Second Sunday of Lent – Year C
In the first reading from Genesis, we hear the new covenant being made between God and Abraham, where his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the night sky.
Like Abraham we are also called to journey into the unknown, to test our limits, to go that extra mile, and to respond to God’s call at all times. In our moments of crisis or when life is clouded with despair, it is important to keep on trusting in God, in his Word. As Christians we walk by faith, since Jesus is the ‘Word of God’, and he is all mighty and powerful, he will always walk along side us.
In the gospel, we hear the story of that amazing event in the Lord’s life of the Transfiguration. I had the privilege to visit Mount Tabor, while on pilgrimage at Seminary college. I had time to contemplated the bible scene in my head, which gave me an overwhelming and humbling experience. We hear that the three apostles were also completely overwhelmed when they saw Christ, in all his Divine Glory.
This event came soon after the announcement from Jesus, about his coming Passion and Death. This Transfiguration is the visible anticipation of what Jesus had revealed to the apostles about his Resurrection and future Glory. For a brief moment, three of his closest apostles, had the privilege to see Jesus as he really is, human and divine, full of Power and Glory. It was to establish beyond all doubt that Jesus was the Son of God.
It was a blessing for these three Apostles, because it gave them the steadfastness of faith they needed, to accompany the Lord through the darkness of Jesus’ arrest at Gethsemane and the humiliation of his Passion and Death.
A cloud covered them and a voice from Heaven saying “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Clouds have a profound significance for the people of Israel, since it was the means by which God visibly manifested his presence during their wanderings in the desert. The cloud symbolises the Mystery of God, and it is also a sign of the Holy Spirit, who overshadowed the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation, and dwells in the hearts of all believers. At the Transfiguration the cloud reveals that God’s new and eternal dwelling place, where heaven and earth meet, is Jesus Christ himself.
For us today and during this Lenten season, we should not be spectators of this wonderful event of the Transfiguration, but like the apostles, we should be encouraged to climb the mountain and to reflect upon his message.
It is only through his Passion and Death that Christ came to the Glory of his Resurrection. If he is to transfigure our sinful bodies, to make them into copies of his own glorious body, then the road we should take, is also one of suffering, travelling with Christ, along our own pilgrimage journey here on earth.
Lent provides us with an excellent opportunity, through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, to put our hearts in order. It teaches us that the road to heaven is by the sweat of our brow, through our daily frustrations and disappointments. However, by working through these problems we are able to meet people with kindness, with love and with compassion.
May this season, help us to overcome our weakness’ and to grow in maturity, through God’s grace and patience. Because nothing in this world, that is worthwhile or worth waiting for, is ever simple or straightforward.
May we all grow brighter, the more we turn towards God, since we are created in his image and likeness, furthermore we are meant to reflect his Glory, through our Baptism, being beacons of God’s divine light, for the whole world to see.
Then one day, when we are finally called from this life, we may have the greatest of all privileges to see the Lord’s Glory, by seeing God, face to face, with all the Angels and Saints in his Heavenly Kingdom.
Rev. Fr Philip Wrigley's Blog 