2nd Sunday of Lent Year B 2024

From the desolate desert of deception, this Sunday we scale the top of Tabor to witness Christ’s Transfiguration. It is like spanning the two extreme ends of human experiences. Christ showed us that from the depths of deception we can scale the heights of heaven.

The context for this event is important. Firstly, the three Synoptic Gospels carry this narrative. It happened after Peter’s Confession that Jesus is the Messiah that was followed by Jesus predicting His own passion to come. Jesus’ inner circle of Peter, James and John were brought up to the mountain and there in their presence, He is transfigured. Secondly, as Jesus was resolutely making His way to Jerusalem, this episode was an encouragement to the Disciples. Enveloped by the cloud, the three heard a voice that affirmed once again that Jesus is the Son of God and they were commanded to listen to Him. The matter to consider is that woven into discipleship are both a price and a prize.

The 1st Reading does suggest a heavy price to be paid for discipleship. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son. God’s demands feel as if He will always ask for more than we are prepared to give. But that is not the case. God does not ask what He Himself is not able to deliver. Central to Abraham’s experience is faith that God Himself will supply. Isaac symbolises what was dearest to Abraham—his continuity and God asked that Abraham trust Him with his most precious treasure. Abraham becomes the father of faith because he was prepared to trust in God’s providence. The subsequent sacrifice of the ram symbolises God’s greatest Providence. God modelled the way of trust by giving up His only Son to be the ultimate sacrifice.

Even if discipleship is often thought of as a call to action, it is truly a journey of faith. Ultimately it is a journey to the Resurrection. Perhaps, we can better understand this from the perspective of those who are journeying to join the Catholic faith. Why? We who have been baptised long ago might have lost the sense of wonder because our vision is a bit more blurred and our attitude more blasé.

Why do people seek baptism? Does it confer on them material benefits? Maybe. Is there more to material gain in conversion? The answer to the question why the Elect choose to join the Church is Eternal Life. We are baptised into eternal life. The Transfiguration is therefore a Resurrection experience of the disciples. Peter, James and John caught a glimpse of the prize at the end of their discipleship.

As a journey to eternity, discipleship does not settled on what is passing, important though that may be. This is perhaps one of the challenges we face in a consumer society. We may have been promised heaven here on earth. The “Great Reset” proposed at the World Economic Forum operates from a space of responsibility for creation and our common home is noble but it might hide within its philosophy a promise of “eternity” which this temporal and transient world cannot support.

We are not meant to live forever here. For example, the eradication of hunger, diseases and injustice is not eternity because eternal life is premised on death. We need to pass through death before reaching the Resurrection. While discipleship is exercised in the world, still its objective is eternity. The Transfiguration is therefore a kind of foretaste of what is to come.

Any mountain experience is exhilarating. It is wonderful to be able to witness glory but it is a different matter altogether to follow it. In the end, after all the firework display has died off, all that remained was Christ alone. Continuing the journey to Jerusalem, He will go to His death. The glory of the Transfiguration passes through the summit of Calvary.

As Christ was preparing the disciples for His Passover, so during this period of enlightenment, our Elect too are reminded of the price of discipleship. They are not alone. We who have been baptised must count that cost too. We also have to follow Christ and keep our faith until the Resurrection.

The culmination of our faith journey is the Resurrection. Speaking of this reality can feel like a meaningless exercise because it describes an experience that is so out of this world. How do we desire something that we cannot really put a finger on? And moreover, we are continuously promised “eternity on earth”. What may be helpful is the Greek word for the experience of the Apostles. In Greek, Transfiguration is “metemorphothe” or in science, we know the process as “metamorphosis”. Remember how an ugly caterpillar morphs into a dead chrysalis (pupa) before it transforms into a beautiful butterfly.

Our cosmetic industry is basically mimicking for humanity what metamorphosis does for the insect kingdom. We all want to be beautiful and we are prepared to go to great lengths to beautify ourselves when in fact discipleship is the process whereby the beautification of the soul takes place. If physical beauty is our objective, then the Resurrection is the ultimate spiritual goal of the transformation that we desire.

In summary, the Transfiguration is an important symbol of the Resurrection; a foretaste of what is to come. The part of the Eucharistic Prayer III used in a funeral Mass reflects this reality. “…When from the earth He will raise up in the flesh those who have died and transform our lowly body after the pattern of His own glorious Body”. Placed early in Lent, the Transfiguration reminds searchers and believers not to lose sight of the Resurrection, no matter how good life can be here, for eternity is truly the prize we win after paying the price of discipleship.

1st Sunday of Lent Year B 2024

We have entered rather hastily into Lent. Right at the beginning, related themes in the Readings and Gospel are highlighted for our consideration. This is also a period where the journey towards Calvary is intensified and in way, it is reflected in the Catechumens’ experience.

