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I Reading:
Gen 15:5-12, 17-18
II Reading: Phil 3:17-4:1
Gospel: Lk 9:28-36
1. Just as on the first Sunday of Lent we always
read one of the Gospel accounts of the forty days which
Jesus spent alone in the desert immediately after his
baptism, so too on this the second Sunday of Lent the
Gospel which we read is always one of the accounts of a
strange happening which took place towards the end of
his life. And just as we refer to Jesus' experience in
the desert as the "temptations", so too we refer to this
other happening as the "transfiguration".
Both events were considered by the early
Christians to be decisive, critical moments in the life
of Jesus. We reflected last week, how the period in the
desert was a time of testing and questioning for Jesus,
a time when he had to settle in his own mind what his
vocation was all about. It was immediately after
resolving the matter that he began his public ministry.
Now, as his ministry is drawing to a close, he has this
extraordinary experience, which will strengthen him for
the dark days ahead, which are not too far away, the
days of his suffering and death. Before the darkness
descends there is, as it were, a burst of light where
all is radiant and bright.
The story of the transfiguration is told
very simply by the three Evangelists, Matthew, Mark and
Luke. It is Luke's version which we read in today's
Gospel. One day Jesus took with him Peter, James and
John and went up a mountain. It was there that the
extraordinary transformation took place. The
description of the change that came over Jesus is much
more vivid than any of the accounts of his appearances
after the resurrection. That means it must have left a
lasting impression on those who witnessed what happened.
All three Evangelists tell the story as
having happened almost immediately after Jesus had
predicted his death in no uncertain terms - "From that
time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he
must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands
of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law,
and that he must be killed and of the third day be
raised to life." (Mt 16; 21 - cf Mk 8; 31 and Lk 9;
21). So, for the Evangelists there was a very close
connection between the two events - the prediction of
Jesus’ suffering and death and the transfiguration. And
we will remind ourselves of that connection when we read
in today's Preface - "that the promised Christ had first
to suffer and so come to the glory of his resurrection."
2. For a brief moment on the mountaintop the
future glory of Jesus bursts forth but then it
disappears again just as quickly and suddenly. As
followers of Jesus our own lives will follow the same
pattern. There will be moments when the power and the
presence of God will break through and make itself felt
and we will feel radiant and uplifted by the
experience. But they are rare and fleeting moments and
they are meant to sustain us and give us the courage to
continue bravely with the rest of our lives. And indeed
they are meant to convince us that it is in our day to
day lives, however insignificant they may seem; however
limited by suffering and our own shortcomings, it is
there nevertheless that our salvation is accomplished.
Jesus came down from the mountain, strengthened in his
resolve to face suffering and death. He knew that he
would have to go by the way of the cross in order to
enter into his glory. He knew it and he accepted it
willingly.
We, like Peter, would very much like to
remain on the mountain, to preserve and prolong the
moments when everything seems bright and transformed.
We wish to escape from a world which most of the time
seems burdensome; we would so much like to get away from
days weighted down by the constant struggle to make
something of our lives. Wouldn't it indeed be wonderful
if it could all be changed, if we could get away from it
all into some fairyland where all is sunshine and
unending happiness? But that is not yet to be - it will
come eventually. In the meantime the Lord takes us down
from the mountain and asks us to remain faithful to him
come what may just as he remained faithful to us despite
the suffering, rejection and death which waited for him
below in Jerusalem.
3. Christianity, the following of Christ, is not
a religion which would have us escape from life, from
suffering and hardship. It is a way of life, following
the example of Jesus, which affirms that everything
(except sin) is permeated, filled, with the presence of
God, however hidden that presence may be most of the
time. And because God is present, the seeds of glory
are already sown everywhere in this world of ours so
that one day all will be transformed and become
glorious. It is for us Christians to see that presence
everywhere. And that is why Christians must have a
great respect for all that is in our world, even the
most lowly and insignificant and seemingly unimportant.
And that is why we must always be committed to the
uplift of others and the conservation of the world. The
moments spent on the mountain are meant to strengthen us
so that we will not falter or give up in our more
mundane task of renewing and transforming our
world.
An English Church historian has expressed
that well - "At the heart of Christianity is the
insistence that all our experience is religious, or none
of it is. Many people, maybe most people at some time
or other, have a sense of transcendence, awe, insight,
to which in some special way they want to give the name
'religious'. But such experiences are not the norms of
religious faith; the mystics are not the archetypical
Christians. They may illumine and encourage, but they
are at best sign-posts along a more mundane way. The
Incarnation points us away from a God locked into the
sacred, towards One who informs all that we do and are,
to be encountered most fully not merely and not most in
the temple or the prayer room, but in the faces of our
fellow men and women, the God not of our souls, but of
our whole humanity. We need to beware of being too
spiritual."
(Eamon
Duffy, An Excess of Spirituality, Spirituality,
Volume 4, July/August 1998, p 255)
4. At the end of the forty days spent alone in
the desert Jesus had resolved the question of his
vocation; that it was to be a humble service to those to
whom he had been sent, without any of the props of
power, prestige and pomp which the evil spirit suggested
to him then might better serve his purpose. Here on the
mountain comes the experience which strengthens his
resolve to remain faithful to the end, come what may!
And he knew by then that the end was not too far off and
that it would not be easy; that he would be made to
suffer and be put to death by his own people. We ask him
to strengthen us that we too may face the trials and
troubles of life with courage and perseverance.
QUOTATIONS
1. “Leave this chanting and singing and telling
of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark
corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes
and see thy God is not before thee!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the
hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones.
He is with them in sun and shower, and his garment is
covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like
him come down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be
found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him
the bonds of creation; he is bound with us all for ever.
Come out of thy meditations and leave aside
thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if thy
clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him and stand
by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.”
(Tagore,
Gitanjali, A Full Circle Book, New Delhi, 2002, p
27)
2. “I would not go, my heart, to Mecca or
Medina,
For behold, I ever abide by the side of my
Friend.
Mad would I become, had I dwelt afar, not
knowing Him.
There’s no worship in Mosque or Temple or
special holy day.
At
every step I have my Mecca, Kashi; sacred is
every moment.”(Tagore, The Religion of Man,
Rupa & Co New Delhi, 2002, p 219 - in Appendix titled
The Baul Singers of Bengal) |
