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Jesus said to them: “I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, ‘We can see clearly,’ that you cannot be rid of your guilt.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Two Lenten Passages

Fr. David Friel · February 24, 2013

HERE ARE TWO STORIES in the Gospel of Luke that are closely related. They both have the same characters: Jesus, and the Apostles Peter, James, & John. They both take place at decisive moments in our Lord’s life. In both stories, Jesus is praying, while Peter, James, & John fall asleep. Both scenes take place on mountains—one on Mount Tabor, and the other on the Mount of Olives. And both of these stories are passages we encounter in the Lectionary during Lent. What are these stories?

The first is the Gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Lent: the Transfiguration of our Lord. Jesus takes His closest three friends up a high mountain to pray. True to form, they fall asleep! When they wake up, Saint Luke tells us that “they saw His glory” (Luke 9:32). Our Lord’s face “changed in appearance and His clothing became dazzling white” (Luke 9:29). Then they hear a voice from the cloud, saying, “This is my chosen Son; listen to Him” (Luke 9:35).

The second, very similar story, is the First Sorrowful Mystery: the Agony in the Garden. The scene takes place on Holy Thursday evening, immediately after the Last Supper. Fearful for the suffering He knows He must undergo, our Lord goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He again takes Peter, James, & John with Him, but they cannot stay awake. Luke writes that “He was in such agony and He prayed so fervently that His sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground” (Luke 22:44).

These two scenes are similar in so many details, and I propose that their ultimate meaning is also the same. What is the shared meaning of these events? Both on Mount Tabor and on the Mount of Olives, Jesus gives us an example of One Who has given Himself up completely to the will of God. The Transfiguration could only happen because God the Father was revealing His glory through God the Son. Jesus, at that moment, is accepting His identity as the “chosen Son” of the Father. And, in the Agony in the Garden, the strength and peace of God are again being revealed by the Father through the Son. Jesus, in the garden, accepts the Passion He must undergo for the salvation of the world.

It would be hard to underestimate the effect that the Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden had on Peter, James, & John. They were the sole witnesses to both events, but those sacred moments changed the course of their lives. Having seen our Lord both in glory and in agony, those three men were empowered to give themselves up to the will of God. They spent their lives spreading the Gospel message throughout the world. Peter & James eventually gave even their lives for the Gospel. In doing God’s will, they became light for the world.

These two scenes, which we encounter every Lent, provide the perfect message for our Lenten pilgrimage. When we give ourselves up to the will of God, we give testimony to the Gospel. When we give ourselves up to the will of God, we receive strength to endure our suffering. When we give ourselves up to the will of God, we, like Jesus, become radiant.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Is the USCCB trolling us?
    I realize I’m going to come across as a “Negative Nancy” … but I can’t help myself. This kind of stuff is beyond ridiculous. There are already way too many options in the MISSALE RECENS. Adding more will simply confuse the faithful even more. We seriously need to band together and start creating a “REFORM OF THE REFORM” Missale Romanum so it will be ready when the time comes.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Common” Responsorial Psalm?
    I try to avoid arguing about liturgical legislation (even with Catholic priests) because it seems like many folks hold certain views—and nothing will persuade them to believe differently. You can show them 100 church documents, but it matters not. They won’t budge. Sometimes I’m confronted by people who insist that “there’s no such thing” as a COMMON RESPONSORIAL PSALM. When that happens, I show them a copy of the official legislation in Latin. I have occasionally prevailed by means of this method.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 5th Sunday of Easter (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 5th Sunday of Easter (18 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The Communion Antiphon was ‘restored’ the 1970 Missale Romanum (a.k.a. MISSALE RECENS) from an obscure martyr’s feast. Our choir is on break this Sunday, so the selections are relatively simple in nature.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“From six in the evening, his martyrdom had continued through the ghastly night until nine o’clock in the morning. After fifteen hours of torture rarely if ever surpassed in the bloody annals of the Iroquois, the soul of Gabriel Lalemant was freed from its charred and mutilated prison and summoned to join his comrade Jean de Brébeuf in the radiant splendor of God. March 17th, 1649, was the date; for Brébeuf it had been the sixteenth.”

— ‘Fr. John A. O’Brien, speaking of St. Gabriel Lalemant’

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