Second Sunday of Lent
Reading 1
The LORD said to Abram:
“Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk
and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.
“I will make of you a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you
and curse those who curse you.
All the communities of the earth
shall find blessing in you.”
Abram went as the LORD directed him.
Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22Responsorial Psalm
R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
2 Tm 1:8b-10Reading 2
Beloved:
Bear your share of hardship for the gospel
with the strength that comes from God.
He saved us and called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel.
Mt 17:1-9Gospel
Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother,
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Lord, it is good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make three tents here,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, behold,
a bright cloud cast a shadow over them,
then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.”
When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate
and were very much afraid.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying,
“Rise, and do not be afraid.”
And when the disciples raised their eyes,
they saw no one else but Jesus alone.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
Jesus charged them,
“Do not tell the vision to anyone
until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Catholic Fundamentalism Interpretation:
The Loving Programmer told His favorite human program, Abram, leave your relatives’ land. I want you to leave your (earthly) father’s home, and go a place I’ll show you. I am going to have your program downloaded and copied so often that there will be a great nation of your programs. I am going to provide you with programming assistance so that the name of your program will become great, so great that it will, in itself, be a blessing. I will provide programming assistance for those who help you, and I will erase the programs of those who hurt you. All the groups of people on the earth will find help in sharing what has been downloaded to you and future copies of your program."
Abram followed The Loving Programmer’s Operating Instruction.
Loving Programmer, grant us Your programming assistance as we trust Your operating instructions.
The Loving Programmer is upright and His programs run perfectly to do His will. He loves us to download and obey His programs. His programs reflect His kindness.
Loving Programmer, grant us Your programming assistance as we trust Your operating instructions.
The Loving Programmer remains aware of those who fear/obey Him and who hope to obtain His programming assistance to keep their programs from being erased and preserved in spite of any shortage of things He has programmed.
Loving, Programmer, grant us Your programming assistance as we trust Your operating instructions.
The very essence of our individual program waits for The Loving Programmer, Who is our help and protection. May Your kindness, O Loving Programmer, be always with us, who have put our trust in You.
Loving Programmer, grant us Your programming assistance as we trust Your operating instructions.
Beloved, bear your share of hardship for the sake of The Operating Instructions with the strength that comes from The Loving Programmer. He has provided us His programming assistance and called us to make His downloads and follow His operating instructions. He didn’t do this because we worked well, but because it was (and we are) part of His Program. Even before The Creation Program was downloaded, this grace was given to us through Jesus Christ (Who is The Program Himself, the summing up of The Creation Program in perfect, loving, obedient, human form Who came among us.) He destroyed death by making it impossible for our individual programs to be erased, letting us see eternal life through the Operating Instructions and the Programming Logs.
Jesus (The Living Program in human form) took Peter, James, and his brother, John, up a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them (revealing to them His underlying nature, cloaked on earth in His human body); His face was as bright as the sun and His clothes were white as light.
And, they could see that Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Peter then said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you want, I will make each of You a tent."
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud (The Loving Programmer often appears as a cloud) cast a shadow over them; from that cloud a voice said, "This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased; listen to Him (and obey)."
When the disciples heard this, (undeniable proof of Who Jesus was), they fell on the ground and were very afraid.
Jesus came and touched them (providing programming assistance so they could download what they’d seen), saying "Get up. Don’t be afraid."
And, when they looked up, they saw no one but Jesus (but, Moses and Elijah and the Cloud may still have been there, but invisible, again, as they are before us, today?)
As they were descending the mountain, Jesus told them not to tell anyone until I have had My own program restored and come back from the dead."
