2ND Sunday of Lent Year B
Psalter: Week 2
White
Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Ps 26: 8-9
Of you my heart has spoken, Seek his face. It is your face, O Lord, that I seek; hide not your face from me.
Collect
O God, who have commanded us to listen to your beloved Son, be pleased, we pray, to nourish us inwardly by your word, that, with spiritual sight made pure, we may rejoice to behold your glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: Genesis 22:1-2,9-13,15-18
God put Abraham to the test. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he called. ‘Here I am’ he replied. ‘Take your son,’ God said ‘your only child Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you.’ When they arrived at the place God had pointed out to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son Isaac and put him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and seized the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he said. ‘I am here’ he replied. ‘Do not raise your hand against the boy’ the angel said. ‘Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your son, your only son.’ Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt-offering in place of his son. The angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time from heaven. ‘I swear by my own self – it is the Lord who speaks – because you have done this, because you have not refused me your son, your only son, I will shower blessings on you, I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants shall gain possession of the gates of their enemies. All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, as a reward for your obedience.’
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
115(116):10,15-19
R/ I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
I trusted, even when I said: ‘I am sorely afflicted,’ O precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I; you have loosened my bonds. A thanksgiving sacrifice I make; I will call on the Lord’s name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfill before all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Second reading: Romans 8:31-34
With God on our side who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give. Could anyone accuse those that God has chosen? When God acquits, could anyone condemn? Could Christ Jesus? No! He not only died for us – he rose from the dead, and there at God’s right hand he stands and pleads for us.
Gospel Acclamation:
Mt17:5
Glory and praise to you, O Christ! From the bright cloud the Father’s voice was heard: ‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’ Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
Gospel: Mark 9:2-10
Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone by themselves. There in their presence he was transfigured: his clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them. Elijah appeared to them with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter spoke to Jesus: ‘Rabbi,’ he said ‘it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say; they were so frightened. And a cloud came, covering them in shadow; and there came a voice from the cloud, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’ Then suddenly, when they looked round, they saw no one with them any more but only Jesus. As they came down from the mountain he warned them to tell no one what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They observed the warning faithfully, though among themselves they discussed what ‘rising from the dead’ could mean.
Prayer over the Offerings
May this sacrifice, O Lord, we pray, cleanse us of our faults and sanctify your faithful in body and mind for the celebration of the paschal festivities. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Mt 17: 5
This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.
Prayer after Communion
As we receive these glorious mysteries, we make thanksgiving to you, O Lord, for allowing us while still on earth to be partakers even now of the things of heaven. Through Christ our Lord.
Prayer over the People
Bless your faithful, we pray, O Lord, with a blessing that endures for ever, and keep them faithful to the Gospel of your Only Begotten Son, so that they may always desire and at last attain that glory whose beauty he showed in his own Body, to the amazement of his Apostles. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
The Transfiguration is one of the most important manifestations of God in the New Testament. Some scholars call it the “summary of all revelation”. In effect, Moses and Elijah, the spokespeople of the Law and the Prophets (in a word, all of the Old Testament), present the Christ of the Gospel to Peter, James and John, those who will be responsible for the preaching of the Gospel. Beyond mere vision, today’s gospel reading is an excellent example of the ingredients that constitute prayer – intercession, praise, or thanksgiving. It tells us that prayer is a response to Christ’s invitation to come up the mountain, that is, to leave behind our ordinary, everyday concerns and place ourselves quietly in the presence of God. It is an invitation to be alone with Christ. The climax of the story is the command from the cloud: “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him”. Prayer consists, above all, in listening and in hearing the word of Jesus.