The Transfiguration of Jesus

A new way of fulfilling the prophecies

Luke 9:28-36

1. Opening prayer

Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us read the scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.

Create silence in us so that we may listen to Your voice in creation and in the scriptures, in events and in people, above all, in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed the Father to us and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.

2. Reading

a) A key to the reading:

A few days earlier, Jesus had said that He, the Son of Man, had to be tried and crucified by the authorities (Lk 9:22; Mk 8:31). According to the information in the gospels of Mark and Matthew, the disciples, especially Peter, did not understand what Jesus had said and were scandalized by the news (Mt 16:22; Mk 8:32). Jesus reacted strongly and turned to Peter calling him Satan (Mt 16:23; Mk 8:33). This was because Jesus’ words did not correspond with the ideal of the glorious Messiah whom they imagined. Luke does not mention Peter’s reaction and Jesus’ strong reply, but he does describe, as do the other Evangelists, the episode of the Transfiguration. Luke sees the Transfiguration as an aid to the disciples so that they may be able to get over the scandal and change their idea of the Messiah (Lk 9:28-36). Taking the three disciples with Him, Jesus goes up the mountain to pray, and while He is praying, is transfigured. As we read the text, it is good to note what follows: “Who appears with Jesus on the mountain to converse with Him? What is the theme of their conversation? What is the disciples’ attitude?”

b) A division of the text as an aid to the reading:

i) Luke 9:28: The moment of crisis

ii) Luke 9:29: The change that takes place during the prayer

iii) Luke 9:30-31: The appearance of the two men and their conversation with Jesus

iv) Luke 9:32-34: The disciples’ reaction

v) Luke 9:35-36: The Father’s voice

c) The text:

Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my chosen Son; listen to him." After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.

3. A moment of prayerful silence

so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.

4. Some questions

to help us in our personal reflection.

a) What did you like most in this episode of the Transfiguration? Why?

b) Who are those who go to the mountain with Jesus? Why do they go?

c) Moses and Elijah appear on the mountain next to Jesus. What is the significance of these two people from the Old Testament for Jesus, for the disciples, for the community in the 80s and for us today?

d) Which prophecy from the Old Testament is fulfilled in the words of the Father concerning Jesus?

e) What is the disciples’ attitude during this episode?

f) Has there been a transfiguration in your life? How have such experiences of transfiguration helped you to fulfill your mission better?

g) Compare Luke’s description of the Transfiguration of Jesus (Lk 9:28-36) with his description of the agony of Jesus in the Garden (Lk 22:39-46). Try to see whether there are any similarities. What is the significance of these similarities?

5. A key to the reading

for those who wish to go deeper into the theme.

a) The context of Jesus’ discourse:

In the two previous chapters of Luke’s Gospel, the innovation brought by Jesus highlights the tensions between the New and the Old Testaments. In the end, Jesus realized that no one had understood His meaning, much less His person. People thought that He was like John the Baptist, Elijah or some other prophet (Lk 9:18-19). The disciples accepted Him as the Messiah, but a glorious Messiah, according to the expectations issued by the government and the official religion of the temple (Lk 9:20-21). Jesus tried to explain to His disciples that the journey foreseen by the prophets was one of suffering because of its commitment to the excluded, and that a disciple could only be a disciple if he/she took up his/her cross (Lk 9:22-26). But Jesus did not meet with much success. It is in such a context of crisis that the Transfiguration takes place.

In the 30s, the experience of the Transfiguration had a very important significance in the life of Jesus and the disciples. It helped them overcome the crisis of faith and to change their ideals concerning the Messiah. In the 80s, when Luke was writing for the Christian communities in Greece, the meaning of the Transfiguration had already been deepened and broadened. In the light of Jesus’ resurrection and of the spread of the Good News among the pagans in almost every country, from Palestine to Italy, the experience of the Transfiguration began to be seen as a confirmation of the faith of the Christian communities in Jesus, Son of God. The two meanings are present in the description and interpretation of the Transfiguration in Luke’s Gospel.

b) A commentary on the text:

Luke 9:28: The moment of crisis.

On several occasions Jesus entered into conflict with the people and the religious and civil authorities of his time (Lk 4:28-29;5:21-20;6:2-11;7:30.39;8:37;9:9). He knew they would not allow Him to do the things He did. Sooner or later they would catch Him. Besides, in that society, the proclamation of the Kingdom, as Jesus did, was not to be tolerated. He either had to withdraw or face death! There were no other alternatives. Jesus did not withdraw. Hence the cross appears on the horizon, not just as a possibility but as a certainty (Lk 9:22). Together with the cross there also appears the temptation to go on with the idea of the Glorious Messiah and not of the Crucified, suffering servant, announced by the prophet Isaiah (Mk 8:32-33). At this difficult moment Jesus goes up the mountain to pray, taking with Him Peter, James and John. Through His prayer, Jesus seeks strength not to lose sense of direction in His mission (cf. Mk 1:35).

