SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT FEBRUARY 28, 2021

MASS READINGS:

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 9:2-10

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; 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.

REFLECTION: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

During Covid 2020 I purchased a Vietnamese-English dictionary and a 600 basic words flash cards in bilingual English Vietnamese. I had visions of mastering a new language and by the end of the year I would be fluent.

Unfortunately, my brain was slow to understand and it was hard to remember new words learned the day before. It was not easy. I did not have the proper teaching nor attitude.

Today's Gospel, God says, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

At first glance it seems easy but as one maneuvers through the Bible, there can be so much misinterpretation and misunderstanding by us. This has been most apparent as I attend the PAPA FACEZBS (FACE to FACE Zoom Bible Study) every Wednesday. With our Spiritual Advisor, Father Michael, we review the homily from the Sunday before and then we take a walk through the Old Testament and the New Testament to fully appreciate what Jesus said, why and to whom.

We listen to every word in the Bible, for the ultimate foundation of order is in the Logos-the Word of God, His Son. Every word has meaning and we have been taught to use, when necessary, Critical Catholic Thinking to better understand what God is telling us.

We are to question without mercy how we think and how we understand the Bible. The process is the following:

PROBLEM: What is God trying to tell us and why? Define it.

QUESTION: Investigate or gather all possible and relevant information. What period are we in, who is the author and who is he writing to, or was he a student of one of the apostles or did he walk with Jesus? Was his audience the Jewish, Greek or Gentile people as the context can be better understood?

IDEA: What realistic idea do we have of the information gathered? Do we have to refer back to prior readings or gather information from the Old Testament?

INTERPRETATION: Can we draw a conclusion?

ASSUMPTION: Have we taken into account our assumptions, biases, observations, experiences and prejudices?

IDEA: Do we understand what the author is saying or are we forming our own ideas or interpretations? Many times we go back to the Old Testament, especially Genesis, when God created man and the initial covenant of God with man.

IMPLICATION: What have we gotten out of the Gospel and the homily? Can we order our thoughts, our actions and our world?

CONSEQUENCE: How does what we have learned in FACEZBS help us in our spiritual growth?

Come join us on FACEZBS every Wednesday at 12 noon CST USA.

Check out last week's video Bible Study.

Notify us at papa@papamio.org for more information.

Today listen to someone.

God Bless You