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II LENTEN SUNDAY – II DIMANCHE DE CAREME
LENT 2015
ICCG Europe / ICCS EuroMed Regions
Gospel from Mk 9:2-10
“After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.”
FLOOR TO THE WITNESSES
It is a pleasure to have here with us two direct witnesses who followed Jesus during His life. They will accompany us through all the Lenten journey and each Sunday they will tell us their feelings and thoughts concerning the Sunday Gospel. It is particularly important to see things from their point of view: they were present and they can bear witness to the faith they saw growing in their souls. Let us give them the floor:
PETER
“I climbed the high mountain with Jesus, James and John (Mk 9:2-10) and I can tell you, I swear, I saw Moses and Jesus talking with my OWN eyes, I heard them with my OWN ears!
As a matter of fact, I could barely see them, they were so bright and shining… but it was so beautiful.
I think it was then that I realized what faith can give, I never experienced such a peace in my heart, such a joy that I wanted to feel that forever. Once you let faith fill your mind and heart, every piece of your life falls into place, you change your perspective, you follow a path of love: believe me, it is worth trying!”
MARY
“I was not present at the Transfiguration, but I heard Peter telling what he saw.
I am not surprised. My heart was filled by that same joy when the Angel came to ask me if I wanted to collaborate with God (cf. Lk 1:28). You can easily imagine how I felt: I was a common person, I did not have any special talents, I was not even rich… My heart was faster than my mind: I immediately trusted God and I accepted. At that moment, I experienced peace in my heart, the certainty that I would never ever be alone, that I could trust Someone who would always be there with me to help me unconditionally, if only I let Him do it. And it is way easier to trust Someone like this than thinking that we can do everything on our own!”
FOOD FOR THE MIND
Did you ever wonder why every year the Church offers us this passage of the Gospel during Lent? It is because we are called to undertake a process of transformation that requires to always bear in mind our final destination. Transfiguration implies a change in the form and in the aspect, but it is not a work of man, but of God. In Jesus’ tranfiguration we can see what God can make out of mankind: our human nature will be changed in light and will be transfigured. We are all called to live Jesus’ experience of His human body that becomes pure light through an intimate experience of prayer and contact with God’s Word (Moses and Elijah who represent the Law and the Prophets) and of deep relationship with God (“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him”): this is the way through which our human nature is truly transfigured. If we approach Christ through prayer and Sacrements, we will be transfigured like Him: during Lent we are called to discover the extraordinary that is in ourselves, the light that inhabits us, our vocation to be joy, light and peace for the world. If we look at transfigured Christ, we will realize what God can do to our human nature, kneading our poverty with His omnipotence: if we allow God to work through us, He will convert us into masterpieces of light and love.
HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION / TRANSFIGURATION?
When we think of a trained military person, we realize that he/she underwent a deep transformation, a transfiguration: he/she started as a recruit and was turned into a warrior who attains what the highest military training can possibly accomplish. He/she takes this transformation experience very seriously.
Faith that is witnessed in the Church aims at transforming the faithful from a state of brokenness and selfishness into mature Catholics. This is a transformation experience as well: how seriously do we take it?
It is not hard to spot a military person, but what makes us say that we are spotting a spiritually mature Catholic?
How would you grade yourself according to each of these “Catholic markers”?
1. Knowledge. Using God’s Word as one’s light in life. In order to practice it in your life and let it enlighten you, you need to know it. How deep is your knowledge of the Bible and the Gospel? How often do you read them and pray with them? Please, grade this.
2. Devotion. Organizing one’s life around Jesus and His message. How close are you to Him and which place has His Gospel in your life? Please, grade this.
3. Obedience. Engaging in a pro-active attitude in obeying God’s will: to what degree does one fight spiritual passivity in order to become yeast in society? Please, grade this.
4. Worship. As a creature, one creates a link with the Creator, who made us on His image: how deep is one’s link to the Creator? Please, grade this.
5. Charity. How much is one able to create and nurture human relationships mirroring God’s love and helping others to become mirrors of His love themselves? Please, grade this.
6. Commitment towards the community. How is one able to bring happiness and energy around him/her in order to help change the world? Please, grade this.
7. Vocation. How much is one aware that something needs to be done thanks to Jesus’ strength and in His name? Please, grade this.
8. Mercy and generosity. How much is one able to show generosity, encouragement, and mercy towards his neighbour? Please, grade this.
9. Suffering. How is one facing sorrow and suffering in life? To which degree do they become opportunities rather than hindrances? Please, grade this.
10. Witness. To what extent is one able to give witness to his/her faith, seen as a new way to live our daily lives? Please, grade this.
11. Thankfulness. To what extent is one able to reverse the trend of taking in order to leave room for gratefully and happily receiving? Please, grade this.
12. Reconciliation. How is one able to become a bridge to bring people together rather than dividing them?
Here is the secret: we will only achieve full maturation when we let Jesus change us from inside and we let people see Him in us. Happy Lent!
FOOD FOR HANDS – ACTIVITIES FOR ALL AGES
Now let us practice some activities that entail transformation/transfiguration. You may decide to start from them and then to introduce the ideas presented before.
FOR THE YOUNGEST MEMBERS
HOW TO “TRANSFIGURE” CRYSTALS IN SNOWFLAKES
Materials
String
Wide mouth jar
White pipe cleaners
Blue food coloring (optional)
Boiling water (take care or better still get an adult to help)
Borax
Small wooden rod or pencil
Instructions:
Grab a white pipe cleaner and cut it into three sections of the same size. Twist these sections together in the center so that you now have a shape that looks something like a six-sided star. Make sure the points of your shape are even by trimming them to the same length.
Take the top of one of the pipe cleaners and attach another piece of string to it. Tie the opposite end to your small wooden rod or pencil. You will use this to hang your completed snowflake.
Carefully fill the jar with boiling water (you might want to get an adult to help with this part). For each cup of water add three tablespoons of borax, adding one tablespoon at a time. Stir until the mixture is dissolved but do not worry if some of the borax settles at the base of the jar
Add some of the optional blue food coloring if you’d like to give your snowflake a nice bluish tinge.
Put the pipe cleaner snowflake into the jar so that the small wooden rod or pencil is resting on the edge of the jar and the snowflake is sitting freely in the borax solution.
Leave the snowflake overnight and when you return in the morning you will find the snowflake covered in crystals! It makes a great decoration that you can show your friends or hang somewhere in your house.
What’s happening?
Crystals are made up of molecules arranged in a repeating pattern that extends in all three dimensions. Borax is also known as sodium borate, it is usually found in the form of a white powder made up of colorless crystals that are easily dissolved in water.
When you add the borax to the boiling water you can dissolve more than you could if you were adding it to cold water, this is because warmer water molecules move around faster and are more spread apart, allowing more room for the borax crystals to dissolve.
When the solution cools, the water molecules move closer together and it can’t hold as much of the borax solution. Crystals begin to form on top of each other and before you know it you have your completed crystal snow flake!
FOR YOUNG MEMBERS
HOW TO “TRANSFIGURE” PLASTICS INTO SUNCATCHERS
Please have a look at this website to lear 7 ways to make suncatchers from plastic beads, changing light into a rainbow of colours.
FOR SENIOR MEMBERS
HOW TO “TRANSFIGURE” HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Watch the movie FIREPROOF by Alex Kendrick and discuss about it:
https://www.youtube.com/wtch?v=GcjLwIbNeMw (and then watch the other chapters)