Luke 9:29: The change that takes place during the prayer.

As soon as Jesus starts praying, His appearance changes and He appears glorious. His face changes and His clothes become white and shining. It is the glory that the disciples imagined for the Messiah. This transformation told them clearly that Jesus was indeed the Messiah expected by all. But what follows the episode of the Transfiguration will point out that the way to glory is quite different from what they imagined. The Transfiguration will be a call to conversion.

Luke 9:30-31: Two men appear speaking with Jesus.

Together with Jesus and in the same glorious state there appear Moses and Elijah, the two major exponents of the Old Testament, representing the Law and the Prophets. They speak with Jesus about “the Exodus brought to fulfilment in Jerusalem”. Thus, in front of the disciples, the Law and the Prophets confirm that Jesus is truly the glorious Messiah, promised in the Old Testament and awaited by the whole people. They further confirm that the way to glory is through the painful way of the exodus. Jesus’ exodus is His passion, death and resurrection. Through His “exodus” Jesus breaks the dominion of the false idea concerning the Messiah spread by the government and by the official religion and that held all ensnared in the vision of a glorious, nationalistic messiah. The experience of the Transfiguration confirmed that Jesus as Messiah Servant constituted an aid to free them from their wrong ideas concerning the Messiah and to discover the real meaning of the Kingdom of God.

Luke 9:32-34: The disciples’ reaction.

The disciples were in deep sleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus in His glory and the two men with Him. But Peter’s reaction shows that they were not aware of the real meaning of the glory in which Jesus appeared to them. As often happens with us, they were only aware of what concerned them. The rest escapes their attention. “Master, it is good for us to be here!” And they do not want to get off the mountain any more! When it is question of the cross, whether on the Mount of the Transfiguration or on the Mount of Olives (Lk 22:45), they sleep! They prefer the glory to the cross! They do not like to speak or hear of the cross. They want to make sure of the moment of glory on the mountain, to extend it, and they offer to build three tents. Peter did not know what he was saying.

While Peter was speaking, a cloud descended from on high and covered them with its shadow. Luke says that the disciples became afraid when the cloud enfolded them. The cloud is the symbol of the presence of God. The cloud accompanied the multitude on their journey through the desert (Ex 40:34-38; Num 10:11-12). When Jesus ascended into heaven, He was covered by a cloud and they no longer saw Him (Acts 1:9). This was a sign that Jesus had entered forever into God’s world.

Luke 9:35-36: The Father’s voice.

A voice is heard from the cloud that says: “This is My Son, the Chosen, listen to Him”. With this same sentence the prophet Isaiah had proclaimed the Messiah-Servant (Isa 42:1). First Moses and Elijah, now God Himself presents Jesus as the Messiah-Servant who will come to glory through the cross. The voice ends with a final admonition: “Listen to Him!” As the heavenly voice speaks, Moses and Elijah disappear and only Jesus is left. This signifies that from now on only He will interpret the scriptures and the will of God. He is the Word of God for the disciples: “Listen to Him!”

The proclamation “This is My Son, the Chosen; listen to Him” was very important for the community of the late 80s. Through this assertion God the Father confirmed the faith of Christians in Jesus as Son of God. In Jesus’ time, that is, in the 30s, the expression Son of Man pointed to a very high dignity and mission. Jesus Himself gave a relative meaning to the term by saying that all were children of God (cf. John 10:33-35). But for some the title Son of God became a resume of all titles, over one hundred that the first Christians gave Jesus in the second half of the first century. In succeeding centuries, it was the title of Son of God that the Church concentrated all its faith in the person of Jesus.

c) A deepening:

i) The Transfiguration is told in three of the Gospels: Matthew (Mt 17:1-9), Mark (Mk 9:2-8) and Luke (Lk 9:28-36). This is a sign that this episode contained a very important message. As we said, it was a matter of great help to Jesus, to His disciples and to the first communities. It confirmed Jesus in His mission as Messiah-Servant. It helped the disciples to overcome the crisis that the cross and suffering caused them. It led the communities to deepen their faith in Jesus, Son of God, the One who revealed the Father and who became the new key to the interpretation of the Law and the Prophets. The Transfiguration continues to be of help in overcoming the crisis that the cross and suffering provoke today. The three sleeping disciples are a reflection of all of us. The voice of the Father is directed to us as it was to them: “This is My Son, the Chosen; listen to Him!”

