Word Wide Open: Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion (A) - 4/2/23

Passion Reading (Matthew 26:14-27:66)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,

went to the chief priests and said,

"What are you willing to give me

if I hand him over to you?"

They paid him thirty pieces of silver,

and from that time on he looked for an opportunity

to hand him over.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,

the disciples approached Jesus and said,

"Where do you want us to prepare

for you to eat the Passover?"

He said,

"Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,

'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near;

in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."'"

The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,

and prepared the Passover.

When it was evening,

he reclined at table with the Twelve.

And while they were eating, he said,

"Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me."

Deeply distressed at this,

they began to say to him one after another,

"Surely it is not I, Lord?"

He said in reply,

"He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me

is the one who will betray me.

The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,

but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.

It would be better for that man if he had never been born."

Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,

"Surely it is not I, Rabbi?"

He answered, "You have said so."

While they were eating,

Jesus took bread, said the blessing,

broke it, and giving it to his disciples said,

"Take and eat; this is my body."

Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,

"Drink from it, all of you,

for this is my blood of the covenant,

which will be shed on behalf of many

for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine

until the day when I drink it with you new

in the kingdom of my Father."

Then, after singing a hymn,

they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Then Jesus said to them,

"This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken,

for it is written:

I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed;

but after I have been raised up,

I shall go before you to Galilee."

Peter said to him in reply,

"Though all may have their faith in you shaken,

mine will never be."

Jesus said to him,

"Amen, I say to you,

this very night before the cock crows,

you will deny me three times."

Peter said to him,

"Even though I should have to die with you,

I will not deny you."

And all the disciples spoke likewise.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? In what ways do we betray Jesus? How is His passion establishing a new covenant?

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane,

and he said to his disciples,

"Sit here while I go over there and pray."

He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,

and began to feel sorrow and distress.

Then he said to them,

"My soul is sorrowful even to death.

Remain here and keep watch with me."

He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying,

"My Father, if it is possible,

let this cup pass from me;

yet, not as I will, but as you will."

When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep.

He said to Peter,

"So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?

Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again,

"My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass

without my drinking it, your will be done!"

Then he returned once more and found them asleep,

for they could not keep their eyes open.

He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time,

saying the same thing again.

Then he returned to his disciples and said to them,

"Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?

Behold, the hour is at hand

when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.

Get up, let us go.

Look, my betrayer is at hand."

While he was still speaking,

Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived,

accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs,

who had come from the chief priests and the elders

of the people.

His betrayer had arranged a sign with them, saying,

"The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him."

Immediately he went over to Jesus and said,

"Hail, Rabbi!" and he kissed him.

Jesus answered him,

"Friend, do what you have come for."

Then stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.

And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus

put his hand to his sword, drew it,

and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him,

"Put your sword back into its sheath,

for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father

and he will not provide me at this moment

with more than twelve legions of angels?

But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled

which say that it must come to pass in this way?"

At that hour Jesus said to the crowds,

"Have you come out as against a robber,

with swords and clubs to seize me?

Day after day I sat teaching in the temple area,

yet you did not arrest me.

But all this has come to pass

that the writings of the prophets may be fulfilled."

Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Those who had arrested Jesus led him away

to Caiaphas the high priest,

where the scribes and the elders were assembled.

Peter was following him at a distance

as far as the high priest's courtyard,

and going inside he sat down with the servants

to see the outcome.

The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin

kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus

in order to put him to death,

but they found none,

though many false witnesses came forward.

Finally two came forward who stated,

"This man said, 'I can destroy the temple of God

and within three days rebuild it.'"

The high priest rose and addressed him,

"Have you no answer?

What are these men testifying against you?"

But Jesus was silent.

Then the high priest said to him,

"I order you to tell us under oath before the living God

whether you are the Christ, the Son of God."

Jesus said to him in reply,

"You have said so.

But I tell you:

From now on you will see 'the Son of Man

seated at the right hand of the Power'

and 'coming on the clouds of heaven.'"

Then the high priest tore his robes and said,

"He has blasphemed!

What further need have we of witnesses?

You have now heard the blasphemy;

what is your opinion?"

They said in reply,

"He deserves to die!"

Then they spat in his face and struck him,

while some slapped him, saying,

"Prophesy for us, Christ: who is it that struck you?"

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard.

One of the maids came over to him and said,

"You too were with Jesus the Galilean."

But he denied it in front of everyone, saying,

"I do not know what you are talking about!"

