General. We are trudging on in Lent, hopefully, in penance and repentance. Yet this does not mean that Lent is a time to think only of the Passion and Death of Jesus, ignoring his resurrection and ascension to the Father. All these events together constitute the celebration of the Eucharist which is a Divine Mystery and Liturgy in itself reminiscent of the central events of the Paschal Triduum towards which we are heading. By listening to God’s Word we will be purifying our soul to be able to encounter His Christ face to face in our individual resurrection event.

Genesis. The history of salvation proceeds with the story of Abraham who left his land at God’s behest. God then rewards him for his obedience. The Church presents this figure as the progenitor of the Jewish people from which Jesus, the saviour, came. Linking up with last Sunday’s theme, God’s reply to man’s disobedience and sin was Jesus.

Epistle to Timothy. St Paul’s exhortation to Timothy is based on love for the Good Tidings, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is certainly not by our deeds that we were called, but through God’s power and plan shown through the grace given to us through Christ Jesus. The coming of Jesus as our saviour is expressed in terms reminescent of the resurrection event towards which we are heading: Jesus has destroyed death through his own death and has won enlightened life and immortality for a fallen humanity.

St Matthew. Jesus is manifested to the chosen ones as the Son of God in whom He is well pleased. The manifestation to the disciples is a foreboding of Jesus’ manifestation on the cross and in his resurrection. Jesus links the Torah (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) and gives rise to a continuity between the Old and the New Testaments. His is a manifestation of glory to the Father Who has provided in love since the times of man’s fall into the sin of disobedience.

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