Sunday, March 16, 2014

Second week of Lent – Cycle A (March 16, 2014)


First reading: Gn. 12:1-4a
“The Lord said to Abram: ‘Go forth from the land of our 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.”
 

Second reading: 2 Tm. 1:8b-10
“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.”


Gospel reading: Mt. 17:1-9
“After six days 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.”

 
Introductory theme summary:

The common theme for today’s readings is compliance with God’s will.  In the first reading we have Abram, uprooting his whole life to move to another land in compliance with God’s will; in the second reading we are told we are called to a life of holiness in order to enter into the salvation that comes to us through God’s design; and finally in the gospel we have God telling us to listen to His Son, which implies our conformity to what He says.


Reflection:
The only reading from today that gives us any clues as to how to conform our lives to God’s will is in the second reading, which talks about our being called to a life of holiness.  The question then becomes, what is a life of holiness?  So let’s examine what is meant by that statement.

The best place to begin is with Paul, who instructs us in Galatians[1] on the reality that the flesh and spirit are opposed to each other.  By this we have a significant indication of where to begin the pursuit of a holy life.  To simplify, holiness of life demands the absence of physically immoral conduct.  Those things consist, primarily, in sexual sinfulness.  We must, at the very least, comply with the standard of chastity consistent with whatever the person’s state might be: single, married, celibate, or perpetual virginity.  By this we accomplish the standard of physical purity, which is preemptive to spiritual purity.  If one cannot purify one’s flesh, which one can see; how can one purify the spirit, which one cannot see?
This is not the extent of conforming our lives to holiness by any means.  All of our Lords instructions relate to loving, both God and neighbor, so these are therefore primary among the conditions of meeting the standard of a holy life.  In fact, the condition or loving represents the means by which the condition of physical purity is actually attainable.  To understand this better let’s examine how to fulfill the two commandments of love.

The first commandment is to love God with the entirety of our being.  This is surprisingly simple.  Loving God with our entire being is simply committing ourselves to pursuing God in all four aspects of our personal being.  Put simply: we pursue God in our bodies by fulfilling the condition of honoring our bodies as a temple for the Holy Spirit, which begins with the first condition mentioned above; we pursue God in our mind through seeking to understand him, which requires study and reflection through prayer; we pursue God in our heart by developing the sincere emotional sentiments of ‘want’ toward God, which is accomplished solely through all forms of prayer; and, we pursue God in our spirit by accepting the concept of being a member in the community of God people so as to find one’s place within that community, which is fulfilled through worshipping God in a communal environment.  Otherwise one remains singular in his/her relationship with God.  Though everyone has an individual relationship with God, no one is greater than any other member of God’s community of the faithful, so this acceptance is mandatory, which then properly disposes us to fulfill the second commandment of love.
The second commandment is to love thy neighbor as thyself.  The first condition truly is a prerequisite to fulfilling the second condition, which is why ‘no work’ can accomplish a person’s justification.  All works in relationship to loving our neighbor must be accompanied by faith to be considered compliance with God’s will.  Otherwise it is an attempt to justify oneself.  No one can please God without faith.  If one has yet to become accomplished in loving God with the entirety of his/her being, but responds faithfully to the command to love neighbor, these works count toward meeting the condition of penance to facilitate the eventual, and inevitable, spiritual love of charity[2] that fulfills the second commandment.

If we fulfill these conditions of love than the standard of responding to the call of holiness of life can be assured as met.
Come, let us undertake the quest of fulfilling the Great Commandments of Love, for by it we are sure to discover our full dignity from the holiness of the true children of God.



[1] Gal. 5: 16-17  “Live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.  For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want.”
[2] Catechism of the Catholic Church: 1822.  “Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.”

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