2nd Sunday of Lent: The cross and the glory

 

(The Transfiguration by Raphael)

"This is my Son, listen to him"

Luke 9: 28b - 36

The Word:https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031625.cfm

For after he had told the disciples of his coming Death,

on the holy mountain he manifested to them his glory,

to show, even by the testimony of the law and the prophets,

that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection.

(Preface for 2nd Sunday of Lent)

I’m sure that at some time in your life, we’ve all experienced a ride on a roller coaster. Could be somewhere like Disneyland which adds great fantasy to something that for some may be frightening. Or maybe a summertime festival or something in between.

The thrill of a roller coaster is the anticipation, you’re strapped in your seat, the ride begins its climb where you finally reach the top and begin the descendent to screams and laughter, then before you know it, you’re climbing again for another thrill ride.  When you finally reach level ground, you may want to do it all over again or at least to take a break.  But knowing something exhilarating was waiting at the top makes the coming down grateful release. But having had the experience, you’re somehow changed by the memory of it.  

Today in our Gospel, Jesus takes three of his most trusted disciples who would eventually play a key role in the beginning of the Church: Peter, James and John. They rise to the mountain and there are overcome by the thrill of seeing Jesus transformed in glory. In fact, two of them are struck speechless but the ever impulsive Peter, speaks words that are nearly humorous.  "Let's build three tents for you all and just sit and enjoy for awhile." That is clearly not the point of this strange vision.

Peter wanted to stay at the top and continue to enjoy the view from above. No hurry to descend. The roller coaster has stopped at the peak so all can enjoy the view! But it's more than just a moment of awe and wonder. A very different scene takes place as Christ is transformed, significantly changed in appearance before the eyes of three select disciples. He is changed to a new form as if he took off the cloak of his humanity and revealed his divinity. 

Here he reveals his divinity and his link with the law and the prophets as the One who would come to free humanity from the ultimate power of evil that is death. Here a greater hope is promised but the prominent shadow of the Cross is shown. We hear that Christ is the Word made flesh, and he points to the cross as his destiny and our hope. This vision is an indelible reminder to these disciples of his ultimate destiny through the cross. We are rescued from sin and death by his action. 

Centuries before we hear of the call of Abram in the desert, our first reading from Genesis.  Abram, later Abraham, is an elderly man when he is called by God to leave his “father’s house” and move out into a new land with merely a promise from God that he would be blessed significantly.  In fact, we hear of five blessings from God to Abram.

These blessings are a promise, a sign of hope for the future: “I will make you great and I will bless you . . . make you name great, you will be a blessing . . . I will bless those who bless you . . . all the communities of the earth shall find a blessing in you.” To bless and to be a blessing in this context is a promise of partnership, a friendship with God and foreshadows our own destiny.   That blessing we see fulfilled in Jesus and he confirms this before his three disciples.

On that mountain, traditionally Mt. Tabor in Israel, we may say that Peter, James and John were fortunate or blessed to be there. Yet, the focus was not on them so much as it clearly was on Jesus before them.  Christ affirmed that he was the word made flesh; that although the disciples had only experienced the Jesus of history, they now are blessed to see the Jesus of faith, an almost resurrection experience before that great event. He is the same yet appears in a new and glorious form before them.

This second Sunday of our Lenten journey brings us face to face with a moment to listen.  That is, Jesus is not a normal human being. He is far more than just an impressive and highly successful young man who grew up in the little village of Nazareth with very poor parents.

His nature is both human and divine; that his mission is beyond this world and that he has come in the line of the prophets as the sign of God’s new Covenant, originally established through Abram (our first reading from Genesis) and Moses as the fulfilment of that sacred Law.

For three Jews to witness such an event it would have all come together in a profound way.  God has fulfilled his promise to Israel and to all of humanity.  This is God’s answer to our sinful disobedience which estranged us from God.   Now, in Christ, his future passion, death and resurrection, a new and eternal Covenant is established between God and humanity. This is the new exodus, the new journey that will end in both suffering and glory.

For now, hold on to this but bring it down the mountain for future reference when the mission will carry on beyond Jerusalem to the entire world. The thrill of the roller coaster reaching the top is now secured by a return to the more familiar and a new mission given to the disciples as they come down to carry on their mission.

In prayer, in charitable service, in the sacraments, in compassion for another, at a time when we include another without judgement and recognize their human dignity, in the sacred Word of God, in the Holy Eucharist, in spiritual reading, in a tough time I’ve endured, in the sickness of another or a word spoken to me or who knows where, how and when God will call our attention to himself and demand our ear.

At Mass we hear his Word, and we encounter his living presence in the Eucharist - are we changed by him?  Let's pray this Lent teaches us to listen more and talk less that by his grace we may be changed for Easter resurrection.  The Word and the Cross is our hope. Are you ready to get in the car and ascend to greater heights? It may be a cross we carry to the top but on the other side is glory, only to go down and walk more closely with the Lord.