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One another, Lent2C

Updated: Mar 15


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March 16, 2025



Peter exclaimed on the mountain, “Master, how good it is for us to be here.” Confident of Christ’s presence among us in this assembly, let us pray for his gifts of healing and transformation:


For our Church and parish community, that we may be faithful to our covenant of trust and peace in God: let us pray to the Lord.


For Pope N., Bishop N., Father N., and all who serve the Church as pastors and teachers, that they may guide us in the way of Christ, the Servant of God: let us pray to the Lord.


For the leaders of governments and nations, that they may work unceasingly to re-create our world in the peace and justice of God: let us pray to the Lord.


For those experiencing loss or crisis in their lives, that, with our compassionate support and kindness, they may transform their heartache into joy, their despair into hope: let us pray to the lord.

 

For those who are preparing for baptism and reception into the Church, that their hearts may be opened to the Word of God’s own Son: let us pray to the Lord.


For all who have died in Christ’s peace [especially _________], that they may take their place with the citizenry: let us pray to the Lord.


For the prayers we now make in the silence of our hearts [Pause...]: let us pray to the Lord.


Father, hear the prayers we make before you. May your Spirit of love and peace transfigure us and our world into the image of Jesus, the Risen Christ, in whose name we offer these prayers.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025w, March 16). Second Sunday of lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031625.cfm

-Cormier, J. (1995). Lord, Hear Our Prayer: Prayer of the Faithful for Sundays, Holy Days, and Ritual Masses.


 
 
 

The Word today, Lent2C

Updated: Mar 15


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March 17 - March 22, 2025


See special notes for St Patrick’s Day)


Daniel 9:4-10 Daniel prays a great prayer which we could make our own today. The Psalm takes up the same theme of forgiveness.


Luke 6:36-38 Pardon is free from God — but it is truly “ours” only when we pardon in return.



Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 Following an opening command to wash and make ourselves clean, no fewer than seven imperatives help us to think practically of changes in our lives.


Matthew 23:1-12 Matthew is aware that religious leaders can “lose the run of themselves,” as we say. This is true in our Gospel of the Pharisees, but the the Gospel goes on to issue a warning also to Christian leaders: they are not to be called rabbi or father or teacher. Why is that the case?


St Joseph, husband of the BVM


2Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16 God’s delity through time is expressed in his commitment to the family of David, of which Jesus will be born.


Romans 4:13,16-18,22 Abraham trusted against all the odds — as did his later descendant Joseph.


Matthew 1:16,18-21,24 Joseph of the Gospels reminds us of Joseph of Genesis, who dreamed and who saved his family.



Jeremiah 17:5-10 Two ways of life are contrasted today and, as always, the choice is ours. The contrast is sharply drawn. We do know that things are not so black and white in reality; however, the offer of two different ways of life still stands. The psalm going with this reading is perfect.


Luke 16:19-31 The story of the rich man (Dives in Latin) and the poor man, Lazarus, is unique to this Gospel. The story is pretty clear and it would be hard to miss the message. The exploration of the parable in the last paragraph, however, is larded with irony…are we among those who would not be convinced even in someone should rise from the dead?



Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28 The ordinary mass goer might well ask why this reading and what is it about? The story of the rejection of Joseph by his brothers is interesting and signicant of itself. Today, however, it is told to anticipate a similar rejection in the Gospel, the rejection of Jesus and his mission. In the case of Joseph, the rejected one became the saviour when there was a famine in the land of Canaan. Likewise, the rejected Jesus became a saviour but not merely to one family but to the whole human race.


Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46 In the Old Testament, there are passages which talk about Israel as God’s vineyard, a metaphor which undergirds today’s parable. The parable on the lips of Jesus may have been simpler. The version we have in the Gospel reects the context of Matthew’s community and the later application of Psalms to Jesus’ own death and resurrection.



Micah 7:14-15,18-20 Today we hear a great prayer for forgiveness, a condent prayer because the Lord is our shepherd. It would make a terric reection on God’s mercy and compassion. It does prepare us to hear with fresh ears the parable of the prodigal son.


Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 As often, it can be hard to hear what is so familiar so that we are addressed again, so a special effort is needed. It might be good to focus on the stay-athome brother and his resentments. Do I nd such inty resistance in myself ? In my community? In our society? Even as we nd this in ourselves, it is good to recall that the parable ends without resolution, open-ended, so that forgiveness and compassion are always possible.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025w, March 16). Second Sunday of lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031625.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings


 
 
 

SOCL, Lent2C

Updated: Mar 31


ree

Sunday March 16, 2025

The vision of the summit

See


On the mountain, the boundaries between the ordinary and the divine momentarily dissolve. Peter, James, and John—three common fishermen—experience the transcendent breaking through the fabric of their everyday reality. Jesus's transformation is not so much a change as a revelation: the momentary visibility of what was always present but hidden from their limited eyes. We too carry this duality: the ordinary and the extraordinary coexisting in every moment.


Peter's instinctive response reveals our human tendency: when we experience the sacred, we try to contain it, build structures for it, turn it into something manageable. "Let us make three tents" is the cry of all who have felt the divine and then try to institutionalize it. But the enveloping cloud suggests another truth: the transcendent cannot be contained in our categories, only experienced with awe and trembling.


The command from the cloud—"This is my beloved Son; listen to him"—radically reorients. It's not about building monuments to past experiences but actively listening, moment by moment. The descent is inevitable: after every summit, we must return to the valley. The disciples keep silent about what they have seen, perhaps understanding that there are experiences that words can only diminish. The transfiguration wasn't meant for remaining on the mountain, but for transforming how they would walk through the valley.


Listen



Reflect


(Luke 9:28-36)


Where have you experienced moments of transcendent clarity in your life, and how have you tried to "build tents" to preserve them rather than allowing them to transform you?


The divine voice doesn't command to build, organize, or control, but simply to "listen"—how might you cultivate a more receptive posture toward the divine in your everyday life?


Jesus descends from the glory of the mountain toward the path that would lead him to Jerusalem and to suffering—how might your own moments of spiritual illumination sustain you during times of darkness and difficulty?


Pray


Lord, open our eyes to the glory hidden within the ordinary. Free us from our impulse to contain the sacred in structures of our own making. Sharpen our ears to listen to your beloved Son, not just in moments of dazzling clarity, but also in the dark valleys where his presence seems fainter. May glimpses of glory not lead us to escape the world, but to transform how we walk within it.



 
 
 
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