SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT – YEAR C - Gospel (L 9: 28b - 36) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my chosen Son, listen to him.” (Lk 9:35)

FIRST READING - Gn 15:5-12, 17-18

A reading from the Book of Genesis

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 of the Chaldeans

to give you this land as a possession.”

“O Lord GOD,” he asked,

“how am I to know that I shall possess it?”

He answered him,

“Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat,

a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

Abram brought him all these, split them in two,

and placed each half opposite the other;

but the birds he did not cut up.

Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses,

but Abram stayed with them.

As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram,

and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.

When the sun had set and it was dark,

there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,

which passed between those pieces.

It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram,

saying: “To your descendants I give this land,

from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates.”

SECOND READING from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians - 3:17—4:1

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 body

to 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.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Lk 9:28b-36

From the Gospel according to Luke

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.

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT – YEAR C - Gospel (L 9: 28b - 36)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

Today's Word of God: God the Father instructs His children all over the world to know that in this world, there is only one God the Father, the only One who created heaven and earth, all things, and all creatures; He created angels and humans. Therefore, everything that God the Father commands must be obeyed. This means fear and absolute obedience to God, as He instructed mankind from the beginning of creation until now and forever, until the end of the world: “Whatever God the Father wants, humanity must absolutely obey.”

God the Father loves mankind immensely, and because of His love, He always wants to bring happiness to humanity, complete happiness with God the Father in His kingdom. To be worthy of entering the Kingdom of God, people must become like children, relying on the power of God and letting Him lead them step by step. With the absolute wisdom and great power of the Supreme God the Father, people cannot fully understand. For that reason, what God the Father gives is known only to the extent. And what God the Father has not revealed to us, we just simply believe that: God truly exists everywhere, and He is also here in the heart of each person. Because of the weakness and fragility of human life, and because of the limitations of human intelligence, humans cannot fully understand all the powers of the Supreme God the Father, nor can we comprehend all the strength and greatness of God the Father in ourselves and in this universe.

Once again, God the Father always wants to teach humans in this world today to know that humans must completely put their trust in God the Supreme Father, the only and absolute One. And once you have faith, the next step is to have trust in God, in His power, in His love, and in His mercy. Which is, to have hope, one must have faith. To have faith, one must love God the Father above all things, loving Him with all one's heart. Then one can rely on Him, freely walk on the path He has taken, and reach the place He has prepared.

Today's Word of God teaches people to understand more about the father of believers, as recorded by the saints: the image of Abraham. With faith, trust, and love for God the Father, Abraham did everything God the Father wanted, even though it was beyond the power, understanding, and intelligence of man. But when Abraham had complete trust in the Word of God the Father, everything was fulfilled beyond imagination. Today's Gospel also teaches humans about Jesus Christ coming to earth as a human, that is, God who sacrificed Himself and humbled Himself to earth to take on the status of a slave, to become a normal human being like any other, except for sin.

Today, under the activity of the Holy Spirit, God has revealed: Humans have tarnished the beautiful image that He created in the beginning by committing sins in following Satan. Humans have become unclean, evil, and have displeased God the Father, so they cannot receive the love and grace of God within themselves yet blindly listen to Satan's temptations about lust, power, position, money, and everything in the material world. Humans run after the arrogant and extravagant inventions of this scientific world: what I see, I believe; what I feel, hold, grasp with my naked eyes, I believe. That does not please God the Father.

God the Father wants to invite us to change our thinking, change our mentality by sacrificing, fasting, mortifying ourselves, giving up sin, giving up our pride, and our anger. Instead, we should live a meek, humble, simple, loving, and forgiving life. Sacrifice and give up your selfish ego to live and do what God the Father has commanded from the beginning of creation until now, which is to believe in a supremely powerful God; believe that He is the Creator of heaven and earth, all things, and all creatures, the absolute and incomparable One. He does whatever He wants, no one can stop Him, and no one can resist Him! And there is no need for anyone to be an advisor. Thus, today God shows people a little bit of His glory through the image of Jesus Christ transfigured on Mount Tabor. Through the event of His conversation with the prophets Moses and Elijah, the two great prophets of the Old Testament, God the Father wants humans to look at the image of Jesus' transformation. He became bright and beautiful before God the Father, and somehow, He also wants people to transform themselves by removing their selfish egos, greed, anger, ignorance, and worldly spirits, to put on a new self in Jesus Christ. This new self is gentleness, fear, obedience to God the Father, and doing everything He wants, not doing what humans want.

Through the image of Saint Peter, James, and John the Apostle, God teaches people a lesson: humans need to humbly acknowledge their own weak status. There was a time when humans thought they must be able to do what they want, as Peter said to God: "Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." That request did not please God because God did not want it, but it was the limited will of humans.

Why? Because the purpose of Jesus' transfiguration on Mount Tabor was to invite us to take off our old selves, our sinful selves, and come to Jesus Christ, the source of abundant love, the Source of light, and the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven in the future. As opposed to the disciples, Jesus, Moses and Elijah just stayed there, on Mount Tabor in this world.

What does it mean to take off the old self? It means that we must take off our selfishness, material greed, anger, jealousy, love for money, position, worldly honor, and, especially, must give up hatred, which leads to killing each other. Take off the old self to return to make peace with God the Father, with our brothers and sisters, and show a heart of fear and obedience to God the Father's will as He has commanded today: "This is my chosen Son; listen to Him."

Today's Word of God invites everyone to believe as our patriarch Abraham believed in the Word of God the Father, when He invited him to go to a land he did not know. He did not hesitate or question that invitation but quickly followed. Today, God the Father wants us to obey the words that Jesus Christ taught in the Bible. More specifically, He invites us to obey the will of God the Father in the Real Word of God written through the hand of Angel Thien Thuong, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will teach us directly as well as repeat and clarify the words that Jesus Christ in the Bible taught to generations of mankind, yesterday, today, and forever.

Thanks be to God. Amen.