The Rite of Election is usually celebrated on the 1st Sunday of Lent. The Catechumens who have listened to God’s word, responded to His invitation and participated in the life of the faithful community are sent to the Bishop for their election. From now on, their journey of faith is deepened with enlightenment and purification through the three Scrutinies.

Appropriately St Peter mentions in the 2nd Reading about the Sacrament of Baptism that we are saved through the death and resurrection of Christ. Such a statement sounds cut and dried but it is linked to an article of our faith which refers to the “harrowing of hell”. In the Apostles’ Creed, we usually read it as “He descended into hell” but St Peter stated it as “He went to preach to the spirits in prison”. In the context of Christ’s descent into Hades' domain, the rainbow at the end of the Great Deluge, mentioned in the 1st Reading, makes sense. It symbolises that God will no longer use water to destroy mankind. Instead, two points to consider. First, Christ’s descent into hell reveals the distance and the depth the Lord will go to save us. Second, beyond the rainbow, the covenant is now enacted through the Sacrament of Baptism.

The deluge of death will now become the bath of rebirth. Baptism is the new covenant expressing God’s intent to save everyone. For the Elect, the logical conclusion to their Lent is the Easter Vigil where they will receive the Sacraments of Initiation. But for those of us who had been reborn through baptism, Lent becomes a season of renewal. Baptism may have washed away all sins, original and otherwise, yet many may be bogged down by present sins. Thus, renewal is the chance to walk with a God who first chose to walk with us.

Christ walks with us and the Gospel at the start of Lent, narrates His Temptations in the desert. While all the three Synoptic Gospels tell the same story, Mark is rather sparse with details. He merely mentions that Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the desert to be tested and tried by Satan. We know details of Jesus’ temptations via Matthew and Luke.

The temptations are important. Describing Lent as a season of repentance, renewal and revival, suggests that something is not right. Is there a process of renewal for the sake of renewal? For example, whenever a newer product comes online, it is always marketed as a better iteration. Remember the "best ever iPhone" model? The older model may have been good but the latest offering is always better. Otherwise, what is the “newest” for, right?

Likewise in terms of “renewal”, that is, being made new, either through baptism or reconciliation, it is always in terms of leaving behind what is considered to be less good. In other words, no one is baptised if there is no need for a change in direction or no one goes for confession if there is no need for forgiveness.

It is vital to reflect on this because we are speaking of salvation. We are saved from our sins which are the results of our caving in to temptations. Everyone yearns for salvation which is a natural inclination that arises from our brokenness. Yet, we do not give much thought to the role that temptations play in frustrating our salvation.

Satan tried to find weaknesses in Jesus which means that He will try to exploits ours too. But Christ overcame Satan and thankfully in our Lenten arsenal, the three devout practices of the Jews can aid in overcoming temptations. For long as we want to follow Jesus we need to be prepared for we will not be spared Satan’s wrath. He will aim for us the more we desire to follow Him. If you find yourself in a lot of troubles, then you must know that you are in good company with the Lord. For He was not only tested in the desert but throughout His earthly life.

Firstly, during Lent, we fast. A most basic temptation is our desire for instant gratification. Christ was tempted to turn stone into bread. While it is difficult to give up something good for something better, self-denial actually gives us strength to counter Satan’s assault. Secondly, we give alms. Christ was tempted to exercise His status by lording over the angels. He could have thrown Himself off the roof for the recognition that would surely help Him in His ministry. Instead He served by giving Himself to others. Christian charity which flows from the principle of stewardship becomes an imitation God. This brings us to the third Lenten practice. We pray. Christ was tempted to vain-glorious independence but He chose dependence on the Father. He pointed out to Satan that true worship is directed to God alone.

In every temptation we face, Jesus walks with us because He Himself had experienced them. Through fasting, almsgiving and praying, He gives us the grace and strength to overcome Satan’s wiles. By nature, temptations are relational and we are always tempted against relationship. Praying, fasting and charity are intended to foil not only temptations, nor only to gain strength to resist the Tempter himself. They are meant to strengthen our relationship with God, with oneself and with society. The temptations in the desert remind us that Lent is not needed by the saints. Rather the season is God's gift for sinners to become saints.

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B 2024

The popularity of Christ’s healing ministry is brought to fore through the healing of the leper. Beyond the act of restoring the leper to his place in community is Christ in the mission to further the Kingdom’s boundary.

