OMELIE / Omelie EN

17 mar 2019

17/03/2019 - 2nd Sunday in Lent - C

17/03/2019 - 2^nd Sunday in Lent - C

Reading 1 GN 15,5-12.17-18 * Psalm 26 * Reading 2 PHIL 3,17 - 4,1 * Gospel LK 9,28-36

The birds of prey are preventing Abraham from offering the sacrifice in establishing the covenant between God and himself. Abraham is driving them away, while God, like a flame out of a fire, passes through the halved animals. The rite of establishing the covenant involved, as a matter of fact, passing between slaughtered animals: in this way the one who would have violated the pact was vowing to be ready to accept their same fate! Only God though is passing through, committing to it, while He does not ask the same of Abraham, a man the descendants of whom are unable to be faithful. To these descendants, as large as the number of stars in the sky, God will give the earth, the property of the country that is a blessing and safety! Abraham need to contribute at least driving the birds away, that we can compare to the temptations, always there and always overpowering, that would like to prevent us from meeting with God!

Jesus wants to experience a special meeting with God. He goes up the mountain to pray, and He goes up accompanied only by three of His Apostles. His prayer up there is particularly significant. He is preparing Himself to reveal to His disciples His secret, the one regarding His “passing”, that is to say His “exodus”, the mystery of His death and resurrection. God, with the flame of His love, will pass through His life, through His sacrificed life, establishing a new covenant, completely free for us! A revelation so new and surprising needs to be prepared. He prepares it praying, uniting Himself to the Father, to His plan for the salvation of men. The disciples too need to be prepared to receive the revelation, they too through prayer.  They are taken by drowsiness, they give way under sleepiness: like Abraham they need to fight in order to be able to see the light of God’s love that shines on Jesus’ face and engulfs His clothes! It is really Jesus God’s flame, and also the victim sacrificed for us, for all men!

On the mountain God’s commitment is sealed: He asks as witnesses for the two great friends to whom He had confided His plans: the meek Moses and the brave Elijah, the guide and the prophet, whose mouth has uttered the holy words of His love and His preference for the people, bounding it to be faithful. Today they are talking to Jesus of His journey through death, a death that will be the rite of the covenant with God: through Him He pours His love on the world, on that world that is not even worth to stay in His presence.

What should the disciples do, what should the world do? “Listen to him”! This is the only effort asked of men in order to be saved. To listen to Jesus: His sweet and meek word, consoling and compelling,  is the “blessing” that the people enjoys and has it walk towards the promised land, the land in which we all will be brethren, immersed in the light and the glory of our God and Father!

Saint Paul is telling us about this “land” in the second reading: it is the citizenship we are awaiting to become part of, a citizenship in which our Lord rules! In it we are awaited to be transformed, to be loved in a way we have never experienced on this earth! God will take special care of each one of us, and Jesus will make us like Himself! So now we walk and we behave like true disciples, ready to take on the cross, ready to follow the saints’ example, the example of the friends of Jesus’!

We are not ashamed of our Lord, despite the fact that the world around us rejects Him and makes fun of His greatest love, the one that made Him carry the cross. We renew our thanksgiving for having welcomed us in His holy community, the Church, through the baptism.  We will continue to live paying attention to His presence, His word, His plan to transform our society into a society of love, where communion is the main law. We will let go of the idols that push to give importance to things: idols like money, pleasures, satisfactions coming from the stomach and vanity, even the one to be able to save ourselves through big fasting or special food! Saint Paul notices of those who get lost that “their God is their stomach; their glory is in their "shame." Their minds are occupied with earthly things”. We instead keep our eyes focused on Jesus, as it has already been taught us! In case we will look for someone to teach it to us again, in order not to waste precious occasions to grow spiritually, to mature our interior life. We will obey the voice heard on the mountain: “Listen to him”!

During this Lent we will try to imitate Jesus: as he went on the mountain, we will find moments and places, too, convenient to the prayer that looks for and loves the Father’s will! And our face will mirror His light!