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Sunday,
March 7th, 2004 Perpetua
and Felicitas ANALYSIS: The text of Gn 15 is part of a unit with two
sections: the first,
vv. 1-6 about the promise of a son and his descendants; the second
vv 7-21 is about a promised land. Today’s liturgical text is rather
confusing because it includes the conclusion of the first part and
part of the second section. Most biblical scholars agree that
while the text has some very ancient material it also includes some
more recent elements that show a similarity to Second Isaiah. The
liturgy has omitted the historical reference from the text and so
it leaves us with a more generic promise.
If we look at the historical piece left out here it will help
us to understand how Israel saw its possession of the land
and how this text was probably written at a time when the Israelites were about to lose their
land. This becomes more
evident when we see the parallel between Gn 15,7 and Lev 25,38, substituting “Ur of the Chaldeans”
for Egypt. Yahveh,
the invisible God passes in the midst of the animals.
We see only the signs of God’s presence, fire, and smoke. In this gesture God is signing a covenant
as a guarantee of divine fidelity to the promise that Abraham will
possess the land. The
responsorial psalm is one of confidence:
It is a personal prayer that begins with a clear expression
of trust in God’s salvation:
whom shall I fear? However
in the second part we find some signs of insecurity in the imperatives
and the petitions: “Don’t hide from me!,
don’t reject me!
don’t throw me away! don’t abandon me! don’t give
me over to my enemies! But rather, listen, have mercy, respond, lead
me, guide me. It seems
that all of the confidence expressed in the first part of the psalm
is in crisis here. In
biblical lamentations it is very common to list all of the person’s complaints and
causes of anguish and then culminate in
a proclamation of confidence.
In this case the order is inverted.
There are interesting parallels between this psalm and psalm
23 (The Lord is my shepherd). In
the liturgy, that only uses vv. 1, 7-9 and 13-14,
all of the military language has been eliminated. Verses 7-9 read like a dialogue between
God and the prayerful person, (“seek my face”). Although there are fears expressed in
vv 7-9, confidence has the last word. In
the letter of Paul to the Phillipians vv.3,1 -4,1 forms a unit. Here Paul is warning the community against
itinerary missionaries who were judaizers, that is persons and groups who considered that all Christians,
to be saved, must accept circumcision. In response to accusations against him,
Paul presents his “curriculum”.
He has as many or more reasons to consider himself a good Jew
as they do, however he doesn’t put his security in those achievements. On the contrary, he says, “all that is like rubbish”. What is really important is to follow
Christ. Paul
begins the next section, like a good Jewish rabbi, exhorting the community
to follow not only his teaching but also the example of the way. Paul does not call the disciple to
follow him, but to follow the way, a way of rejection, a way of “losing
all”. It is typical
of Paul to introduce himself, but also to make it clear that, as an
apostle, his life is a crucified life, and only
in this is his glory, and only in the cross does he invite us to imitate
him. What counts
is the cross and although it appears as weakness, it is the power
of God.[1]
For this reason, those who put their trust in their own strength,
in their own works, in their own life, are enemies of the cross of
Christ: they place their trust in the fulfillment
of the law (circumcision, dietary laws etc.) and think that in this way they will reach
God. Paul says that they
confuse the means with the end.
Dietary restrictions and circumcision have to do with the body,
and those who follow the way of Christ are citizens of heaven[2] and keep their gaze on heavenly things. This citizenship would seem to contradict
other citizenships. (Remember that Acts presents Paul as a Roman citizen).
We are pilgrims on our way to full citizenship in heaven.
The reference here to our bodies should not be taken in the
Greek sense of body and soul, but rather in the sense of our being
one with Christ and his resurrection.
The reference to the cross encourages us to develop social
attitudes different from those of the judaizers.
The cross appears as a model of an alternative society that
promotes the internal unity of the community.