As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him

and said to those who were there,

"This man was with Jesus the Nazorean."

Again he denied it with an oath,

"I do not know the man!"

A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter,

"Surely you too are one of them;

even your speech gives you away."

At that he began to curse and to swear,

"I do not know the man."

And immediately a cock crowed.

Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken:

"Before the cock crows you will deny me three times."

He went out and began to weep bitterly.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? Why does God always answer our prayers? Why are people so often to speak about Christ in our world today?

When it was morning,

all the chief priests and the elders of the people

took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.

They bound him, led him away,

and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned,

deeply regretted what he had done.

He returned the thirty pieces of silver

to the chief priests and elders, saying,

"I have sinned in betraying innocent blood."

They said,

"What is that to us?

Look to it yourself."

Flinging the money into the temple,

he departed and went off and hanged himself.

The chief priests gathered up the money, but said,

"It is not lawful to deposit this in the temple treasury,

for it is the price of blood."

After consultation, they used it to buy the potter's field

as a burial place for foreigners.

That is why that field even today is called the Field of Blood.

Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah

the prophet,

And they took the thirty pieces of silver,

the value of a man with a price on his head,

a price set by some of the Israelites,

and they paid it out for the potter's field

just as the Lord had commanded me.

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him,

"Are you the king of the Jews?"

Jesus said, "You say so."

And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders,

he made no answer.

Then Pilate said to him,

"Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?"

But he did not answer him one word,

so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now on the occasion of the feast

the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd

one prisoner whom they wished.

And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them,

"Which one do you want me to release to you,

Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?"

For he knew that it was out of envy

that they had handed him over.

While he was still seated on the bench,

his wife sent him a message,

"Have nothing to do with that righteous man.

I suffered much in a dream today because of him."

The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds

to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus.

The governor said to them in reply,

"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"

They answered, "Barabbas!"

Pilate said to them,

"Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?"

They all said,

"Let him be crucified!"

But he said,

"Why? What evil has he done?"

They only shouted the louder,

"Let him be crucified!"

When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all,

but that a riot was breaking out instead,

he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd,

saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood.

Look to it yourselves."

And the whole people said in reply,

"His blood be upon us and upon our children."

Then he released Barabbas to them,

but after he had Jesus scourged,

he handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium

and gathered the whole cohort around him.

They stripped off his clothes

and threw a scarlet military cloak about him.

Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head,

and a reed in his right hand.

And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying,

"Hail, King of the Jews!"

They spat upon him and took the reed

and kept striking him on the head.

And when they had mocked him,

they stripped him of the cloak,

dressed him in his own clothes,

and led him off to crucify him.

As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon;

this man they pressed into service

to carry his cross.

And when they came to a place called Golgotha

—which means Place of the Skull —,

they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall.

But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink.

After they had crucified him,

they divided his garments by casting lots;

then they sat down and kept watch over him there.

And they placed over his head the written charge against him:

This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.

Two revolutionaries were crucified with him,

one on his right and the other on his left.

Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying,

"You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,

save yourself, if you are the Son of God,

and come down from the cross!"

Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said,

"He saved others; he cannot save himself.

So he is the king of Israel!

Let him come down from the cross now,

and we will believe in him.

He trusted in God;

let him deliver him now if he wants him.

For he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"

The revolutionaries who were crucified with him

also kept abusing him in the same way.

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land

until three in the afternoon.

And about three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice,

"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?"

which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Some of the bystanders who heard it said,

"This one is calling for Elijah."

Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge;

he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed,

gave it to him to drink.

But the rest said,

"Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him."

But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice,

and gave up his spirit.

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

And behold, the veil of the sanctuary

was torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened,

and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection,

they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus

feared greatly when they saw the earthquake

and all that was happening, and they said,

"Truly, this was the Son of God!"

There were many women there, looking on from a distance,

who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.

Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph,

and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

When it was evening,

there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph,

who was himself a disciple of Jesus.

He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus;

then Pilate ordered it to be handed over.

Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen

and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock.

Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb

and departed.

But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary

remained sitting there, facing the tomb.

The next day, the one following the day of preparation,

the chief priests and the Pharisees

gathered before Pilate and said,

"Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said,

'After three days I will be raised up.'

Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day,

lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people,

'He has been raised from the dead.'

This last imposture would be worse than the first."

Pilate said to them,

"The guard is yours;

go, secure it as best you can."

So they went and secured the tomb

by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.

