Continuing Testament

The Texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate and share the message of the Transfiguration for our journey as followers of Christ.

Testament and Transformation

The Reading from the Book of Genesis presents Abram’s Call and Migration.

* [12:1–3] Go forth…find blessing in you: the syntax of the Hebrew suggests that the blessings promised to Abraham are contingent on his going to Canaan.

* [12:2] The call of Abraham begins a new history of blessing (18:18; 22:15–18), which is passed on in each instance to the chosen successor (26:2–4; 28:14). This call evokes the last story in the primeval history (11:1–9) by reversing its themes: Abraham goes forth rather than settle down; it is God rather than Abraham who will make a name for him; the families of the earth will find blessing in him.

* [12:3] Will find blessing in you: the Hebrew conjugation of the verb here and in 18:18 and 28:14 can be either reflexive (“shall bless themselves by you” = people will invoke Abraham as an example of someone blessed by God) or passive (“by you all the families of earth will be blessed” = the religious privileges of Abraham and his descendants ultimately will be extended to the nations). In 22:18 and 26:4, another conjugation of the same verb is used in a similar context that is undoubtedly reflexive (“bless themselves”). Many scholars suggest that the two passages in which the sense is clear should determine the interpretation of the three ambiguous passages: the privileged blessing enjoyed by Abraham and his descendants will awaken in all peoples the desire to enjoy those same blessings. Since the term is understood in a passive sense in the New Testament (Acts 3:25; Gal 3:8), it is rendered here by a neutral expression that admits of both meanings. (Genesis, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 33 praises God who created the three-tiered universe of the heavens.

* [Psalm 33] A hymn in which the just are invited (Ps 33:1–3) to praise God, who by a mere word (Ps 33:4–5) created the three-tiered universe of the heavens, the cosmic waters, and the earth (Ps 33:6–9). Human words, in contrast, effect nothing (Ps 33:10–11). The greatness of human beings consists in God’s choosing them as a special people and their faithful response (Ps 33:12–22). (Psalms, PSALM 33 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the First Letter of Timothy declares that Christians value the Old Testament as the first stage in God’s revelation of his saving plan.

* [1:8–11] Those responsible for the speculations that are to be suppressed by Timothy do not present the Old Testament from the Christian viewpoint. The Christian values the Old Testament not as a system of law but as the first stage in God’s revelation of his saving plan, which is brought to fulfillment in the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

* [1:10] Sodomites: see 1 Cor 6:9 and the note there. (1 Timothy, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew presents The Transfiguration of Jesus.

* [17:1–8] The account of the transfiguration confirms that Jesus is the Son of God (Mt 17:5) and points to fulfillment of the prediction that he will come in his Father’s glory at the end of the age (Mt 16:27). It has been explained by some as a resurrection appearance retrojected into the time of Jesus’ ministry, but that is not probable since the account lacks many of the usual elements of the resurrection-appearance narratives. It draws upon motifs from the Old Testament and noncanonical Jewish apocalyptic literature that express the presence of the heavenly and the divine, e.g., brilliant light, white garments, and the overshadowing cloud.

* [17:1] These three disciples are also taken apart from the others by Jesus in Gethsemane (Mt 26:37). A high mountain: this has been identified with Tabor or Hermon, but probably no specific mountain was intended by the evangelist or by his Marcan source (Mk 9:2). Its meaning is theological rather than geographical, possibly recalling the revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai (Ex 24:12–18) and to Elijah at the same place (1 Kgs 19:8–18; Horeb = Sinai).

* [17:2] His face shone like the sun: this is a Matthean addition; cf. Dn 10:6. His clothes became white as light: cf. Dn 7:9, where the clothing of God appears “snow bright.” For the white garments of other heavenly beings, see Rev 4:4; 7:9; 19:14.

* [17:3] See note on Mk 9:5.

* [17:4] Three tents: the booths in which the Israelites lived during the feast of Tabernacles (cf. Jn 7:2) were meant to recall their ancestors’ dwelling in booths during the journey from Egypt to the promised land (Lv 23:39–42). The same Greek word, skēnē, here translated tents, is used in the LXX for the booths of that feast, and some scholars have suggested that there is an allusion here to that liturgical custom.