ii) In Luke’s Gospel there is a great similarity between the scene of the Transfiguration (Lk 9:28-36) and the scene of the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives (Lk 22:39-46). We may note the following: in both scenes Jesus goes up the mountain to pray and takes with Him three disciples, Peter, James and John. On both occasions, Jesus’ appearance is transformed and He is transfigured before them; glorious at the Transfiguration, perspiring blood in the Garden of Olives. Both times heavenly figures appear to comfort Him, Moses and Elijah and an angel from heaven. Both in the Transfiguration and in the Agony, the disciples sleep, they seem to be outside the event and they seem not to understand anything. At the end of both episodes, Jesus is reunited with His disciples. Doubtless, Luke intended to emphasize the resemblance between these two episodes. What would that be? Perhaps it is to show that understanding takes time and effort, even for the Apostles, so we should persevere and not be asleep, especially at those crucial moments in our lives when He is revealing Himself to us personally. It is in meditating and praying that we shall come to understand the meaning that goes beyond words, and to perceive the intention of the author. The Holy Spirit will guide us.

iii) Luke describes the Transfiguration. There are times in our life when suffering is such that we might think: “God has abandoned me! He is no longer with me!” And then suddenly we realize that He has never deserted us, but that we had our eyes bandaged and were not aware of the presence of God. Then everything is changed and transfigured. It is the transfiguration! This happens every day in our lives.

6. Psalm 42 (41)

“My soul thirsts for the living God!”

As a dear longs for flowing streams,

so longs my soul for Thee, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and behold the face of God?



My tears have been my food day and night,

while men say to me continually, "Where is your God?"

These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:

how I went with the throng,

and led them in procession to the house of God,

with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,

a multitude keeping festival.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him,

my help and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I remember Thee from the land of Jordan

and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep at the roar of Your torrents;

all Thy waves and breakers have gone over me.



By day the Lord commands His steadfast love;

and at night His song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God, my rock:

"Why hast Thou forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?"

As with a deadly wound in my body,

my adversaries taunt me,

while they say to me continually,

"Where is your God?"



Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him,

my help and my God.

7. Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice what Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

The temptations of Jesus.

Victory by means of prayer and the Bible

Luke 4:1-13

1. LECTIO

a) Initial Prayer

Oh Lord, at the beginning of this Lenten time You invite me to meditate, once more, on the account of the temptations, so that I may discover the heart of the spiritual struggle and, above all, so that I may experience victory over evil.

Holy Spirit, “visit our minds” because frequently, many thoughts proliferate in our mind which make us feel that we are in the power of the uproar of many voices. The fire of love also purifies our senses and our heart so that they may be docile and available to the voice of Your Word. Enlighten us (accende lumen sensibus, infunde amorem cordibus) so that our senses may be ready to dialogue with You. If the fire of Your love blazes up in our heart, over and above our aridity, it can flood the true life, which is fullness of joy.

b) Reading of the Gospel:

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, One does not live on bread alone." Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. The devil said to him, "I shall give to you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours, if you worship me." Jesus said to him in reply, "It is written: You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve." Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you, and: With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone." Jesus said to him in reply, "It also says, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test." When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

c) Moment of prayerful silence:

To listen, silence is necessary: of the soul, of the spirit, of the senses, and also exterior silence, with the purpose of listening to what the Word of God intends to communicate.

2. MEDITATIO

a) Key for the reading:

Luke, with the refinement of a narrator, mentions in 4:1-44 some aspects of the ministry of Jesus after His baptism, among them the temptations of the devil. In fact, he says that Jesus, “Filled with the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, for forty days” (Lk 4:1-2). Such an episode in the life of Jesus is something preliminary to His ministry, but it can also be understood as the moment of transition from the ministry of John the Baptist to that of Jesus. In Mark such an account of the temptations is more generic. In Matthew, it is said that Jesus “was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” (Mt 4:1), these last words attribute the experience of the temptations to an influence which is at the same time heavenly and diabolical. The Lukan account modifies Matthew’s text in such a way as to show that Jesus, “filled with the Holy Spirit”, leaves the Jordan on His own initiative and is led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where “He is tempted by the devil” (4:2). The meaning which Luke wants to give to the temptations of Jesus is that those were an initiative of the devil and not a programmed experience of the Holy Spirit (S. Brown). It is as if Luke wanted to keep clearly distinct the person of the devil from the person of the Holy Spirit.

