The cover of a book on the Transfiguration of Christ, when Jesus shone with light before his Apostles. The Gospel story of the Transfiguration is the Gospel reading for the second Sunday of Lent. This is a sign of what the meaning of Lent truly is, as Pope Benedict XVI taught (see below)…The author of this book, Andreas Andreopoulos, is recognized throughout the world as one of the most eloquent young scholars of Christianity. He earned his Ph.D. in theology at the University of Durham and has taught in Toronto, Montreal and Philadelphia. He is currently Lecturer of Christian Theology at the University of Wales (link)
“One of the Transfiguration accounts is read on the second Sunday of Lent each year, proclaiming Christ’s divinity to the Elect and baptized alike. The Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent, by contrast, is the story of the temptation in the desert — affirmation of Jesus’ humanity.” —from Franciscan media on the Transfiguration and its meaning (link)
“The Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord puts before our eyes the glory of Christ, which anticipates the resurrection and announces the divinization of man.” —Pope Benedict XVI, Message for Lent 2011 (12 years ago, written a year and a half before he resigned the papacy and began a period of 10 years of a monastic life centered on prayer (link)
“Faith in the resurrection of the dead and hope in eternal life open our eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence: God created men and women for resurrection and life, and this truth gives an authentic and definitive meaning to human history, to the personal and social lives of men and women, to culture, politics and the economy. Without the light of faith, the entire universe finishes shut within a tomb devoid of any future, any hope.” —Pope Benedict XVI, Ibid.
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” —One of the three temptations proposed by the devil to Jesus, Matthew 4:1-4
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Letter #46, 2023 Monday, February 20: Pope Benedict on Preparing for Lent
My thoughts, as Lent now draws near, continue to turn toward the life and witness of Pope Benedict XVI, who died 50 days ago, on December 31, 2022, at the age of 95, as the old year was drawing to its close.
Lent will begin on Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, in two days.
Benedict had a soaring vision of the meaning of human life.
He said that we are meant for eternal life.
And he said all of the struggles of this world, all of the temptations to doubt that final destination, must be overcome by a fixed faith in the “Good News,” which is the very core of the Gospel, that Christ has risen from the dead.
This is the central point.
And quite relevant.
For many today are proposing various, not “Christ-centered” but “man-centered” visions of the future of humanity.
Some even going so far as to say that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and genetic engineering will bring a form of eternity to man and man’s hopes…
(See Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by a man who often speaks at Klaus Schwab‘s World Economic Forum which is preaching the arrival soon of a “Great Reset” for our human world, Yuval Noah Harari, link).
Therefore, it seems important to focus on this central truth, that:
the divinization of man
which we may call the “Great Transformation” of man
from a temporal-material being to an eternal-spiritual being (with what is spirit being more real, not less real, than what is material, changeable, passing)
over against Klaus Schwab‘s proposed “Great Reset”
is the universal Christian proposal for our world
the world of all men and women.
We were meant to be or to become “transfigured,” like Christ, after passing through temptations, as Christ passed through them during his 40 days in the desert, rejecting them though they were superficially sweet-sounding, even deceptively seductive, and culminating with the sorrow of the Passion, of the cross.
Because, as Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.”
This is the mystery and the message at the heart of Lent — that we are called to a “Great Transformation,” nothing less than “Christification” (if I may coin such a term), nothing less than becoming conformed fully to Christ, the first-born of the restored humanity, fulfilling the promises made to Abraham (cf. link).
Since Lent will begin the day after tomorrow, it seemed fitting to turn to some of Benedict’s teachings on the meaning of Lent, and how to prepare for Lent.
Here is the full text of his Lenten Message for 2011, dated November 4, 2010.
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Note: We are launching during Lent a “Lenten Appeal” for support for this letter and Inside the Vatican magazine. If you would like to participate in this Lenten Appeal, and support our work, please do not hesitate. We are grateful for any and all support. —RM
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
BENEDICT XVI
FOR LENT 2011
By Pope Benedict XVI
Dated November 4, 2010
(link)
“You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him.” (cf. Col 2: 12)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Lenten period, which leads us to the celebration of Holy Easter, is for the Church a most valuable and important liturgical time, in view of which I am pleased to offer a specific word in order that it may be lived with due diligence.
As she awaits the definitive encounter with her Spouse in the eternal Easter, the Church community, assiduous in prayer and charitable works, intensifies her journey in purifying the spirit, so as to draw more abundantly from the Mystery of Redemption the new life in Christ the Lord (cf. Preface I of Lent).
1. This very life was already bestowed upon us on the day of our Baptism, when we “become sharers in Christ’s death and Resurrection”, and there began for us “the joyful and exulting adventure of his disciples” (Homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 10 January, 2010).
In his Letters, St. Paul repeatedly insists on the singular communion with the Son of God that this washing brings about.
The fact that, in most cases, Baptism is received in infancy highlights how it is a gift of God: no one earns eternal life through their own efforts.
The mercy of God, which cancels sin and, at the same time, allows us to experience in our lives “the mind of Christ Jesus” (Phil 2: 5), is given to men and women freely.
