The multiplication of loaves, vv 11-17, is found on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Year C; and the Seventeenth Sunday of Year B. The profession of faith and Jesus’ prediction of his rejection and death in today’s reading are put in contrast to Herod’s reaction to news of Jesus in vv 7-9. We have here in a nutshell the implications of faith in Jesus as Lord. He is not just the Lord in general — he must be my Lord in particular. If we profess him to be the Messiah — our Savior (v 20) — we must accept him as the crucified Savior (v 22), not as some nice, self-serving creation of our own fancy. And the crucifixion is an awful, painful, bloody, mess of a way to die — and Jesus commands us to face the implications of that squarely, just as he did. If we accept him as crucified Savior, we cannot escape union with him precisely as the Crucified One (vv 23-24). Union in sacrifice of life, not mere admiration, is the only key to salvation. Grace that has any eternal value is not cheap!

The account of the transfiguration, vv 28-36, is always read on the Second Sunday of Lent each year from the Gospel of the current cycle. For a commentary on the events that conclude this section, vv 37-50, see Year B, Twenty-Fifth Sunday.

John’s Gospel applies this passage to Jesus (Jn 19:37). The identity of the man who was "thrust through" in the prophet’s mind is uncertain. He may have been referring to the prophetic office in general: prophets were usually persecuted because they spoke the truth (an act seldom appreciated by those in authority), and yet their words and works have power precisely because they were willing to place themselves on the line and accept the consequences of them — disbelief, ridicule, rejection, persecution, and death. This passage obviously alludes to the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, and the effect of the people’s realization of the wrong they have done becomes a saving grace leading to conversion. Jer 6:26; 31:15-20; and Ez 36:16-38 appear to be related passages.

This is the psalm of one who is carrying a cross of suffering in the desert — without consolation, yet struggling to maintain confidence. Response: "My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord, my God."

Read the whole of chapter 3, of which these are the final few verses. Keep in mind that Paul is not speaking against law in general, but responding to a particular Jewish mentality that held observance of the law of Moses to be in itself the source of salvation.

In defending his teaching that Christ alone is the source of salvation, Paul appeals to several images in this reading. As clothing both envelops the whole body and expresses our identity to others, so Christ embraces our total reality, and renders differences among us insignificant. Note that differences are not removed — male and female remain male and female — but they can no longer be a barrier to unity in the body of Christ. Nor can they be considered a criterion for judging superiority or inferiority. Finally, identity with Christ allows all people to share in the essence of Jewishness — in Christ the whole world is now the recipient of the promises God originally made to the Jewish people, beginning with Abraham. Chapter 4 unfolds the terms of the promise as fulfilled in Christ. Paul maintains that the Jewish law locked the people into slavery by its powerlessness to release humankind from sin, even though it made us aware of sinfulness. Christ as Son of God broke the bonds of this slavery by making us free sons and daughters of God. (See the Second Reading for the Octave of Christmas.)

1. How is baptism related to the cross?

2. How is baptism related to faith?