Another element to be kept in mind is the order in which Luke places the temptations: desert – sight of the kingdoms of the world – pinnacle of Jerusalem. In Matthew, instead, the order varies: desert – pinnacle – high mountain. Exegetes discuss  which is the original disposition, but they have not arrived at a unanimous opinion. The difference could be explained beginning with the third temptation (the culminating one): for Matthew the “mountain” is the summit of the temptation because in his Gospel he places all his interest on the theme of the mountain (we just have to remember the Sermon on the Mount, the presentation of Jesus as “the new Moses”); for Luke, instead, the last temptation takes place on the pinnacle of the temple of Jerusalem because one of the great interests of his Gospel is the city of Jerusalem (Jesus in Luke’s account is on the way toward Jerusalem where salvation is definitively fulfilled) (Fitzmyer).

The reader can legitimately ask himself, “In Luke, just as in Matthew, were there possible witnesses to the temptations of Jesus?” The answer is certainly negative. From the account of Luke it appears clearly that Jesus and the devil are completely alone. Jesus’ answers to the devil are taken from Sacred Scripture; they are quotations from the Old Testament. Jesus faces the temptations, and particularly that of the worship which the devil intends from Jesus Himself, having recourse to the Word of God as bread of life, as protection from God. The recourse to the Word of God contained in the book of Deuteronomy, considered by exegetes as a long meditation on the law, shows Luke’s intention to recall this episode in the life of Jesus with  God’s plan,  who wishes to save the human race.

Did these temptations take place historically? Why do some, among believers and non-believers, hold that such temptations are only some fantasy about Jesus, some invention of a story? Such questions are extremely important. Certainly, it is not possible to give a literal and unsophisticated explanation, or perhaps to think that these could have happened in an external way. Dupont’s explanation seems to offer an alternative: “Jesus speaks about an experience which He has lived, but translated into a figurative language, adapted to strike the minds of His listeners” (Les Tentations de Jesus au Desert, 128). More than considering them as an external fact, the temptations are considered as a concrete experience in the life of Jesus. It seems to me that this is the principal reason which has guided Luke and the other evangelists in transmitting those scenes. The opinions of those who hold that the temptations of Jesus are fictitious or invented are deprived of foundation, neither is it possible to share the opinion of Dupont himself, when he says that these were “a purely spiritual dialogue that Jesus had with the devil” (Dupont, 125). Looking within the New Testament (Jn 6:26-34; 7:1-4; Heb 4:15;5,2;2,17a) it is clear that the temptations were an evident truth in the life of Jesus. The explanation of Raymond Brown is interesting and can be shared: “Matthew and Luke would have done no injustice to historical reality by dramatizing such temptations within a scene, and by masking the true tempter by placing this provocation on his lips” (the Gospel According to John, 308). In synthesis we could say that the historicity of the temptations of Jesus or the taking root of these in the experience of Jesus might be described with a “figurative language” (Dupont) or “dramatized” (Raymond Brown). One must distinguish the content (the temptations in the experience of Jesus) from its container (the figurative or dramatized language). It is possible that these two interpretations are much more correct than those which interpret them in a purely literal sense.

An additional key to the reading:

However, these intellectual interpretations, that this episode in Jesus’ life as transmitted to us through the gospel, are “dramatizations” or speaking figuratively, also fall short and can be misleading. In the book “On Heaven and Earth,” Pope Francis, the then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, said, “I believe that the devil exists” and “his greatest achievement in these times has been to make us believe he doesn’t exist.” As for the existence of the devil, theologian Monsignor Corrado Balducci points out that "Satan is mentioned about 300 times in the New Testament, much more than the Holy Spirit.”

In a week we will celebrate Jesus' Transfiguration on the mountain. This is not an abstract dramatization, but rather that Moses and Elijah appeared and the three disciples actually heard the voice of God, yet to accept that the Son of God might actually and verbally turn away Satan, we find it incredulous. In Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete Et Exsultate, we read: "Hence, we should not think of the devil as a myth, a representation, a symbol, a figure of speech or an idea" (161).

