19 February 2022. Saturday of Week 6

1st Reading: James 3:1-10

Guard the tongue and speak with decency

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue – a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.

Responsorial: Psalm 11:2-5, 7-8

R./: You will protect us, Lord

Help, O Lord, for good men have vanished:
truth has gone from the sons of men.
Falsehood they speak one to another,
with lying lips, with a false heart. (R./)

May the Lord destroy all lying lips,
the tongue speaking high-sounding words,
those who say: ‘Our tongue is our strength;
our lips are our own, who is our master?’ (R./)

The words of the Lord are words without alloy,
silver from the furnace, seven times refined.
It is you, O Lord, who will take us in your care
and protect us for ever from this generation. (R./)

Gospel: Mark 9:2-13

Jesus’ transfiguration, between Moses and Elijah

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and 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 one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He said to them, “Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.”

BIBLE

Mysticism and practicality

Even visions or ecstasies do not remove the need for faith. After seeing Jesus’ transfiguration, Peter, James and John, who were with him on the shining mountain, still had to wrestle with the daily challenges of life.

The transfiguration of Jesus, like his baptism and towards the end his prayer in Gethsemane, offered brief glimpses of the mystery of Jesus, his unique closeness to his Heavenly Father. We too may have some privileged moments when we see more clearly how near God is to us on our journey. As people of faith, we can share his sense of being loved, unconditionally, “You are my beloved Son.”

James offers a more down-to-earth spirituality by warning us to speak respectfully about others, not spreading gossip or half-truths. If we aspire to teach others, we will need patience and humility. Perhaps our instruction ought to give insights to ourselves too, showing the splendour God invests in our human lives – and even in our death.

Jesus felt the nearness of God the Father’s presence along the whole of his life as he journeyed towards death. Death will be the supreme moment of God’s presence to us as it was to Jesus. Only after passing with Jesus through death into new life, will we fully understand how blessed we’ve been every step of the way.


A foretaste of glory

At his transfiguration the disciples saw Jesus as they had never seen him before. It was a foretaste of the experience they would have of the risen Lord. It was an experience that was full of light and joy, so much so that Peter exclaimed, ‘Rabbi, it is wonderful for us to be here.’ Maybe each of us had had moments when we felt something similar, when we had a very strong sense of the Lord’s nearness, and his care for us.

In Mark’s account the disciples transfiguration experience came just after they had set out on the dangerous road to Jerusalem, the way to the cross. Jesus had call himself as the Son of Man who must suffer and die, words which they found so distressing. As they travelled this difficult road, they got this wonderful grace of seeing Jesus transfigured. In our own lives too when we are struggling, some needed grace is often given. When we seem weakest, he provides new strength. When darkness envelopes us, we need to look for the light of his presence.

Join the Discussion

Keep the following in mind when writing a comment

  • Your comment must include your full name, and email. (email will not be published). You may be contacted by email, and it is possible you might be requested to supply your postal address to verify your identity.
  • Be respectful. Do not attack the writer. Take on the idea, not the messenger. Comments containing vulgarities, personalised insults, slanders or accusations shall be deleted.
  • Keep to the point. Deliberate digressions don't aid the discussion.
  • Including multiple links or coding in your comment will increase the chances of it being automati cally marked as spam.
  • Posts that are merely links to other sites or lengthy quotes may not be published.
  • Brevity. Like homilies keep you comments as short as possible; continued repetitions of a point over various threads will not be published.
  • The decision to publish or not publish a comment is made by the site editor. It will not be possible to reply individually to those whose comments are not published.