Scripture Reflections Seeking Understanding

On this second Sunday of Lent we hear the story of Jesus' transfiguration. Of that moment on Mount Tabor when Peter, James and John see Jesus in his glory, flanked by Moses and Elijah. It is a story that situates Jesus firmly in the salvation history of Israel, but there is something in this story that is often overlooked. In the Book of Numbers we are told that, because Moses failed to trust in the Lord at Meribah, he would not enter into the promised land with the Israelites. Yet here he is standing with Jesus, conversing with Him. Another thing that strikes me about the transfiguration is that, for all the ways in which the Synoptic Gospels differ from one another, their accounts of this moment are remarkably consistent. Matthew, Mark and Luke all situate Jesus on the mountain. All three tell us that Peter, James and John were there. And all three tell us that Jesus' glory was revealed to them in brilliant light. But what does seeing Jesus in His glory mean? What did t...

 In this Sunday's Gospel we hear Matthew's account of the temptation of Jesus in the desert. But why did the Devil even bother trying to tempt Jesus? Surely, he must have known that Jesus' divinity was beyond even his reach.  Of course it is, but the Devil's temptation didn't target Jesus' divinity. Instead, it appealed to his humanity. To his fear, his hunger, his pride. Those things that he was feeling in the moment. And these are the ways that sin enters into our lives too.  But this is the great gift of God's incarnation.  The Catechism affirms the teaching of the early Church that Jesus, being true God and true man, is like us in all things but sin. His humanity, therefore, is a model for us of how we can be fully human, and yet not succumb to weakness, even in the face of temptation.  Jesus' example reassures us that the Spirit of God dwelling in us - the same breath that the story of our creation tells us first brought us to life - is far more pow...

This Sunday we hear a lot about the law. The first reading from Ecclesiasticus, the responsorial Psalm, and the very first line of the Gospel (unless you hear the shorter version) all speak to us about the law of God.  Jesus tells the disciples that the law is lasting. The psalmist says that the law is a blessing on those who follow it. And Ben Sirach, the author of Ecclesiasticus, say that it is the subject of free will.  On the surface, that last one seems a bit loose compared to the other two. If you wish, you can keep the commandments God has set before you , Sirach says. But the sting is in the tale. You can choose fire or water, you can choose life or death, but what you choose you will receive in full. Freedom of choice is not freedom from consequences.  So it seems that the primacy of the law has been established. At least that’s what the Pharisees that come up in the next lines of the Gospel believed. As long as I do (or don’t do) according to the law, I’m ok. An...

Some years ago, I was interviewing for a leadership position in a Catholic school when a religious brother on the panel asked me what I thought of the founding charism of the school  (i.e. the particular expression of faith that his order of brothers brought to their ministry) .  I replied that I see charisms a bit like stained-glass windows. Each colour casts a particular hue on the world, but that no matter which colour we look through, it is the same light, and the same world that we see.  In John's Gospel Jesus proclaims boldly, I am the light of the world . Given the  context of how images of light are used in the  Old Testament, this is nothing less than a bold declaration of Jesus' divinity. And this is consistent with John's theology that Jesus is the incarnate presence of God in our world.  So, what are we to make of it when Jesus tells His disciples in this Sunday's Gospel, YOU are the light of the world ?  It's not some radical declaration t...