Without witnesses to the event, Dupont and Brown resort to examining the event in terms of modern empirical standards. Yet, turning to Gaudete Et Exsultate again, we read "We will not admit the existence of the devil if we insist on regarding life by empirical standards alone, without a supernatural understanding. It is precisely the conviction that this malign power is present in our midst that enables us to understand how evil can at times have so much destructive force." (160) This represents the old Gnostic desire to shape events according to what the human intellect can easily and completely grasp, and to replace divine mystery with something more easily understood or identified with. While the three temptations do have symbolic meaning, it should not detract from its realism as well. "Evil is not only an abstract idea or the absence of good. Evil is a person, Satan: the Evil One. Satan is the angel who opposes God and who desires to disrupt the power of God in our lives." - Bishop James Conley, Southern Nebraska Register.

Jesus himself identifies Satan as someone He has seen: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Lk 10:18). “The prince of this world is coming,” he says, “against me he can do nothing” (Jn 14:30), as well as in Jn 16:11 and Jn 12:31. By claiming that the evangelist must be "dramatizing" these events, or merely using figurative descriptions, Dupont and Brown enter into a form of rationalism that denies how Jesus spoke at other times. From a literary style point of view, we would not expect every event to be transmitted as a quotation, nor would we expect Him to return to the disciples saying "guess what happened to me in the desert..." In that age, with its cultural and religious obsession with sin and Satan, this direct exchange would have been treated respectfully as it was passed down. We cannot directly infer it to be figurative merely because it isn't a direct quotation or is without human witnesses.

The temptations do share a common theme though, one of division. To separate Jesus from the Father, from His disciples, and from His mission should He accept his (Satan's) proposals. In his address to new bishops in missionary territories in 2016, Pope Francis advised: "Divisions are the weapon that the devil has most at hand to destroy the Church from within.” These divisions are at play today once we move our understanding of gospel events from faith to rationalism or pragmatism.

Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, the Pontifical Household preacher, puts it well in his 1st Lenten homily in 2008: If many people find belief in demons absurd, it is because they take their beliefs from books, they pass their lives in libraries and at desks... How could a person know anything about Satan if he has never encountered the reality of Satan, but only the idea of Satan in cultural, religious and ethnological traditions? They treat this question with great certainty and a feeling of superiority, doing away with it all as so much "medieval obscurantism." But it is a false certainty.

It is like someone who brags about not being afraid of lions and proves this by pointing out that he has seen many paintings and pictures of lions and was never frightened by them. On the other hand, it is entirely normal and consistent for those who do not believe in God to not believe in the devil. The episode of Jesus’ temptations in the desert that is read on the First Sunday of Lent helps us to have some clarity on this subject.

First of all, do demons exist? That is, does the word “demon” truly indicate some personal being with intelligence and will, or is it simply a symbol, a manner of speaking that refers to the sum of the world’s moral evil, the collective unconscious, collective alienation, etc.? Many intellectuals do not believe in demons in the first sense. But it must be noted that many great writers, such as Goethe and Dostoyevsky, took Satan’s existence very seriously. Baudelaire, who was certainly no angel, said that “the demon’s greatest trick is to make people believe that he does not exist.” - Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic .

St Teresa, who battled Satan, and St John of the Cross, firmly believed in Satan as a being, as did Pope Paul VI: "one of the greatest needs is the defense from that evil which is called the Devil. Evil is not merely a lack of something but an effective agent, a living spiritual being, perverted and perverting. A terrible reality, mysterious and frightening..."

Thus, we don't have to abandon a literal or historical view of these events merely because it defies our modernist senses. Moreover, it would be overly presumptive to redefine Luke's narrative, of an interaction between the Son of God and the Prince of Evil, as something that must have occurred on merely human terms or in the imagination.

To continue:

Luke intends to remind us in these scenes that the temptations were addressed to Jesus by an external agent. They are not the result of a psychological crisis or because He finds Himself in a personal conflict with someone. The temptations, rather, lead back to the “temptations” which Jesus experienced in His ministry: hostility, opposition, rejection. Such “temptations” were real and concrete in His life. He had no recourse to His divine power to solve them. These trials were a form of “diabolical seducing” (Fitzmyer), a provocation to use His divine power to change the stones into bread and to manifest Himself in eccentric ways.

The temptations end with this expression: “Having exhausted every way of putting Him to the test, the devil left Jesus (4:13). Therefore, the three scenes which contain the temptations are to be considered as the expression of all temptations or trials which Jesus had to face. But the fundamental point is that Jesus, insofar as He is the Son, faced and overcame the “temptation”. Furthermore,  He was tested and tried in His fidelity to the Father and was found to be faithful.