The Apostle to the Gentiles, in the Letter to the Philippians, expresses the meaning of the transformation that takes place through participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, pointing to its goal: that “I may come to know him and the power of his resurrection, and partake of his sufferings by being molded to the pattern of his death, striving towards the goal of resurrection from the dead” (Phil 3: 10-11).
Hence, Baptism is not a rite from the past, but the encounter with Christ, which informs the entire existence of the baptized, imparting divine life and calling for sincere conversion; initiated and supported by Grace, it permits the baptized to reach the adult stature of Christ.
A particular connection binds Baptism to Lent as the favorable time to experience this saving Grace.
The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council exhorted all of the Church’s Pastors to make greater use “of the baptismal features proper to the Lenten liturgy” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum concilium, n. 109).
In fact, the Church has always associated the Easter Vigil with the celebration of Baptism: this Sacrament realizes the great mystery in which man dies to sin, is made a sharer in the new life of the Risen Christ and receives the same Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead (cf. Rm 8: 11).
This free gift must always be rekindled in each one of us, and Lent offers us a path like that of the catechumenate, which, for the Christians of the early Church, just as for catechumens today, is an irreplaceable school of faith and Christian life.
Truly, they live their Baptism as an act that shapes their entire existence.
2. In order to undertake more seriously our journey towards Easter and prepare ourselves to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord – the most joyous and solemn feast of the entire liturgical year – what could be more appropriate than allowing ourselves to be guided by the Word of God?
For this reason, the Church, in the Gospel texts of the Sundays of Lent, leads us to a particularly intense encounter with the Lord, calling us to retrace the steps of Christian initiation: for catechumens, in preparation for receiving the Sacrament of rebirth; for the baptized, in light of the new and decisive steps to be taken in the sequela Christi [“the following of Christ,” meaning “in becoming disciples of Christ”] and a fuller giving of oneself to him.
The First Sunday of the Lenten journey reveals our condition as human beings here on earth.
The victorious battle against temptation, the starting point of Jesus’ mission, is an invitation to become aware of our own fragility in order to accept the Grace that frees from sin and infuses new strength in Christ – the way, the truth and the life (cf. Ordo Initiationis Christianae Adultorum, n. 25).
It is a powerful reminder that Christian faith implies, following the example of Jesus and in union with him, a battle “against the ruling forces who are masters of the darkness in this world” (Eph 6: 12), in which the devil is at work and never tires – even today – of tempting whoever wishes to draw close to the Lord: Christ emerges victorious to open also our hearts to hope and guide us in overcoming the seductions of evil.
The Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord puts before our eyes the glory of Christ, which anticipates the resurrection and announces the divinization of man.
The Christian community becomes aware that Jesus leads it, like the Apostles Peter, James and John “up a high mountain by themselves” (Mt 17: 1), to receive once again in Christ, as sons and daughters in the Son, the gift of the Grace of God: “This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favor. Listen to him” (Mt 17: 5).
It is the invitation to take a distance from the noisiness of everyday life in order to immerse oneself in God’s presence.
He desires to hand down to us, each day, a Word that penetrates the depths of our spirit, where we discern good from evil (cf. Heb 4:12), reinforcing our will to follow the Lord.
The question that Jesus puts to the Samaritan woman: “Give me a drink” (Jn 4: 7), is presented to us in the liturgy of the third Sunday; it expresses the passion of God for every man and woman, and wishes to awaken in our hearts the desire for the gift of “a spring of water within, welling up for eternal life” (Jn 4: 14): this is the gift of the Holy Spirit, who transforms Christians into “true worshipers,” capable of praying to the Father “in spirit and truth” (Jn 4: 23).
Only this water can extinguish our thirst for goodness, truth and beauty!
Only this water, given to us by the Son, can irrigate the deserts of our restless and unsatisfied soul, until it “finds rest in God”, as per the famous words of St. Augustine.
The Sunday of the man born blind presents Christ as the light of the world. The Gospel confronts each one of us with the question: “Do you believe in the Son of man?” “Lord, I believe!” (Jn 9: 35. 38), the man born blind joyfully exclaims, giving voice to all believers.
The miracle of this healing is a sign that Christ wants not only to give us sight, but also open our interior vision, so that our faith may become ever deeper and we may recognize him as our only Savior.
He illuminates all that is dark in life and leads men and women to live as “children of the light”.
On the fifth Sunday, when the resurrection of Lazarus is proclaimed, we are faced with the ultimate mystery of our existence: “I am the resurrection and the life… Do you believe this?” (Jn 11: 25-26).
For the Christian community, it is the moment to place with sincerity – together with Martha – all of our hopes in Jesus of Nazareth: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world” (Jn 11: 27).
Communion with Christ in this life prepares us to overcome the barrier of death, so that we may live eternally with him.
Faith in the resurrection of the dead and hope in eternal life open our eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence: God created men and women for resurrection and life, and this truth gives an authentic and definitive meaning to human history, to the personal and social lives of men and women, to culture, politics and the economy.
Without the light of faith, the entire universe finishes shut within a tomb devoid of any future, any hope.