Man being a finite creature naturally needs boundaries. He is not made up of pure spirit but instead is a composite of spirit and matter. Finitude by nature requires definition. To be known, we need to be known as someone and not just anyone. Anybody here who is organising lunch or dinner knows the frustrating feeling when the answer to the question “What do you want to eat?” is met by the response “Anything”. In terms of knowing, we generally want to describe or define things right down to its minutest details in order to be precise.

The act of separation is also a form of definition. For example, racial identity is so important in this country. The forms that we fill in always have this question: Race. Sometimes when we hear a crime committed. The next question we ask is: Race? And almost instantly, if the “correct” race is identified, the racial stereotypical markers will kick in. This race is like this or that race is like that.

In the Gospel, leprosy was a major social marker. The taboos surrounding leprosy not only function as a form of identity but they act as a boundary to secure the general population from the infected. The instructions regarding lepers were draconian. The diseased had to tear off their clothes and shout “unclean, unclean”. This form of isolation or segregation might just remind us of our own experience when Covid exploded onto our scene. Remember the drastic measures taken against those who came into close contact with the infected? They were treated like they were the infected. Recall the “two lines, two lines” of our Covid tests?

When Christ approached the lepers, He did two things for us. Firstly, in crossing prohibited boundaries and entering into the disfiguring territory of the “Leprosarium”, He enlarged the Kingdom. Think about it, the Kingdom that Christ came to proclaim, is not limited by our narrow notions of “wholeness” and “security”. Moreover, we confess that He came to gather all nations unto the Father’s Kingdom. It is another description of the idea of recapitulation. In other words, He did not come to gather only the saved. He came to redeem also the unsalvageable or the unlovable.

Secondly, He deepens our appreciation of the full impact of His Incarnation. When we recite the Creed every Sunday, we can just glide over the fact without grasping the true meaning of the Incarnation. Soon we will enter into Lent. The journey of Lent leads toward Calvary. Again, such an idea sounds quite run of the mill. But when Christ entered into the territory of the lepers and touched the leper, He made Himself unclean. In other words, He became like a leper Himself. He really took our sins upon Himself which means that in the enterprise of recapitulation, nothing, meaning that no one is outside the realm of salvation.

Today we have lines that we do not cross or breach. Uncrossed lines often fade and this is where our challenge lies. They fade or disappear into the background. Or simply we become insensitive that they are there. To give an example, EVs or electric vehicles. Governments around the world are pushing EVs and even Laudato si is pushing for the transformation of our environmental engagement. We have to diminish our carbon legacy, meaning that we must make sure that we leave as small a carbon footprint as possible. All these initiatives are good for the planet. The “uncrossed lines” that may have faded into the background, are the destitute in poorer countries who have to pay the price for our “environmental concerns”. The raw material, like rare metals, are mined from these impoverished countries. The poor often never benefit from this carbon initiative.

Our social exclusion extends further than just the medical outcasts. The reconciliation that both Laudato si and Fratelli tutti are aiming for calls us to a greater consciousness of the frontier, to grow more aware of the walls that hem us in. Our sight must cross into the socially discriminated of today. Social media for example is a divide between those who are “saved” and those who are not. There are many who are left behind in the chase for digital proficiency. In our rush towards electronic integration, imagine those who are not tech-savvy. They become victims of scams and frequently they suffer quietly because they do not want to be seen as stupid or electronically illiterate.

The poor we will always have with us. This is not a canonisation of the poor but rather one way of thinking about them. Meaning that we must never forget them. A thought that might help us to bring to fore what may have become hidden from us is to remember that when we give it is not because we have more. When we help it is not because we are more capable. Rather, every endeavour we take on behalf of the poor, or the socially outcast, it is because we need them. We need them to help us go to heaven. Sometimes we think of the poor as deserving of our pity. It is like a one-way street but the truth is that the poor teach us to rely on God. They show how to be compassionate. They help us enlarge the border of Christ’s Kingdom.

Finally, the extension of Christ’s Kingdom, the enterprise of recapitulation often goes further than what we are comfortable with. We are creatures of habit and when we are comfortable in our blindness, we become complacent. However, if last Sunday, Christ by praying showed that prayer is not an extra duty laid upon our shoulder, then today, in crossing boundaries, Christ shows us that He is truly the Saviour of all and not just a few. We cannot be complacent about our blindness if we want to follow Him.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B 2024

The exorcism of Jesus last Sunday continues this weekend as He is sought by many. Moreover, the new-found Disciples also acted like intermediaries. The good example is Peter bringing Him to heal the mother-in-law.

Last Sunday a mention was made about the vacuum created by the absence of God. This Sunday we begin to appreciate that preaching, healing and exorcism belong to the one mission of Christ to extend the Kingdom of God. In other words, Christ came to reclaim creation back for the Father. Interestingly, from the perspective of sacramental theology, the different healings and cures conducted by Jesus laid the foundation for the latter institution of the Sacrament of Anointing. Restoration, whether it be physiological, psychological or spiritual, is a sign of the Kingdom to come. Recovery from sickness and sin is the beginning of the Kingdom’s rule.

