Second Sunday in Lent, Year C
Revised Common Lectionary: Lectionary for Mass:
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Psalm 27 Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1 Philippians 3:17-4:1 (or 3:20-4:1)
Luke 13:31-35 or Luke 9:28-36 Luke 9:28-36
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1
The gospel reading for the Second Sunday in Lent differs significantly for Protestants and Catholics. The Revised Common Lectionary appoints four pithy verses from Luke 13 which reveal a rather astonishing range of reactions in Jesus as he reckons with both his imperial pursuers and his faithless kinsmen.
To Rome’s proxy ruler, Herod, he sends a message of combative confidence (“go and tell that fox for me . . .”). To Jerusalem, “the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it,” he speaks with surprising, maternal tenderness:
“How often have I desired to gather you children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings . . . “
The fox and the hen. Herod the stealthy predator; Jesus the protective mother. Power versus vulnerability. And we know where this confrontation is headed . . . . Read more