A last consideration regarding the third temptation. In the first two temptations the devil provoked Jesus to use His divine Sonship to deny His human finiteness, to avoid providing for Himself bread like all men, requiring from Him an illusory omnipotence. In both of these, Jesus does not respond, saying, “I do not want to!”, but appeals to the law of God, His Father: “It is written… it has been said…” A wonderful lesson. But the devil does not give in and presents a third provocation, the strongest of all: to save Himself from death. In one word, to throw Himself down from the pinnacle meant a sure death. The devil quotes scripture, Psalm 91, to invite Jesus to the magic and spectacular use of divine protection, and in the last instance, to the denial of death. This passage in the Gospel of Luke launches a strong warning: the erroneous use of the Word of God can be the occasion of temptations. How is that? My way of relating myself to the Bible is placed in crisis especially when I use it only to give moral teachings to others who are in difficulty or in a state of crisis. We refer to certain pseudo-spiritual discourses which are addressed to those who are in difficulty: “Are you anguished? There is nothing else you can do but pray and everything will be solved”. This means to ignore the consistency of the anguish which a person has and which frequently stems from a biochemical fact or a psycho-social difficulty, or a mistaken way of placing oneself before God. It would be more coherent to say: Pray and ask the Lord to guide you in having recourse to the human mediation of the doctor or of a wise and knowledgeable friend so that they can help you in lessening or curing you of your anguish. One cannot propose biblical phrases, in a magic way, to others, neglecting to use the human mediation. “The frequent temptation is that of making a bible of one’s own moral, instead of listening to the moral teachings of the Bible.” (X. Thévenot).

An additional key to the reading:

However, both sides of this argument tend to be too simplistic, and just as it would be mistaken to advise a hungry person to just pray for a meal to appear, it is just as erroneous to reduce St John of the Cross' Dark Night to a mere psycho-social difficulty, as well as St Terese's visions, or St Paul of the Cross or St Teresa of Calcutta's difficulties. We are then left with the task of discerning between these two recourses. St Ignatius of Loyola, who himself experienced suffering on both physical and spiritual levels, offers much guidance on discernment in these matters. A spiritual director can also help. Satan uses division to separate us from God, and Gnosticism, pragmatism, rationalism, and empiricism all have elements that drive us to decide "this I can do" and "this other maybe God could help", letting us decide, in a typically ever growing circle, that we can do without God, and relegating Him out of our lives.

The contemporary world expects God to come like earthquakes and thunder, rolling in to fix things. If that were so, there would be no opportunity for faith and no free will. God speaks as in a small whispering sound (1 Kings 19:11-12), and when we don't hear it, we think He hasn't answered. Even more relevant would be to pray for guidance on where help or consolation is to be found, whether it be spiritual or physical, including recourse to the sacraments, Eucharistic Adoration, or the Rosary as well as finding a friend. Every hardship can be an opportunity to increase one's faith, even if it means doing some of the work oneself. "Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you" (Mt 17:20).

In this time of Lent I am invited to get close to the Word of God with the following attitude: a tireless and prayerful devotion to the Word of God, reading it with a constant bond of union with the great traditions of the Church, and in dialogue with the problems of humanity today.

3. ORATIO

a) Psalm 119:

How blessed are those whose way is blameless,

who walk in the law of Yahweh!

Blessed are those who observe His instructions,

who seek Him with all their hearts,

Let us renew ourselves in the Spirit

And put on the new man

Jesus Christ, our Lord,

in justice and in true sanctity. (St. Paul).

and, doing no evil,

who walk in His ways.

You lay down Your precepts

to be carefully kept.

Let us follow Jesus Christ

and serve Him

with a pure heart and good conscience. (Rule of Carmel)

May my ways be steady

in doing Your will.

Then I shall not be shamed,

if my gaze is fixed on Your commandments.

Let us follow Jesus Christ

and serve Him

with a pure heart and good conscience. (Rule of Carmel)

I thank You with a sincere heart

for teaching me Your upright judgments.

I shall do Your will;

do not ever abandon me wholly.

Let us renew ourselves in the Spirit

And put on the new man

Christ Jesus, our Lord,

created according to God the Father

in justice and in true sanctity. Amen (St. Paul).

b) Final Prayer:

Lord, we look for You and we desire to see Your face, grant us that one day, removing the veil, we may be able to contemplate it.

We seek You in Scripture which speaks to us of You and under the veil of wisdom, the fruit of human searching.

We look for You in the radiant faces of our brothers and sisters, in the marks of Your Passion in the bodies of the suffering.

Every creature is signed by Your mark, every thing reveals a ray of Your invisible beauty.

You are revealed in the service of the brother, You revealed Yourself to the brother by the faithful love which never diminishes.