 

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? Why did Jesus have to die for our sins to be forgiven? In what ways are we called to be crucified like Christ?

Word Wide Open: The Fifth Sunday of Lent (A) - 3/26/23

First Reading (Ezekiel 37:12-14)

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel.

Thus says the Lord GOD: 

O my people, I will open your graves 

and have you rise from them, 

and bring you back to the land of Israel.

Then you shall know that I am the LORD, 

when I open your graves and have you rise from them, 

O my people!

I will put my spirit in you that you may live, 

and I will settle you upon your land; 

thus you shall know that I am the LORD.

I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What are the graves God opens for us?

Second Reading (Romans 8:8-11)

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans. 

Brothers and sisters:

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh; 

on the contrary, you are in the spirit, 

if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you, 

although the body is dead because of sin, 

the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, 

the one who raised Christ from the dead 

will give life to your mortal bodies also, 

through his Spirit dwelling in you.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions:  Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What does it mean to be in the flesh? Why does that separate us from God? 

Gospel (John 11:1-45)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, 

the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil 

and dried his feet with her hair; 

it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.

So the sisters sent word to him saying, 

“Master, the one you love is ill.”

When Jesus heard this he said,

“This illness is not to end in death, 

but is for the glory of God, 

that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

So when he heard that he was ill, 

he remained for two days in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to his disciples, 

“Let us go back to Judea.”

The disciples said to him, 

“Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, 

and you want to go back there?”

Jesus answered,

“Are there not twelve hours in a day?

If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, 

because he sees the light of this world.

But if one walks at night, he stumbles, 

because the light is not in him.” 

He said this, and then told them,

“Our friend Lazarus is asleep,

but I am going to awaken him.”

So the disciples said to him,

“Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.”

But Jesus was talking about his death, 

while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. 

So then Jesus said to them clearly,

“Lazarus has died.

And I am glad for you that I was not there,

that you may believe. 

Let us go to him.”

So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, 

“Let us also go to die with him.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus 

had already been in the tomb for four days.

Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away.

And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary 

to comfort them about their brother.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,

she went to meet him;

but Mary sat at home.

Martha said to Jesus, 

“Lord, if you had been here,

my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,

God will give you.”

Jesus said to her,

“Your brother will rise.”

Martha said to him,

“I know he will rise,

in the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus told her,

“I am the resurrection and the life; 

whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, 

and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?”

She said to him, “Yes, Lord.

I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,

the one who is coming into the world.”

When she had said this, 

she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, 

“The teacher is here and is asking for you.”

As soon as she heard this,

she rose quickly and went to him.

For Jesus had not yet come into the village, 

but was still where Martha had met him.

So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her 

saw Mary get up quickly and go out,

they followed her, 

presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, 

she fell at his feet and said to him, 

“Lord, if you had been here,

my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, 

he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, 

“Where have you laid him?”

They said to him, “Sir, come and see.”

And Jesus wept.

So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.”

But some of them said, 

“Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man 

have done something so that this man would not have died?”

So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb.

It was a cave, and a stone lay across it.

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, 

“Lord, by now there will be a stench; 

he has been dead for four days.”

Jesus said to her,

“Did I not tell you that if you believe 

you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone.

And Jesus raised his eyes and said,

“Father, I thank you for hearing me.

I know that you always hear me; 

but because of the crowd here I have said this, 

that they may believe that you sent me.”

And when he had said this,

He cried out in a loud voice, 

“Lazarus, come out!”

The dead man came out,

tied hand and foot with burial bands, 

and his face was wrapped in a cloth.

So Jesus said to them,

“Untie him and let him go.”

Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary

and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? Why do people often blame the Lord when they have problems? How does this miracle reveal Jesus’s glory? What are things the Lord is calling us out of?

Word Wide Open: The Third Sunday of Lent (A) - 3/12/23

First Reading (Exodus 17:3-7)

A reading from the Book of Exodus.

In those days, in their thirst for water,

the people grumbled against Moses,

saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?

Was it just to have us die here of thirst 

with our children and our livestock?”

So Moses cried out to the LORD, 

“What shall I do with this people?

a little more and they will stone me!”

The LORD answered Moses,

“Go over there in front of the people, 

along with some of the elders of Israel, 

holding in your hand, as you go, 

the staff with which you struck the river.

I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.

Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it 

for the people to drink.”

This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel.

The place was called Massah and Meribah, 

because the Israelites quarreled there

and tested the LORD, saying,

“Is the LORD in our midst or not?”

