When we started the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday, the call to conversion or
repentance couldn’t be missed. When our foreheads were marked with ashes, the words
pronounced were: You are dust and unto dust you shall return, or the other version is: Repent and believe in the Gospel. Repent – from things that get in the way of our relationship with the Lord. And how do we know those things that get in the way of our relationship with God? The Gospel last Sunday, about the temptation of Jesus in the desert, was a point of reflection for us of those things that we battle with that divert us from the path to eternal life. In another version of the Gospel last Sunday, it says that “Jesus was in the midst of wild beasts.” Just like what Jesus experienced, we may have to face the “wild beasts” within us which just might be the causes of our being “wild beasts” in the lives of others around us. If in the first week of Lent we take that call seriously, it can be tiring, uncomfortable and, at times, even discouraging. It’s difficult to change; it’s easier to fall back to what is usual and what is familiar. That’s why if we are feeling that way, if there is a strong urge not to continue in the path of
repentance, we have to listen intently to the Gospel this Sunday on the story of the Transfiguration. If one is feeling discouraged and is losing hope in that desire to change for the better, the Lord is telling us to keep going, to persevere because our own transfiguration is yet to come. The opening prayer in today’s Mass expresses this profound reality: “O God, who have commanded us to listen to your beloved Son, be pleased, we pray, to nourish us inwardly by your word, that, with spiritual sight made pure, we may rejoice to behold your glory.” Powerful words – we listen to the command of God to repent so that he can nourish our sluggish spirits marred by sin, thus seeing things according to the eyes of God, which brings us to behold his glory or his transfiguration.
Jesus and his disciples went up to the mountain as friends, but Jesus revealed to them that he is more than just their friend, but truly the Savior promised to them. At times, we can be like Peter who just wanted to stay, feeling the high of spiritual experience, but Jesus in the gospel today reminds us that salvation happens or is realized by doing the will of God for us just like Jesus needed to go down from the mountain and fulfill the plan of God for him to suffer and die on the cross. Have you ever had that experience when you felt incredible peace in a place, and you just wanted to stay, but you knew that you couldn’t because you had to go back to your regular life? To be transfigured is not really to escape from our usual life and routines but, rather, it is about transforming our day to day routine as daily encounters and meeting places with God. The promise of eternal life, that we all aim for, can only be realized by being faithful to our own unique vocation (our day to day life) which is the concrete plan of God for us—this is not found in a secluded mountain or retreat house. It is found at your home address—there transfiguration should happen each day. We are like Peter and John beholding the Lord so that as we grow in our gaze and “beholding” of him, we may also see our future glory, that promise of resurrection and eternal life. But the transfiguration was not yet the final manifestation of who he is and his divinity. That’s why he told his disciples not to tell anyone yet of what had happened because the ultimate manifestation of who God really is – is on the cross, which is central to our Lenten celebration. It is his crucifixion and resurrection that complete the event of the Transfiguration. It is on the cross that God really transfigures himself beyond all imagining. Where do we see a God who humbly and willingly offered himself/his very life for the sake of the people? That’s transfiguration in its ultimate sense.
If the transfiguration is God manifesting himself to us, do our lives manifest or show that we are indeed a people who have been redeemed by God? Do our lives show forth the joy of being redeemed by Jesus – or, do we find ourselves in a life of despair and regret?
On a different note, I would like to thank the Knights of Columbus for putting together the Fish Fry two Fridays ago; another Fish Fry is scheduled on March 24
th from 5pm to 6:30pm. We have been so blessed here with the Knights’ presence, service and dedication. Let’s continue to keep their ministry in our prayers. – Fr. Cary