Not the eyes but the heart has a vision of You, with simplicity and truth we try to speak with You.

4.  CONTEMPLATIO

To prolong our meditation we suggest a reflection of Benedict XVI:

“Lent is the privileged time of an interior pilgrimage toward the One who is the source of mercy. It is a pilgrimage in which He Himself accompanies us through the desert of our poverty, supporting us on the way toward the intense joy of Easter. Even in the “dark valley” of which the Psalmist speaks (Psalm 23:4), while the tempter suggests that we be dispersed or proposes an illusory hope in the work of our hands, God takes care of us and supports us. […] Lent wants to lead us in view of the victory of Christ over every evil which oppresses man. In turning to the Divine Master, in converting ourselves to Him, in experiencing His mercy, we discover a “look” which penetrates in the depth of ourselves and which can encourage each one of us.”

The Elective Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery of Antequera, Spain, was held 29 October 2009. The following were elected:

• Prioress: Sr. Liliana M. Campos Rosa, O. Carm.
• 1st Councilor: Sr. Juliana Kavithe Mwololo, O. Carm.
• 2nd Councilor: Sr. Teresa Ngusye Mbuvi, O. Carm.
• Treasurer: Sr. Angelina Ngina Muli, O. Carm.
• Sacristan:  Sr. Juliana Kavithe Mwololo, O. Carm.

The Institutum Carmelitanum and the community of St. Albert’s International Centre (CISA) are holding a series of evening lectures under the title, “Carmelites and the Second Vatican Council”, at CISA each month until this coming May. The idea is to let people know about the importance of the Vatican Council for the life and work of the Order.

The first lecture, on the 13th of December, was given by Fr. Claudemir Rozin, O.Carm.  (Par) on the theme, “A Church of Communion. The Ecclesiology of the Carmelite Rule in the Light of Vatican II”. The second was given on the 10th of January by the Prior of CISA, Míceál O’Neill, O.Carm., on the theme, “The Church in the World. The Commitment of Carmelites to Justice and Peace”. In the coming months further lectures will be given by Carmelites on the universal call to holiness, on the members of the Order who took part in the Council and on the liturgy. As part of the programme a book will be launched on the life and witness, and contribution to the Vatican Council of the Carmelite bishop, Donal Lamont (1911-2003).

On the 28th of December, 2012, on the occasion of the celebration of the unification of the two German provinces, in Bamberg, Germany, the Prior General, Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral, O.Carm. received the first copy of the Monasticon Carmelitanum, edited by Edeltraud Kleuting, Third Order Carmelite (Ger), Stephan Panzer, O.Carm., (Ger) and Andreas H. Scholten, O.Carm., (Ger). The work contains 80 articles by 51 authors. It is the first scientific account of the houses and monasteries in Germany and it is offered as a reference work, in which the story of each house and monastery is given in systematic fashion: history, building, significance, sources (archives, literature, documentation) etc. regarding every location where the Carmelites lived. It deals with all the houses of the Carmelite Order in Germany from the beginning right up to the present day. The work is intended for the wider public, but also for researchers as a tool and guide for future investigation. It is divided into three main sections: I. the history of the Provinces of Upper and Lower Germany, II. the houses before the napoleonic secularisation 1802/1803 c.e., (60 articles),  III. the new foundations from the 19th century onwards.

The Monasticon Carmelitanum of Germany follows Monasticon Carmelitanum of the Netherlands (Citoc-online 56/2011) as the second volume in a series of Monastica Carmelitana, and with encouragement from the Institutum Carmelitanum in Rome.

by Leopold Glueckert, O. Carm.

The 800 year old history of the Carmelite Order written by one of the Order's great storytellers. After many years of study, Fr. Leopold Glueckert has lectured on Carmelite history in various parts of the world and now has recorded that history in a rich and enjoyable storytelling format. The book was serialized in The Sword and is now available for purchase in paperback form.

If purchasing books, enter the Carmelite Media webstore and follow the directions for "International Orders" if ordering from outside the USA.
The book is currently being translated into Spanish.


Order from www.carmelites.info/publications
 
$24.95 + postage
211 pages

More than forty thousand young people from across Europe arrived in Rome for an experience of prayer and communion organized by the Taizé community (France) from the 28th December to the 2nd January. Our Carmelite brethren from S. Maria in Traspontina, SS. Martino and Silvestro ai Monti and S. Maria Regina Mundi were fully involved in this gathering. About four hundred young people were received into the family homes of these Carmelite parishes. Together with this hospitality, the young people and the Carmelite families participated in the organization of various moments of prayer and sharing in each of these churches as part of the event's programme. On the 1st January there was a meeting in our parish of S. Maria Regina Mundi at Torrespaccata of all the young Carmelite Italians who had participated in the event.

