2025-03-16 Second Sunday of Lent

Reading IGenesis 15:5-12, 17-18The Lord God took Abram outside and said,“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”Abram put his faith in the LORD,who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.He then said to him,“I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeansto give you this land as a possession.”“O Lord GOD,” he asked,“how am I to know that I shall possess it?”He answered him,“Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat,a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”Abram brought him all these, split them in two,and placed each half opposite the other;but the birds he did not cut up.Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses,but Abram stayed with them.As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram,and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.When the sun had set and it was dark,there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,which passed between those pieces.It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram,saying: “To your descendants I give this land,from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates.”Responsorial PsalmPsalm 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14.R. (1a)  The Lord is my light and my salvation.The LORD is my light and my salvation;   whom should I fear?The LORD is my life’s refuge;   of whom should I be afraid?R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.Hear, O LORD, the sound of my call;   have pity on me, and answer me.Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.Your presence, O LORD, I seek.   Hide not your face from me;do not in anger repel your servant.   You are my helper: cast me not off.R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD   in the land of the living.Wait for the LORD with courage;   be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.Reading IIPhilippians 3:20—4:1Brothers and sisters:Our citizenship is in heaven,and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.He will change our lowly bodyto conform with his glorified bodyby the power that enables him alsoto bring all things into subjection to himself.Therefore, my brothers and sisters,whom I love and long for, my joy and crown,in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved.Verse Before the GospelMatthew 17:5From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:This is my beloved Son, hear him.GospelLuke 9:28b-36Jesus took Peter, John, and Jamesand went up the mountain to pray.While he was praying his face changed in appearanceand his clothing became dazzling white.And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodusthat 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 timetell anyone what they had seen.