Christian life tends towards liberation; there is a tension
between the liberation that we reach through the cross and the liberation
that we will receive as citizens of heaven, which will bring a crown
of glory. Luke’s
Gospel of the Transfiguration is so different from Matthew’s
and Mark’s text that some people wonder if perhaps he didn’t
have another source. Luke doesn’t include Peter’s
being scandalized by Jesus’ teaching prior to the description
of the Transfiguration; He
adds “daily” to the invitation to take up the cross and
follow him. In
Luke Jesus goes up “the” mountain (as if we should know
which one it is) “about eight days” after his previous
teachings and he goes up “to pray”. This reference to prayer is common in
Luke, and what happens occurs “while he was praying”,
as a result of his prayer. Luke
includes the contents of Jesus’ conversation with Moses and
Elijah. He mentions the fear of the apostles as they enter
the cloud. The text identifies Jesus not only as “my Son”,
but also as “my Chosen”. The reference
to “my Son” takes us to Psalm 2, 6, “I have set
my King on Zion, my holy mountain.” However the mount of the transfiguration
is not Mount Zion. Luke omits any relation between Elijah and the
Baptist as they come down the mountain. In
the midst of the dark night of the cross, the transfiguration is like
lightening that brings hope to Jesus’ followers.
In Jesus’ baptism, God spoke to him…”You
are my beloved Son…” In this text God speaks to the community
through the disciples: “This is my beloved Son…” The reference to “my Chosen”
evokes the suffering Servant of Yahveh (Is 42,1); and God calls us
to heed Jesus’ words, as the chosen people heeded Moses (Dt
18,15). Luke describes the dialogue that Jesus
has with Moses and Elijah about the “exodus”, that is,
his departure, as part of God’s plan.
The reference to Jerusalem is central to the historical-geographical
theology of the third Gospel:
the entire Gospel points to Jerusalem, and from there Acts
will go forth. In Luke the disciples are taken into the
cloud. Here we have an image of “the communion of saints”
as the disciples fearfully, are gathered around God’s Word in union
with heavenly figures. But
just as will happen again in Gethsemane, (22, 45-46) sleep overcomes
them, they miss the dialogue and will only understand after the resurrection. “Listen
to Him!” is the key to the entire text. To remain close to Jesus, it’s not
a matter of building tents but of listening and living by His word. The pilgrimage is not over; we are on
the way, and the transfiguration illumines the scandal of the cross
for one brief moment. The
Church, on its exodus journey to God’s Reign, looks to the mountain,
just as Israel looked to Mount Zion on its exodus journey. And
then suddenly it is over and we find Jesus alone.
The disciples keep the secret, without the need of a prohibition
to speak, probably because they don’t understand and are lost in the mystery of it all. COMMENTARY Jesus
is strange! After going against all of the expectations
of the time in which he lived, and underlining the fact that as the
Messiah, he is going to be killed, and through his death, the people
will be saved; after all of that, Jesus invites his disciples to follow
his way and take up the cross daily!
Then just when it is beginning to look like a masochistic trip,
in a flash, we have the transfiguration.
The cross and resurrection go hand in hand.
The resurrection gives new and fruitful meaning to a life that
has been spent and given up, just as the fruit gives meaning to the
grain that falls into the earth and dies.
But death also gives new meaning to the resurrection.
Love is never more generous than when it gives up its life! Jesus is not a Messiah up in the clouds
somewhere. Jesus walks
our ways, has taken on the cross and is on the way to Jerusalem, the
land where Easter happens, and from there to the mission. The
transfiguration is a glimpse of what is to come, that gives a whole
new meaning to life and to death! It helps us to understand Helder
Camara’s wonderful expression: “Those who have no reason to live,
have no reason to die”. How
unfortunate we are when we settle in to our comfortable lives. When we say “It’s so good
to be here” like
Peter, we obviously don’t know what we’re saying.
Peter wants to settle in, and yet Lent is a time of change. Most of us usually prefer Peter’s
attitude to the Lenten spirit; and there’s quite a difference! The
transfiguration says “Giving
your life for others is worth it!”
Every process of change and conversion has meaning because
we have a firm rock who guarantees a fruitful life, he who was crucified
and has risen. That is why it’s so important to
listen to Jesus. It’s
the voice of the prophet of the end times, of the prophet like Moses,
who teaches us the way of life, the way of the exodus, which is the
Easter journey! What
we celebrate during Lent is not a pious devotion, in the ordinary
sense of the word. It’s about risk and commitment and
giving our lives for others.