Recently, on the 28th of December, at a solemn event in the Carmelite house in Bamberg, Germany, the unification of the Provinces of Upper Germany and Lower Germany to form the one Province of Germany took place. The ceremony began with an historical overview by Dr. Edeltraud Klueting, Third Order Carmelite, of the presence of Carmelites in Germany  for more than 750 years. The Prior General, Fr. Fernando Millan Romeral, O.Carm. then spoke. He pointed to the unification as a sign of vitality towards a better service of the people of God. Far from being a defeat this unification comes as a challenge to sow the seeds in Germany of the Carmel of the future. The decree of unification was read and then the two outgoing provincials in a symbolic gesture handed over the seals of their former provinces to the Prior General who gave the seal of the new Province of Germany to the Prior Provincial, Fr. Dieter Lankes, O.Carm.

The Archbishop of Bamberg, Ludwig Schick, the President of the German Conference of Religious, the Representative of the Minister for Culture of Bavaria, all addressed the gathering, offering their good wishes. The Prior Provincial of the Province of the Netherlands, Fr.  Ben Wolbers, O.Carm. gave a gift of the artistic representation of the Carmelite Rule by the Dutch artist, Arie Trum, written in German. At that point there was a presentation of the Monasticon Carmelitanum, which describes each of the houses of the Carmelites in Germany since the Order first began there. The new website of the united province (www.karmeliten.de) was then presented.

In the afternoon, the Prior General led the solemn celebration of the Mass of Thanksgiving. The concelebrants included, the Vice Prior General, Fr. Christian Kőrner, O.Carm., the Councilor General for Europe, Fr. John Keating, O.Carm., the two German provincials, Fr. Wilfried Wanjek, O.Carm., and Fr. Dieter Lankes, O.Carm. along with numerous German Carmelites and representatives of the Provinces of Britain, St. Thomas in India, the General Commissariat of Paraná, the communities of the Cameroon, all of these last three in different ways linked closely to the Province of Germany. In his homily, the Prior General spoke about Bl. Titus Brandsma, the Patron of the new province, as an important figure of reconciliation, unity and hope, and a shining example for the united province.

Lectio Divina January 2013

General prayer intention: "That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their dfdfdfdfdfdof the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him".general prayer intention for January 2013 is: "That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him".

Mission intention: "That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance".
His mission intention is: "That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance".

• Tuesday, January 1, 2013  
  Lectio: Solemnity of the Mother of God
• Wednesday, January 2, 2013  
  Lectio: John 1,19-28
• Thursday, January 3, 2013  
  Lectio: John 1,29-34
• Friday, January 4, 2013  
  Lectio: John 1, 35-42
• Saturday, January 5, 2013  
  Lectio: John 1,43-51
• Sunday, January 6, 2013  
  Lectio: Epiphany of the Lord
• Monday, January 7, 2013  
  Lectio: Matthew 4,12-17.23-25
• Tuesday, January 8, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 6,34-44
• Wednesday, January 9, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 6,45-52
• Thursday, January 10, 2013  
  Lectio: Luke 4,14-22a
• Friday, January 11, 2013  
  Lectio: Luke 5,12-16
• Saturday, January 12, 2013  
  Lectio: John 3,22-30
• Sunday, January 13, 2013  
  Lectio: The Baptism of the Lord (C)
• Monday, January 14, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 1,14-20
• Tuesday, January 15, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 1,21b-28
• Wednesday, January 16, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 1,29-39
• Thursday, January 17, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 1,40-45
• Friday, January 18, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 2,1-12
• Saturday, January 19, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 2,13-17
• Sunday, January 20, 2013  
  Lectio: 2nd Sunday of Ordinary time (C)
• Monday, January 21, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 2,18-22
• Tuesday, January 22, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 2,23-28
• Wednesday, January 23, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 3,1-6
• Thursday, January 24, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 3,7-12
• Friday, January 25, 2013  
  Lectio: Conversion of Saint Paul
• Saturday, January 26, 2013  
  Lectio: Luke 10,1-9
• Sunday, January 27, 2013  
  Lectio: 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)
• Monday, January 28, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 3,22-30
• Tuesday, January 29, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 3,31-35
• Wednesday, January 30, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 4,1-20
• Thursday, January 31, 2013  
  Lectio: Mark 4,21-25