FEBRUARY 24-25, 2018
4:30 PM, 7:00 AM, 9:00 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES
Test Anxiety is a physiological condition in which people experience extreme stress and discomfort before or during the taking of a test. It has been argued that it has a direct correlation to reduced academic performance; as well as a student’s development and feelings about themselves and education in general. It has only been formally studied since the early 1950s, and research suggests that between 25 and 40 percent of students experience some form of test anxiety.
Today is the Second Sunday of Lent.
Last week we heard about the temptation of Our Lord in the desert.
This week, we hear about the test of Abraham – what is known as the akedah or the binding of Isaac.
I think it is important that we are clear in regards to what is a temptation; and what is a test.
The Catechism tells us that “[t]emptation is an attraction, either from outside oneself or from within, to act contrary to right reason and the commandments of God. “
Whereas a test is “a procedure to establish a person's proficiency or knowledge” in order to “[reveal] [one's] strength or quality”.
In other words, a temptation has a malicious aim – to turn us away from God; while a test can demonstrate where we are in regards to our relationship with God – not only providing a measure of who we are, but encouraging us to grow in some way or another.
And so, in the first reading, following the testing of Abraham, God tells him,
“I know now how devoted you are to [Me.]”St. Paul, in the letter to the Romans asks the rhetorical question,
“If God is for us, who can be against us?”With this in mind, every devout Christian should have confidence that through God’s grace acting in our lives, we can be assured that no test … no temptation can separate us from God in Christ.
In the Gospel, we hear the account of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, on Mount Tabor in the presence of Ss. Peter, James, and John.
Yet this pericope is part of a larger section of Mark’s Gospel.
In the wider view, towards the end of Mark, chapter 8 … Jesus asks his disciples a question:
“Who do people say that I am?”He receives a variety of answers, yet Peter gives the right answer:
“You are the Messiah.”
Peter gets an “A+” for a correct answer.
But then, Jesus begins to reveal how His earthly mission will end, telling them:
“the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days.”And then, bold as ever, Peter tries to correct Jesus on this. Peter is, in turn, rebuked by Our Lord for applying human reasoning to Divine plans.
Peter gets an “F-“ for an incorrect answer.
Then Jesus explains the cost of discipleship:
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me”.Which opens into chapter 9, and today’s Gospel.
In the revelation of the glory of Christ shown in the Transfiguration, the disciples are “terrified” and Peter gets all confused … and wants to start a construction project so they can hang around for a while at the top of the mountain.
St. Mark makes it clear that Peter and the disciples “hardly knew what to say”.
Yet more than a disorienting test, some authors see in the Transfiguration a liturgical foreshadowing. On Mount Tabor, we have the entirety of the Old Testament – the Law and the Prophets – embodied in the persons of Moses and Elijah. We have the Gospel in the Word of God made flesh – embodied in the Person of Jesus Christ – in all His Glory … revealed to three of His disciples.
Today, we have heard from the Old and New Testaments … Christ will come into our midst – Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity – and we will dare to receive him.
Will this be for us an opportunity to allow the infinite, sanctifying, and transforming grace of Almighty God present in the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist to change us? Or will we be stumped? And hardly know what to do?
As we approach this altar to receive Him – Jesus Christ – in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar – Holy Communion … let us pray that we may indeed be transformed … and transfigured … from who we are; into the person that God is calling us to become. May we, who through sin fall short of the surpassing Glory of Christ, be raised through “eager expectation” of God’s manifold graces to the “glory to be revealed for us” as the “children of God.” (cf. Rom 8:18,19 RNAB)
