It-Tieni
Hadd tar-Randan
Messalin C 150
The
Lord God took Abram outside and said, "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 Great River ,
the Euphrates .”
L-Ewwel
Qari - mill-Ktieb tal-Ġenesi15, 5-12, 17-18
F'dak
iż-żmien: Il-Mulej ħareġ lil Abram 'il
barra u qallu: Ħares sewwa lejn is-smewwiet u għodd il-kwiekeb, jekk għandek
ħila tgħoddhom." U żied jgħidlu: "Hekk għad ikun nislek." U Abram emmen fil-Mulej, u dan għaddhulu
b'ġustizzja. U qallu: "Jiena l-Mulej li ħriġtek minn
Ur minn
Responsorial
Psalm - PSALM 27:1,
7-8, 8-9, 13-14
R.
(1a) The Lord is my
light and my salvation.
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/
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid? R/
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/
have pity on me, and answer me.
Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks. R/
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/
Hide not your face from me;
do not in anger repel your servant.
You are my helper: cast me not off. R/
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/
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD. R/
Salm
Responsorjali - SALM
26 (27).
R/ Il-Mulej id-dawl u s-salvazzjoni
tiegħi.
Il-Mulej d-dawl u s-salvazzjoni tiegħi,
Il-Mulej hu l-kenn tiegħi,
quddiem minn
Isma', Mulej, leħen l-għajta tiegħi,
ħenn għalija u weġibni.
"Ejja" għidt f'qalbi, "fittex
'il-wiċċi!"
Jien wiċċek infittex, Mulej. R/
La taħbix wiċċek minni,
la twarrabx bl-herra l-qaddej tiegħek.
Inti l-għajnuna tiegħi
tħallinix u titlaqnix,
Alla tas-salvazzjoni tiegħi. R/
Nemmen li għad nara
f'art il-ħajjin.
Ittama fil-Mulej, żomm sħiħ u qawwi qalbek,
ittama fil-Mulej. R/
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 bodyto 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.
It-Tieni
Qari -
mill-Ittra lill-Filippin 3, 17-21;4,1
Ħuti, ixbħu lili, u ħarsu lejn dawk li jimxu skont l-eżempju li rajtu fina. Għaliex hawn ħafna – dan għedthulkom bosta
drabi, imma issa ntennihulkom bid-dmugħ f'għajnejja – li jġibu ruħhom bħal
għedewwa tas-Salib ta' Kristu.
It-telfien għad ikun tmiemhom; alla tagħhom hu żaqqhom, jiftaħru b'dak
li jmisshom jistħu minnu, u moħħhom biss fil-ħwejjeġ tad-dinja. Imma aħna
pajżani tas-sema; minn
Gospel
Luke 9:28b-36
Jesus
took Peter, John, and James 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.
F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu' ħa miegħu lil Pietru, lil
Ġwanni u lil Ġakbu, u tala' fuq il-muntanja biex jitlob. U ġara li huwa u
jitlob, id-dehra ta' wiċċu tbiddlet u l-ilbiesi tiegħu saru ta' bjuda li
tgħammex. U kien hemm żewġt irġiel jitħaddtu miegħu, Mose' u Elija, li dehru fil-glorja, jitħaddtu fuq it-tmiem ta' ħajtu
li kellu jseħħ f'Ġerusalemm. Pietru u sħabu kienu mejtin bin-ngħas, imma baqgħu mqajmin sewwa, u raw il-glorja tiegħu u ż-żewġt irġiel li
kienu miegħu. X'ħin dawn it-tnejn kienu se jinfirdu minnu, Pietru qal lil
Ġesu': "Mgħallem, kemm hu sew
li aħna hawn! Ħa ntellgħu tliet tined,
waħda għalik, waħda għal Mose' u waħda
għal Elija!" Ma kienx jaf x'inhu jgħid. Waqt li kien qiegħed jgħid
dan, ġiet sħaba minn minn
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Commentary by Larry Broding
Looking to the Future in a
Rearview Mirror
What do people fear about the future?
Why do they harbour such fears?
