NEWSLETTER INSERTS FOR SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

‘Praise and thanks be to You, Creator of the universe. For the beauty and variety You have given us. As seasons change, the colours of the woods, countryside and meadows also change continuously and bring joy to our eyes, along with new scents even for those who cannot see.

How marvellous the perfect mechanism that You thought of, one of an orderly and joyful coexistence, and with so much responsibility

We pray that governments, policymakers, communities and individuals will urgently work together to alleviate the effects of climate change especially on those communities who suffer most from its impacts.

For the beings You created in Your own image and likeness! The scent of the flowers, the majesty of the trees, the song of the birds, the spectacle of the mushrooms make of Your woods stupendous cathedrals, where we celebrate in joy the memorial of creation and our covenant as brothers and sisters.

From the heights of the snowy peaks and from the depths of the abysses of the cerulean seas, everything sings the greatness of God our Creator. Laudato Si’, our Lord! Amen’.

Reflection for Second Sunday of Lent from www.trocaire.org

‘At his Transfiguration Christ showed his disciples the splendour of his beauty, to which he will shape and colour those who are his: 'He will reform our lowness configured to the body of his glory’.

St Thomas Aquinas

‘Just as those who see the light are within the light and participate in its splendour, so those who see God are within God and participate in his splendour’.

St Irenaeus of Lyon

'God places us in the world as his fellow workers-agents of transfiguration. We work with God so that injustice is transfigured into justice, so there will be more compassion and caring, that there will be more laughter and joy, that there will be more togetherness in God's world'.

Desmond Tutu

'The episode of the Lord’s transfiguration challenges those who interpret Jesus of Nazareth only as another religious guru, moral exemplar or super-saint. The transfiguration is about Jesus’ divine identity and the revelation of that divinity shining out from his humanity in a way that became visible to Peter, James and John. The transfiguration of Jesus shows us that humanity and divinity belong together and how one penetrates the other. For us, who are gifted with the divine life through faith and baptism, it is a mystery of Christ’s life in which we participate as the Spirit within us aligns our humanity us ever more to himself'.

Fr Billy Swan