazing at the night sky or into the eyes of a loved one. We might be occupied with the things of God or with the affairs of state. The important thing to remember about this covenant is that God enters into our lives and initiates it. No life is too simple; no life is too busy. Human history in all its contours is the setting for the encounter with God. 
The glory of God is revealed in the transfigured Jesus, the one who discussed his suffering and death with Moses and Elijah. Though, like the three apostles, we might want to share in his glory, we can only do so by sharing in his suffering. Lent is a time for us to enter into this suffering, not merely through reflection, prayer, and penance but concretely, by sharing in the suffering of the body of Christ. We see this suffering all around us-in sick people around us who die of malaria for the inability to pay for drugs, for the poor and hungry people who roam our streets, in the aimlessness of youth who do not appreciate their own worths, they sit idle in their home after good university education, in the desperation of parents who must raise their children in the midst of violence, in the empty eyes of the aged who often forget and are themselves forgotten. The glory of God remains just beneath the surface of their lives. It may be easier to see God's glory revealed through the suffering of others than through our own distress. It is much easier to preach to others, or to work to ease the pain of others, without even admitting that we ourselves carry a heavy burden. Lent is a time for us to step back from suffering in order to get a better look at it, to try to discern God in the midst of it. God is revealed through women and men who live lives of Christian commitment: in those whose integrity strengthens us, in those whose religious sentiments inspire us, in those whose endurance gives us confidence. God is revealed in those who get involved in bettering the lives of others. God's love is seen in the compassionate; God's understanding is seen in the patient; God's mercy is seen in the forgiving. There are many in our midst whose example we would do well to imitate. The carpenter who takes pride in doing a job well, the person who looks in on a neighbor who is ill, the grandparent who is willing to look after the children, the student who is appreciative of the commitment of the teacher. God is revealed in very ordinary ways if we but open our eyes to see. May we in this Eucharistic Celebration of today listen to Jesus who suffered and won us salvation so as to recognize him in the many of our good Christians who follow after his example.  Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye.