Fall in love with Jesus to be changed like Him

Second Sunday of Lent

Lectionary: 25

It-tieni Hadd tar-Randan 

Missalin 138

Reading 1         GeNesis 12:1-4A

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.  “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.  I will bless those who bless you  and curse those who curse you.  All the communities of the earth  shall find blessing in you.”  Abram went as the LORD directed him. 

Qari 1         GeNesi 12:1-4A

U l-Mulej qal lil Abram: ̋Qum u itlaq minn artek, minn art twelidek, u minn dar missierek, lejn l-art li jien nurik. U jien nagħmlek ġens kbir, nbierkek u nkabbarlek ismek, u int tkun barka.  Jien inbierek lil min ibierkek, u nisħet lil min jisħtek.  U jitbierku bik it-tribujiet kollha ta' l-art.̏ U telaq Abram kif kien qallu l-Mulej.

Responsorial Psalm                PSalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22

Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R/ Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R/ Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R/ Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

Salm  Responsoriali              Salm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22

R/    Ħa tkun, Mulej, it-tjieba tiegħek fuqna.

Għax sewwa hi l-kelma tal-Mulej,

kollox bil-fedeltà huwa għamel.

Hu jħobb id-dritt u s-sewwa;

bit-tjieba tal-Mulej mimlija l-art.     R/

Ara, għajnejn il-Mulej fuq dawk li jibżgħu minnu,

fuq dawk  li jittamaw fit-tjieba tiegħu,

 Biex jeħilsilhom mill-mewt ħajjithom,

u jaħjihom fi żmien il-ġuħ.               R/

 Ruħna tixxennaq għall-Mulej,

hu l-għajnuna u t-tarka tagħna.

Ħa tkun, Mulej, it-tjieba tiegħek fuqna,

kif fik hi t-tama tagħna.                    R/

Reading 2                    2 TIMothy 1:8B-10

Beloved:   Bear your share of hardship for the gospel  with the strength that comes from God. 
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, 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. 

Qari 2                    2 TIMotju 1:8B-10

Aqsam miegħi t-tbatija għall-Evanġelju, u afda fil-qawwa ta' Alla, li salvana u sejjħilna b'sejħa qaddisa, mhux għax qies l-għemejjel tagħna, imma skond il-pjan tiegħu stess u skond il-grazzja tiegħu. Din il-grazzja tahielna qabel iż-żmien ta' l-eternità fi Kristu Ġesù,  imma dehret issa permezz tad-dehra tas-Salvatur tagħna Kristu Ġesù li qered il-mewt, u dawwal il-ħajja bla tmiem permezz ta' l-Evanġelju.

Gospel                 MatThew 17:1-9

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them;  his face shone like the sun  and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. 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.” 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.”  When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes,  they saw no one else but Jesus alone. 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.”

Vangelu                MatTew 17:1-9

 Sitt ijiem wara, Ġesù ħa miegħu lil Pietru u 'l Ġakbu u 'l ħuh Ġwanni, tellagħhom fuq muntanja għolja weħidhom, u tbiddel quddiemhom. Wiċċu sar jiddi bħax-xemx, u lbiesu sar abjad  bħad-dawl. U dehrulhom Mosè u Elija jitħaddtu miegħu.  Qabeż Pietru u qal lil Ġesù: "Mulej, kemm hu sew li aħna hawn! Jekk trid intella' hawn tliet tined, waħda għalik, waħda għal Mosè u waħda għal Elija." Kif kien għadu jitkellem, sħaba kollha dawl għattiethom u minn ġos-sħaba nstema' leħen jgħid: "Dan hu Ibni  l-għażiż, li fih sibt l-għaxqa tiegħi; isimgħu lilu." Id-dixxipli, kif semgħu dan, waqgħu wiċċhom fl-art, mimlijin biża'. Ġesù resaq lejhom, messhom u qalilhom: "Qumu. La tibżgħux."  Huma refgħu għajnejhom u ma raw lil ħadd ħlief lil Ġesù waħdu. Huma u neżlin minn fuq il-muntanja, Ġesù ordnalhom u qalilhom: "Tgħidu lil ħadd b'din id-dehra sa ma Bin il-bniedem ikun qam mill-imwiet."

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Commentary on Sunday's Gospel by Fr Raniero Cantalamessa ofm cap:

The secret to being a true Christian is to fall in love with Jesus.

Why are the faith and religious practices in decline and do not seem to constitute, at least for the majority, the point of reference in life? Why the tedium, the exhaustion, the bother in fulfilling one's duties as believers? Why are young people not attracted? Why is there, in a word, such dejection and lack of joy among believers in Christ? The occurrence of the Transfiguration helps us to answer these questions.

What did the Transfiguration mean for the three disciples who witnessed it? Until then they had known Jesus in his external appearance, a man not different from others, whose provenance, customs, tone of voice ... they knew. Now they know another Jesus, the true one, who cannot be seen with the eyes of every day, in the natural sunlight, but who is the fruit of an unexpected revelation, of a change, of a gift.

For things to change also for us, as for those three disciples on Tabor, something similar must happen in our lives to what happens to a young man or woman when they fall in love. In love, the other, who before was one of many, or perhaps an unknown, all of a sudden is the only one, the only one in the world one is interested in. Everything else recedes and becomes part of a pale background. One cannot think of anything else. There is a real transfiguration. The beloved is seen as in a luminous halo. Everything about that person seems beautiful, even the beloved's defects. One might even feel unworthy of the person loved. True love generates humility.

Specifically, true love changes to a degree even one's life habits. I have known young men whose parents couldn't get them out of bed in the morning to go to school. If a job was found for them, they soon abandoned it. Or they were careless in their studies, never getting their degree. Then, when they fell in love with someone and got engaged, they jumped out of bed in the morning. What happened? Nothing, simply that what before they did by constriction now they do by attraction. And attraction is capable of doing things that no constriction achieves; it gives wings to one's feet. "Each one," the poet Ovid said, "is attracted by the object of pleasure itself."

Something like this, he said, should happen once in a lifetime to be true Christians, of conviction, joyful. "But the young woman or man is seen, is touched!" one might object. Yet, Jesus is also seen and touched, but with other eyes and other hands: those of the heart, of faith. He is risen and is alive. He is a concrete being, not an abstraction, for those who have this experience and this knowledge.

More than that, with Jesus things go even better. In human falling in love there is artifice, attributing to the beloved talents that perhaps that person doesn't have and often in time one is obliged to change one's opinion. In Jesus' case, the more one knows him and the more one is with him, the more reasons are discovered to be proud of him and confirmed in one's choice.

This does not mean that one must be relaxed and wait for, including with Christ, the classic "love at first sight." If a boy or a girl stays shut-in in his house without seeing anyone, nothing will ever happen in his life. To fall in love one must often be with the beloved! If one is convinced, or simply begins to think that perhaps to know Jesus in this different way, transfigured, is beautiful and worthwhile, then one must begin to "be with him," to read his writings. His love letters are the Gospel: There he reveals himself, he is "transfigured." His home is the Church: It is there that he can be found.

[Italian original published by Familia Cristiana]                                                         

(Right) The dome of the Church of the Transfiguration on Mt Tabor, Israel