The Transfiguration of Christ gives us a wondrous chance to contemplate not only His glorified body, but also our own...
Reflections on the readings for Second Sunday of Lent (March 13, 2022): GN 15:5-12,17-18; PS 27:1,7-8,8-9,13-14; PHIL 3:17-4:1; LK 9:28-36
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
What He experienced in time, we will embrace for ourselves when we share eternity with our risen and ascended Lord.
The Gospels for each Sunday of Lent, draw us through incidents in the ministry of Christ that reveal Him as our Savior and the Son of God. They also show His immense love and compassion for us. Today we hear the story of our Lord transfigured. Jesus brought Peter, John, and James, His closest followers and friends to the top of a mountain to pray with Him. Christ is not simply transformed, but transfigured so that His divine self is seen. He is joined by Moses who was given the Law by the Almighty and by Elijah the greatest of the prophets. We are even told that they discuss Christ’s forthcoming journey to Jerusalem where He will experience His own exodus. Just as Moses followed the will of God and took the Israelites out of bondage, through the desert and into the Promised Land, Jesus would suffer and die and rise again. By this sacrifice He would save the world from the consequences of evil and eternal death. And, just as they did later in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter, John, and James fall asleep while they pray. When they awake and realize the miraculous event taking place, they are overwhelmed. Perhaps not surprisingly, the stunned Peter speaks foolishly of staying there. But just then the most remarkable moment happens. “A cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is My chosen Son; listen to Him.’ After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen” (Luke 9:4-6).
Despite all the miracles Apostles had already witnessed and everything Christ had proclaimed about the Kingdom of God, they could not have been prepared for our Lord’s Transfiguration -- or the Father’s voice claiming Him as His own Son. The passage ends with the observation that they did not let anyone else know what had occurred. Were they simply too dumbfounded by all that had happened? Did they want to savor the incident and discuss it only among themselves? Did they realize that they, like the rest of us, are destined for a similar glory in eternity? Perhaps, in some way, what they grasped was the deep love God has for each of us, His dear children.