As much as we are focused on the present moment, we like
to peer into the future. To see visions of what can be, to dream about what is
possible. To let go of the baggage from the past, to feel the freedom of
tomorrow. Of course, change means the instability of the unknown. So, we may no
longer want to rush to the future. We may want to conserve what we have and
what we understand.
The stress we feel in our culture is the tussle between
the rocky rush to the future and the comfort the past gives. We might be pulled
between the fresh and the stale. But, we stand between the uncertainty of the
unknown and the certainty of the already known.
Thisd Sunday’s Gospel takes us with Peter and his
partners as they followed Jesus up the mountain to pray. There, they
experienced a vision that gave them a choice. What was to be vs what they
relied on. Personal change may be reflected in past experience, but it can be
of an unknown origin, or even the promise of the future. We need trust in God's
will to cope with such change. And we find God's will in prayer.
Jesus invited his earliest disciples and closest friends
to pray with him. Several verses earlier in Luke, Jesus revealed the type of
Messiah he would be; he predicted his death and resurrection. Now it was time
for the power and meaning of the prediction to set in; so, Jesus prayed and
shared his prayer time with Peter, James, and John.
The power and meaning of Christ's prediction revealed
themselves as a heavenly vision. Glorified, Jesus discussed his coming death
with the two pillars of the Jewish faith: Moses, the Law giver, and Elijah, the
first of the prophets [29-31]. The presence of both represented the two
divisions of the Jewish Scripture, the Law and the Prophets. Hence, the
discussion between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah symbolized the Passion as the
fulfillment of Scripture.
Did Peter, James, and John fully understand the
implications of Jesus' prediction and its meaning? Hardly. They were asleep;
not only were they in slumber (the literal meaning of sleep), they didn't
understand (the figurative meaning of being asleep). This scene would be
repeated when Jesus took these same disciples with him to pray at the Agony in
the Garden.
From his slumber and lack of understanding, Peter wanted
to build three booths or tents. Tents built on the side of a mountain were
references to the Festival of Booths, when the Jews had a post-harvest
celebration. During the multi-day festival, people lived in temporary shelters
around Jerusalem
The symbols were all here: the light, the central focus
on Jesus, climbing the mountain to worship (just as Jerusalem
Peter failed to realize Jesus was speaking about a future
event and a future revelation. The past meant no change, but the future meant
uncontrollable change. The past merely required certainty; the future required
faith. In his fear, Peter lacked faith; he just didn't know what he was saying.
To confirm the revelation, the cloud and the voice from
heaven (both symbols of God's presence) appear. From the cloud the Father
affirms his Son's prediction with the words: "This is my chosen Son;
listen to him." The word of God given through the Law and the Prophets was
now given through Jesus. The focus of the past now became the focus on the
future.
We may take comfort in the past, in the
Tradition of Faith. And so we should. But that comfort should not mask the
possibilities the future holds. Ultimately, change lies in the hands of God, in
divine providence.
What is divine providence? Divine Providence
Why does God permit evil in the world?
When we ask this question, we can also ask, "Why did the Son of God die on
the cross?" The answer to both questions is the same: to allow a greater
good to come from the evil. Christ died in order to rise from the dead. The
faith that believes in the risen Lord will also give us hope that a greater
good comes from an evil act.
At the Transfiguration, Peter, John,
and James experienced the living tradition of the past and the promise of
salvation in the future. But, that promise came at a price. The death of the
Master they loved.
What challenges to faith have you
experienced? How did God guide you through them? Did your experience of divine
providence increase your faith in God? Why or why not?
We Christians may not be immune from the stresses of
future promise. But, we have a unique perspective on the future. We look
forward to God's will and the coming of the Lord in glory through the eyes of a
faith two millennium old. We are, in effect, looking at the future through a
rearview mirror. Such a view should not blind us to the possibilities of the
future. It should just give our view perspective.
How should we cope with future shock? How did Jesus? In
prayer. Prayer is time with God's will and our future. How we spent that time
is a clear measure of our trust in God and his ways that change us.
The challenge of the future should give
us pause. And a chance to pray. What challenges lie on your horizon this week?
How have you placed them in prayer?
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