It is a return to Christ present in our sisters and brothers. In the Old Testament covenants were sealed
in blood, and Jesus sealed this new and eternal covenant in his blood,
his love, his life united to the blood of so many martyrs with their
transfigured deaths at the violent hands of injustice. It’s not that God wants blood sacrifice;
but rather that love is never truer than when it gives the ultimate,
and in Jesus’ case that meant giving his life, the supreme sign
of love . We are talking about the covenant
of love, generously offered that each faithful disciple confirms and
reaffirms “daily”
in simple acts of love and in heroic martyrdoms of many of
our brothers and sisters in Latin America. And if death is the greatest
absurdity of all, in Christ’s death and resurrection risking
ones life, spending it in the struggle for solidarity, for justice
and truth and life is the most meaningful and fruitful action of all,
because Christ joins us to his own paschal journey.
Our God is a God of life, and doesn’t want us to die,
and love is the greatest giver of life. Our God gives life each day
in the face of injustice, violence and sin. The effort to give life often leads us
to give up our lives. But
life given for God’s Reign is life given that others may live. A life-giving death gives meaning to the
multitude of dead lives. Some
Thoughts for Personal Reflextion In
my life, as in that of every human being, there have been meaningful,
life-giving moments filled with love.
It will be good to remember and recreate those times…how
I lived them, what I felt, why they ended.
Take time for personal prayer and bring to consciousness those
times of “transfiguration”. How can I return to or recapture that
“first love”? “This
is my beloved, chosen Son. Listen
to him!” Can I say that my life thrust, my goals
and aims, reflect a listening stance?
Have I embraced God’s will revealed in the words of Jesus? Some Thoughts for Group Reflection Human
beings are not only “rational animals” in the words of
Aristotle, but also “meaningful animals”.
We need a reason to live as much or more than we need the material
elements to live. Life without meaning becomes unbearable.
How do culture and religion
relate to this fundamental anthropological necessity? We
are living in an age without utopias.
Everything is bought and sold with cold calculation.
What message does the symbol of the transfiguration bring to
our short sighted world? Abraham’s
concern for assuring the possession of
the land that God has promised his people, can be related to
the need of land that the people in the third world live today. For example, in Brazil there
are three million rural land holdings.. Of these 62% are small rural
areas that occupy 8% of the total rural area. At the other extreme
2.8% of these properties are enormous holdings that occupy 57% of
the total area. 62% of the land is not arable.
Perhaps this explains why the “Movimiento de los Sin
Tierra” (The movement of the landless) has emerged in recent
years. www.mst.org.br. At
present it is the most powerful popular organization on the Latin
American continent. Many
of the participants are committed Christians, convinced of the ethical
and religious necessity of defending the right to the land that God
has given to all of us. The Prayer of the Faithful -
May our hearts be purified and our eyes trained to discover the transfiguration
of our daily realities and the divine meaning within them… -
That God may sustain our faith, make us worthy of this gift and not
permit us to fall into confusion and meaninglessness in our lives… -
For all the men and women who seek and do not find meaning in their
lives, that God will go out to meet them and they may find the joy
to which they are destined… -
May we be witnesses of hope for our brothers and sisters, but always
with the humility of those who offer a gift given and not a prize
deserved… -
May we be contemplative people, accustomed to savoring the presence
of God hidden in all of reality and found only through prayer… Community Prayer God
our Father, just as the Evangelist Luke, we also believe that in the
life of Jesus You have given us your Word. We pray that, enlightened by that
Word, we may be transfigured and gaze with new eyes on our reality
that we are called to transform. Unite us to all the women and men
who are enlightened in a thousand different ways by that same Word
and working toward “another possible world” that you want
to help us build among all the peoples of our world wide humanity.
We ask this through Jesus, your son and our brother.
Amen. [1] See also
2Cor. 10.12; 1Cor
11,1 y 24. [2] The
phrase “citizens of heaven” appears only this one time
in the New Testament. |
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