* [17:5] Cloud cast a shadow over them: see note on Mk 9:7. This is my beloved Son…listen to him: cf. Mt 3:17. The voice repeats the baptismal proclamation about Jesus, with the addition of the command listen to him. The latter is a reference to Dt 18:15 in which the Israelites are commanded to listen to the prophet like Moses whom God will raise up for them. The command to listen to Jesus is general, but in this context it probably applies particularly to the preceding predictions of his passion and resurrection (Mt 16:21) and of his coming (Mt 16:27, 28).

* [17:6–7] A Matthean addition; cf. Dn 10:9–10, 18–19. (Matthew, CHAPTER 17, n.d.)

Rev. Andy Alexander, SJ, comments that Lent is a journey.  Like Abram, we are called to leave our “home” – the unhealthy, deadly, unloving patterns we call home – and to make our home in Jesus. In these words, or with our own words - let us pray.

Dear Lord, I really need your help these days of Lent. Accompany me, guide me, comfort me to receive the gifts and graces you want to offer me, so that I might grow in freedom, in courage and in hope. Make my heart more like yours.  Don’t let me be afraid or discouraged.  Let me be a source of healing and reconciliation. Let me put my trust in you, as we grow close each day on this journey. (Alexander, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Listen to Him,” by Leo the Great, 400?-461 A.D.

"A voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. I am manifested through his preaching. I am glorified through his humility. So listen to him without hesitation. He is the truth and the life. He is my strength and wisdom. "Listen to him" whom the mysteries of the law foreshadowed, of whom the mouths of the prophets sang. "Listen to him" who by his blood redeemed the world, who binds the devil and seizes his vessels, who breaks the debt of sin and the bondage of iniquity. "Listen to him" who opens the way to heaven and by the pain of the cross prepares for you the steps of ascent into his kingdom." (excerpt from Sermon 38,7) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the imagery of the early chapters of Genesis changes in Chapter 12 to the real history. Abram is called to lead his land. He trusts and wades into the unknown. Timothy exhorts us to live as Christ calls us to live until His return. The Transfiguration involves the Big Three Peter, James, and John traditionally on Mt Tabor. We see a theophany the divinity of Jesus. Moses and Elijah represent the Law and Prophets Along with Enoch they are associated with apocalyptic books that represent the revelation of the secrets of heaven. And they offer to build three tents for the holiness of God. Friar Jude comments that even in the moment of glory the event is associated with His passion by the Suffering Servant words used by Jesus to declare manifestation of the glory of Jesus in His love on the Cross.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 17:1-9 comments that Jesus revealed his glory to them to give them a glimpse of where he was headed—and a glimpse of their own target. He gave them a foretaste of their own future glory, and that revelation strengthened them for the difficult path ahead.

Let today’s Gospel do that for you, too! We are at the start of Lent, but we know that the time will come when we will see Jesus, beaten and bloodied, stripped of all dignity, raised up on a cross between two criminals. That’s the time to remember the transfiguration, when his glory shone brightly on the mountain. Even in his suffering, Jesus knew what his destination was: resurrection. And in our struggles, we can look toward our destination—heavenly glory, in union with Jesus!

“Jesus, help me hold onto this glorious vision as I aim toward heaven.” (Meditation on Matthew 17:1-9, n.d.)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, emphasizes how God’s justice in the Bible is fundamentally loving and restorative rather than punitive. God wins by making sure we win—just as any loving human parent does. 

Love is the only thing that transforms the human heart. In the Gospels, we see Jesus fully revealing this divine wisdom. Love takes the shape and symbolism of healing and radical forgiveness—which is just about all that Jesus does. Jesus, who represents God, usually transforms people at the moments when they most hate themselves, when they most feel shame or guilt, or want to punish themselves. Look at Jesus’s interaction with the tax collector Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10). He doesn’t belittle or punish Zacchaeus; instead, Jesus goes to his home, shares a meal with him, and treats him like a friend. Zacchaeus’s heart is opened and transformed. Only then does Zacchaeus commit to making reparations for the harm he has done.