The Lenten journey finds its fulfillment in the Paschal Triduum, especially in the Great Vigil of the Holy Night: renewing our baptismal promises, we reaffirm that Christ is the Lord of our life, that life which God bestowed upon us when we were reborn of “water and Holy Spirit”, and we profess again our firm commitment to respond to the action of the Grace in order to be his disciples.
3. By immersing ourselves into the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are moved to free our hearts every day from the burden of material things, from a self-centered relationship with the “world” that impoverishes us and prevents us from being available and open to God and our neighbor.
In Christ, God revealed himself as Love (cf. 1Jn 4: 7-10). The Cross of Christ, the “word of the Cross”, manifests God’s saving power (cf. 1Cor 1: 18), that is given to raise men and women anew and bring them salvation: it is love in its most extreme form (cf. Encyclical Deus caritas est, n. 12).
Through the traditional practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer, which are an expression of our commitment to conversion, Lent teaches us how to live the love of Christ in an ever more radical way.
Fasting, which can have various motivations, takes on a profoundly religious significance for the Christian: by rendering our table poorer, we learn to overcome selfishness in order to live in the logic of gift and love; by bearing some form of deprivation – and not just what is in excess – we learn to look away from our “ego”, to discover Someone close to us and to recognize God in the face of so many brothers and sisters.
For Christians, fasting, far from being depressing, opens us ever more to God and to the needs of others, thus allowing love of God to become also love of our neighbor (cf. Mk 12: 31).
In our journey, we are often faced with the temptation of accumulating and love of money that undermine God’s primacy in our lives.
The greed of possession leads to violence, exploitation and death; for this, the Church, especially during the Lenten period, reminds us to practice almsgiving – which is the capacity to share.
The idolatry of goods, on the other hand, not only causes us to drift away from others, but divests man, making him unhappy, deceiving him, deluding him without fulfilling its promises, since it puts materialistic goods in the place of God, the only source of life.
How can we understand God’s paternal goodness, if our heart is full of egoism and our own projects, deceiving us that our future is guaranteed?
The temptation is to think, just like the rich man in the parable: “My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come…”. We are all aware of the Lord’s judgment: “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul…” (Lk 12: 19-20).
The practice of almsgiving is a reminder of God’s primacy and turns our attention towards others, so that we may rediscover how good our Father is, and receive his mercy.
During the entire Lenten period, the Church offers us God’s Word with particular abundance.
By meditating and internalizing the Word in order to live it every day, we learn a precious and irreplaceable form of prayer; by attentively listening to God, who continues to speak to our hearts, we nourish the itinerary of faith initiated on the day of our Baptism.
Prayer also allows us to gain a new concept of time: without the perspective of eternity and transcendence, in fact, time simply directs our steps towards a horizon without a future.
Instead, when we pray, we find time for God, to understand that his “words will not pass away” (cf. Mk 13: 31), to enter into that intimate communion with Him “that no one shall take from you” (Jn 16: 22), opening us to the hope that does not disappoint, eternal life.
In synthesis, the Lenten journey, in which we are invited to contemplate the Mystery of the Cross, is meant to reproduce within us “the pattern of his death” (Ph 3: 10), so as to effect a deep conversion in our lives; that we may be transformed by the action of the Holy Spirit, like St. Paul on the road to Damascus; that we may firmly orient our existence according to the will of God; that we may be freed of our egoism, overcoming the instinct to dominate others and opening us to the love of Christ.
The Lenten period is a favorable time to recognize our weakness and to accept, through a sincere inventory of our life, the renewing Grace of the Sacrament of Penance, and walk resolutely towards Christ.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, through the personal encounter with our Redeemer and through fasting, almsgiving and prayer, the journey of conversion towards Easter leads us to rediscover our Baptism.
This Lent, let us renew our acceptance of the Grace that God bestowed upon us at that moment, so that it may illuminate and guide all of our actions.
What the Sacrament signifies and realizes, we are called to experience every day by following Christ in an ever more generous and authentic manner.
In this our itinerary, let us entrust ourselves to the Virgin Mary, who generated the Word of God in faith and in the flesh, so that we may immerse ourselves – just as she did – in the death and resurrection of her Son Jesus, and possess eternal life.
From the Vatican, 4 November, 2010
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
Live podcast tomorrow, Tuesday February 21, 2023 (link)
Tomorrow we continue our on-line discussion of the 33-day pontificate of Albino Luciani, who took the name Pope John Paul I (August 26 to September 28, 1978, link).
My guest will be Fr. Charles Murr, 72, a friend and confidant of the late Cardinal Edouard Gagnon, who died in 2007.
Murr has just written Murder in the 33rd Degree: The Gagnon Investigation into Vatican Freemasonry (link).
Dr. Peter Kwasniewski reviewed the book, saying this: “Fr. Murr does not peddle conspiracy theories; he tells the riveting story as he lived through it and recorded it in his notes and diaries — what he saw and heard, what his friends learned and suffered. Most of all, we discover how a divinely-given opportunity for serious reform was tragically refused. Murder in the Thirty-Third Degree is the most impressive eyewitness account of postconciliar Vatican politics to appear in decades.”
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The live video tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. on the east coast, which will be at 5 p.m. Rome time, may be accessed here.
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