In establishing the Kingdom, we can already discern two Christian doctrines right at the start of Christ’s public ministry. The first is the central notion of the Resurrection. We see it in the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. He held her hand and the elderly woman was literally brought back to life and to service. Her post-recovery ministration of Jesus and His apostles is reflected in the 2nd Reading where St Paul wrote of the apostolic service of the Lord.

The second doctrine is a less heard concept of recapitulation (see CCC518). The furthering of the Kingdom is not merely an extension of geography, meaning that it is not just to enlarge Christ’s dominion territorially. Rather, recapitulation is the logical conclusion of our profession of faith where we confess that the Word was made flesh and that through Him all things were created. Recapitulation flows into the Great Commission to go and baptised all nations using the Trinitarian formula. Thus, Creation, the Fall, the Great Commission all come under the mission of Christ to lead us back to the Father as He restores us to our original vocation. In other words, creation, from its inception until the end of time, is always headed by none other than the Word through Whom all things were made.

Therefore, anyone who claims Christian heritage is enrolled in this endeavour of Christ to reclaim all creation for God the Father. In that case, evangelisation is not merely to preach the Gospel. It is not even to increase membership in the Church. Rather the Good News is proclaimed in view of the total ministry of Christ who leads us back.

Leading creation back to the Father is an enormous task. In today’s Gospel, an important facet of Christ’s life is inserted into the mission of recapitulation. Mark introduced the idea of Christ praying. He does not give many details but enough for us to know that recapitulation is not merely actions on our part. It is also a life of prayer. Despite the success of his work and the authority with which He had over the crowd, Christ still found time and space to retreat into the quiet and silence in order to pray.

Jesus prayed always in order to do the will of God. In Luke’s Gospel, He spent an entire night in prayer before choosing the 12 to be His Apostles. In raising Lazarus from the dead or in multiplying fish and loaves, Jesus prayed. All through His ministry He engaged in prayers, both formal and informal. His most famous prayer took place in the Garden of Gethsemane where He struggled to choose the path less travelled.

When we embrace the task of recapitulation, the fact that Jesus prayed is something for us to think about. Perhaps our idea of evangelisation is filled with boxes to tick especially of the things that need to be done in order to bring the Good News to those who are waiting for it. Our yardstick for evangelisation is largely action. Many cannot stomach the “NATO” rhetoric, the type who is “No Action, Talk Only”. Our measure of success is achievement-focused to the point that we become afraid of inactivity and prayer often feels like wasted indolence. But Jesus prayed because the idea of “recapitulation” was more than just a task to be accomplished. Yes, He was bringing creation to its proper fulfilment but it was always in light of reconciliation and restoration of creation’s filial relationship with God the Father?

As followers of His, we too need prayers in our lives. Jesus may come across as someone who prayed spontaneously. But in fact, He would have been a man of ritualistic prayers. The word “ritualistic” itself may sound pejorative in our casual free-spirited world but for Jesus ritual was important. Our notion of freedom is an ability to engage in prayers as and when we want but for those who care for relationship, ritual suggests of fixed time for and forms of prayers.

If we look at how life is organised, spontaneity is overrated because 99% of our lives revolves around formality rather than informality. People work and it is not exciting. Doctors schedule their operations. Pilots follow time-tables. In reality, formality signals relational obligations. If rituals denote importance in relationship perhaps we should also recognise why going for Mass on Sunday is so central in our Catholic ethos.

Most of all, we need to get away from a mentality which prizes or values prayers as “effective” to one which is more “affective”. What is the difference? Effective praying views prayers in terms of results, that is, getting what we want from God. In itself, the prayer of asking is not a bad thing. Jesus Himself taught us to ask from God in our prayers. But those who are in relationships know the degrading feeling of utilitarianism. When someone only looks for you when he or she needs something, that is not relationship. Even though we should always ask from God, He is not a sugar daddy type of a deity.

In terms of asking, Christ Himself modelled a relationship based on embracing God’s will rather than bending God to ours. The Gethsemane experience was definitely “affective”, filled as it was with anguished and yet it revealed the depth of the filial relationship between the Father and the Son. In terms of the mission of recapitulation, prayer is not an extra duty enjoined upon us. It highlights that the more important a relationship is, the less we would leave it to chance. Since the task of reconciling creation is a priority in Christian discipleship, Christ by praying led the way by showing that if we want to follow Him, we cannot NOT pray. To pray is actually to live in the presence of the Father to whom all glory and honour belongs.