As Isaiah says of God, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8). Yet I am afraid we largely pulled God down into “our thoughts.” We think fear, anger, divine intimidation, threat, and punishment are going to lead people to love. We cannot lead people to the highest level of motivation by teaching them the lowest. God always and forever models the highest, and our task is merely to “imitate God” (Ephesians 5:1). (Rohr, n.d.)

We petition the Spirit for inspiration in the Transfiguration of Jesus to be agents of the care, love and mercy that reveal the love of Christ for all people.

References

Alexander, A. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-march-1-2026 

Genesis, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/12?1 

Matthew, CHAPTER 17. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/17?1 

Meditation on Matthew 17:1-9. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/03/01/1510533/ 

1 Timothy, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1timothy/1?8 

Psalms, PSALM 33 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/33?4 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/just-love/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Listen to My Beloved Son. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

An inheritance of Presence

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the Presence of God in our lives through our lived experience and that of our ancestors.

Present in Our Story

The reading from the Book of Genesis is Jacob’s Testament to his sons.

* [49:10] Until tribute comes to him: this translation is based on a slight change in the Hebrew text, which, as it stands, would seem to mean, “until he comes to Shiloh.” A somewhat different reading of the Hebrew text would be, “until he comes to whom it belongs.” This last has been traditionally understood in a messianic sense. In any case, the passage aims at the supremacy of the tribe of Judah and of the Davidic dynasty. (Genesis, CHAPTER 49, n.d.)

Psalm 72 is a prayer for Guidance and Support for the King.

* [Psalm 72] A royal Psalm in which the Israelite king, as the representative of God, is the instrument of divine justice (Ps 72:1–4, 12–14) and blessing (Ps 72:5–7, 15–17) for the whole world. The king is human, giving only what he has received from God. Hence intercession must be made for him. The extravagant language is typical of oriental royal courts. (Psalms, PSALM 72, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew presents the Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah.

* [1:1–2:23] The infancy narrative forms the prologue of the gospel. Consisting of a genealogy and five stories, it presents the coming of Jesus as the climax of Israel’s history, and the events of his conception, birth, and early childhood as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The genealogy is probably traditional material that Matthew edited. In its first two sections (Mt 1:2–11) it was drawn from Ru 4:18–22; 1 Chr 1–3. Except for Jechoniah, Shealtiel, and Zerubbabel, none of the names in the third section (Mt 1:12–16) is found in any Old Testament genealogy. While the genealogy shows the continuity of God’s providential plan from Abraham on, discontinuity is also present. The women Tamar (Mt 1:3), Rahab and Ruth (Mt 1:5), and the wife of Uriah, Bathsheba (Mt 1:6), bore their sons through unions that were in varying degrees strange and unexpected. These “irregularities” culminate in the supreme “irregularity” of the Messiah’s birth of a virgin mother; the age of fulfillment is inaugurated by a creative act of God. (Matthew, CHAPTER 1, n.d.)

Chas Kestermeier, S.J. asks what are four women doing in this list?  Tamar (Genesis 38:1-2) is at the center of the story of Onan, Rahab (Joshua chapters 2 and 6) is a harlot in Jericho who helps the Hebrews enter and conquer Palestine, Ruth was a non-Jew who is one of the most attractive women in the Bible but would have been repudiated and sent away by the righteous (Ezra 9:10-12 and 10:2-44; Nehemiah 13:23-30), and Bathsheba was the victim of David’s lust, causing him to commit murder (2 Samuel 12).

All of them were unclean, sinners or attached to sinners, and yet Matthew features them – and not Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, or Judith – in his attempt to show the bond God forged with our human flesh; this was with women, and such women!  God reaches out to all of us, to those whom our society and our vision of what is good and fitting for him will not accept, and he joins all humans to himself by that “bond which can never be broken” – not to those who think themselves entitled to his love but to those who need it and live in it… (Kestermeier, 2022)

Don Schwager quotes “Judah who received the promise of royalty foreshadows the Christ the King,” by Rufinus (340-410 AD).