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? Why do people often blame God for their problems? 

Second Reading (Romans 5:1-2, 5-8)

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans. 

Brothers and sisters:

Since we have been justified by faith, 

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 

through whom we have gained access by faith 

to this grace in which we stand, 

and we boast in hope of the glory of God.

And hope does not disappoint, 

because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts 

through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For Christ, while we were still helpless, 

died at the appointed time for the ungodly.

Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, 

though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die.

But God proves his love for us

in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions:  Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What does it mean to be justified by faith? How can we boast in hope?

Gospel (John 4:5-42)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, 

near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

Jacob’s well was there.

Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well.

It was about noon.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.

Jesus said to her,

“Give me a drink.”

His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.

The Samaritan woman said to him,

“How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”

—For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—

Jesus answered and said to her,

“If you knew the gift of God

and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘

you would have asked him 

and he would have given you living water.”

The woman said to him, 

“Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; 

where then can you get this living water?

Are you greater than our father Jacob, 

who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself 

with his children and his flocks?”

Jesus answered and said to her, 

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; 

but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; 

the water I shall give will become in him

a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him,

“Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty 

or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her,

“Go call your husband and come back.”

The woman answered and said to him,

“I do not have a husband.”

Jesus answered her,

“You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’

For you have had five husbands, 

and the one you have now is not your husband.

What you have said is true.”

The woman said to him,

“Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.

Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; 

but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus said to her,

“Believe me, woman, the hour is coming

when you will worship the Father

neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You people worship what you do not understand; 

we worship what we understand, 

because salvation is from the Jews.

But the hour is coming, and is now here, 

when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; 

and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.

God is Spirit, and those who worship him

must worship in Spirit and truth.”

The woman said to him,

“I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; 

when he comes, he will tell us everything.”

Jesus said to her,

“I am he, the one speaking with you.”

At that moment his disciples returned, 

and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, 

but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” 

or “Why are you talking with her?”

The woman left her water jar 

and went into the town and said to the people, 

“Come see a man who told me everything I have done.

Could he possibly be the Christ?”

They went out of the town and came to him.

Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.”

But he said to them,

“I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

So the disciples said to one another, 

“Could someone have brought him something to eat?”

Jesus said to them,

“My food is to do the will of the one who sent me

and to finish his work.

Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’?

I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.

The reaper is already receiving payment 

and gathering crops for eternal life, 

so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.

For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’

I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; 

others have done the work, 

and you are sharing the fruits of their work.” 

Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him

because of the word of the woman who testified, 

“He told me everything I have done.”

When the Samaritans came to him,

they invited him to stay with them; 

and he stayed there two days.

Many more began to believe in him because of his word, 

and they said to the woman, 

“We no longer believe because of your word; 

for we have heard for ourselves, 

and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? What is the water that Jesus gives us? How does Jesus lovingly call out the woman's sins and how can we do the same?

Word Wide Open: The Second Sunday of Lent (A) - 3/5/23

First Reading (Genesis 12:1-4a)

A reading from the Book of Genesis.

The LORD said to Abram: 

"Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk

and from your father's house to a land that I will show you.

"I will make of you a great nation,

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you

and curse those who curse you.

All the communities of the earth

shall find blessing in you."

Abram went as the LORD directed him.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? How can we get better at trusting the promises of God?

Second Reading (2 Timothy 1:8b-10)

A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy. 

Beloved:

Bear your share of hardship for the gospel

with the strength that comes from God.

He saved us and called us to a holy life,

not according to our works

but according to his own design

and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,

but now made manifest 

through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,

who destroyed death and brought life and immortality

to light through the gospel.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions:  Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What is our share of hardship for the Gospel? What does a holy life look like?

Gospel (Matthew 17:1-9)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew .

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, 

and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

And he was transfigured before them; 

his face shone like the sun 

and his clothes became white as light.

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,

conversing with him.

Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, 

"Lord, it is good that we are here.

If you wish, I will make three tents here, 

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

While he was still speaking, behold,

a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, 

then from the cloud came a voice that said, 

"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;

listen to him."

When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate

and were very much afraid.

But Jesus came and touched them, saying,

"Rise, and do not be afraid."

And when the disciples raised their eyes, 

they saw no one else but Jesus alone.

As they were coming down from the mountain,

Jesus charged them,

"Do not tell the vision to anyone 

until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? What did the transfiguration reveal about Jesus? Why did this moment cause fear? How can we be better at listening to the Lord?