A new bond of love and life
The first reading this Sunday tells us that our journey to transfiguration happens from within, by our hearts being changed. The prophet Jeremiah looks forward to a new covenant between God
and his people. This covenant will not be written in stone, but in human hearts. This new covenant cannot be broken since God always forgives and never remembers our sins. It is in our hearts that we learn the truth about the strength of God’s love
for us and recognise ourselves as God’s own people.
There is a lovely phrase in the preface of Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation I which captures this sense: You have bound the human family to yourself through Jesus your Son, our Redeemer, with a new bond of love so tight that it can never be undone.
The words of John’s Gospel help answer the question about how this covenant is made. God’s love is revealed in a weak and suffering human being through whom God offers his own life as the pledge of love and forgiveness which seals this new covenant.
When some Greeks come asking to see Jesus he knows his preaching is complete and that ‘the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified’.
Unless the grain of wheat dies, it remains all alone. If it dies it yields a ‘rich harvest’. Jesus’ death yields a rich harvest of followers with whom and in whom he is always present. We are not left to make the journey from temptation to transfiguration alone - Jesus is our constant companion. He is the way by which we get from one to the other.
Faith in (seeing) Jesus, draws us out of temptation and into transfiguration – to be the living presence of God in the world, the meeting places between human need and God’s compassion, to be light and life for one another.
If we, too, ‘want to see Jesus’ we must look into our own hearts. It is there that God writes his law of love in the person of his Son. It is there that we discover the presence of One who loves us beyond death and who gently refashions us into the image and likeness of his Son.
- pdf Celebrating At Home - Fifth Sunday of Lent [PDF] (247 KB)
- default Celebrating At Home - Fifth Sunday of Lent [ePub] (783 KB)
- pdf Celebrando en Familia - 5 Domingo Tiempo de Cuaresma (237 KB)
- pdf Celebrando in Casa - 5 Domenica di Quaresima (238 KB)
- pdf Celebrando em Familia - 5 Domingo da Quaresma [Português] (235 KB)
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Celebrating at Home is a Liturgy of the Word centred around the Gospel reading for each Sunday. It includes a reflection on the Gospel and prayers.
It can be used personally or with your family. Parts for all to pray are given in bold print and all the other parts can be shared among those present.
We hope that Celebrating at Home will be a source of nourishment and strength for all who use it.
In the room you decide to use for this prayer you could have a lighted candle, a crucifix and the Bible. These symbols help keep us mindful of the sacredness of our time of prayer and can help us feel connected with our local worshipping communities.