"This can be referred to the historical Judah as well as to those kings who were his descendants (Genesis 49:8-10). They broke the back of their enemies by administering the kingdom of that people. But this can also be fittingly referred to Christ, who is praised with good reason by his brothers, that is, by the apostles whom he himself called brothers in the Gospel. And his enemies, on whose back is his hand, appear to be those whom the Father promised to place under his feet by saying, 'Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet' (Psalm 110:1). They are enemies as long as they are unbelieving and unfaithful, and for that reason they are struck on the back. But after their conversion they become brothers and praise the One who, by summoning them to the adoption of the Father, has made them his coheirs and brothers. It is said correctly that the back of the enemies is struck by Christ. All those who worshiped the idols turned their back to God, as the Lord, through the prophet, accused them by saying, 'They turned their backs to me, and not their faces' (Jeremiah 2:27). Therefore he strikes their back so that after being converted they may turn their back to the idols and raise their forehead to God and may accomplish what is written here: 'Your father's sons shall bow down before you.' In fact, they adore him when they have become sons of the Father and have received the spirit of adoption in which they cry out, 'Abba, Father' (Romans 8:15-16)." No one calls Jesus Christ Lord except those who are in the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). (excerpt from THE BLESSINGS OF THE PATRIARCHS 1.5)

[Rufinus of Aquileia (340-410) was a friend of the Bible scholar Jerome, and, like Jerome, he departed from Italy to live in the East. For many years he lived in monasteries in Egypt and in Palestine, acquiring the learning of the Eastern churches. Towards the end of his life he returned to Italy and occupied himself in translating works of the earlier Greek Fathers into Latin.] (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 1:1-17 comments that we may wonder about four of the women in Jesus genealogy, especially since each was grafted into Jesus’ family tree in an irregular way.

When you look at your family tree and begin to feel unqualified to be part of Jesus’ family, remember Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Remember these women who were honored to be forebears of Christ. Let the Lord show you how he can use your distinctive background, as he did theirs. You just might see how your unique story can help you bring Jesus to the world.

“Jesus, thank you that I am made part of your family through Baptism.” (Meditation on Matthew 1:1-17, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler discusses the prediction of the dynasty of David in the special blessing of Judah by Jacob. The 14 generations in the genealogy of Jesus is a Hebrew assignment of numbers to letters, Gematria, that symbolizes that Jesus is the superlative of David (DVD = 14). Friar Jude suggests that God who acted through unusual women in the past is acting in Mary through a virgin from a “know-nothing” town of Nazareth.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, invites us to reflect that the purpose of prayer and religious seeking is to see the truth about reality, to see what is. And at the bottom of “what is” is always goodness. The foundation is always Love.

Enlightenment is to see and touch the big mystery, the big pattern, the Big Real. Jesus called it the reign of God; the Buddha called it enlightenment. Philosophers might call it Truth. Many of us see it as Foundational Love. Here is a mantra you might repeat throughout your day to remind yourself of this:

God’s life is living itself in me. I am aware of life living itself in me.

God’s love is living itself in me. I am aware of love living itself in me.

You cannot not live in the presence of God. This is not soft or sentimental spirituality; ironically, it demands confidence that must be chosen many times, and surrender that is always hard won. (Rohr, 2022)

We consider the idea that “God writes straight with crooked lines” as we meditate on the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness that is inherent in the story of our ancestors.

References

Genesis, CHAPTER 49. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved December 17, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/49?2 

Kestermeier, C. (2022, December 16). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved December 17, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/121722.html 

Matthew, CHAPTER 1. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved December 17, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/1?1 

Meditation on Matthew 1:1-17. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved December 17, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/12/17/555980/ 

Psalms, PSALM 72. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved December 17, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/72?1 

Rohr, R. (2022, December 17). A Benevolent Universe: Weekly Summary — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 17, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-benevolent-universe-weekly-summary-2022-12-17/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 17, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=dec17