2nd Sunday of Lent, year ’C’ 21st February 2016
“Jesus took with him Peter, John and James, and went up the mountain to pray.And it happened, that, as he was praying, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothes became sparkling white. And suddenly there were two men talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem.”
Jesus is the beloved Son of the Father who shines forth with the glory of the Father and with His Infinite Love. He will be surrounded by the same apostles, Peter, James and John, when He will be disfigured. The other Apostles stay a little further away. Peter will have a hard time witnessing the scene of agony, just as in today’s Gospel we see how hard it is for him to bear the scene of the Transfiguration! Jesus is completely different, glorified before him! Rays of sunshine around his head, his clothes resplendent in a whiteness never before seen.
God’s Glory is made manifest when humanity lives in a divine way a life as a child of God. The Glory of God is the blossoming forth of His Love in our lives. The Glory of God begins for us when Jesus comes down from Heaven in the Virgin Mary’s womb. Thus He re-clothes our humanity. With this human nature, he is going to conquer lies, hatred and hell.
The Glory of God is this victory of the Love of God over all obscurity. Jesus, when He goes through his agony, is altogether something else, He is ’transfigured’ in a different way when He saves us on the Cross, surrendering Himself up to the Love of the Father.Jesus, sad unto death, will nevertheless not yield to this sadness. He will remain in the Love of God.
“Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they woke up and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus : ’Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what he was saying. As he was saying this, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid.”
Jesus, Son of the Father, Immaculate Mary’s child, unites Heaven and earth together in Himself. He really is the Beloved child of the Father and the child of Mary. He makes his way towards Jerusalem.
Today, it is the episode of the Transfiguration on the mountain with the disciples Peter, James and John bearing witness to this event. They will also be witnesses at Jesus’ agony. When Jesus will be plunged at his baptism in the waters of the Jordan, John the Baptist will say ’I am the one who ought to be being baptised by you.’ Jesus will reply to him ’ Leave it like this for the time being.It is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that uprightness demands.’ yourself go
During his agony, Jesus will be ’disfigured!’
The Glory of God is in the victory over every sort of evil :’You are my child, you are my beloved, in whom I have placed all my love!’
“And a voice came from the cloud saying ’This is my Son, the Chosen One.Listen to him’. And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence, and at that time, told no one what they had seen.”
’Father,’ will Jesus say at his agony, ’not my will but your will be done.’
At this moment Jesus will be surrendering himself to the Father and to the humanity He is saving. This Conquering Love is given to us all. Our transfiguration will be to live of the same Love and we can already live from it today. With Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, we keep our smile in adversity, God’s Love is victorious. If in spite of life’s contradictions we build up community with our sisters and brothers, we remain in Love and we are already transfigured. The transfiguration is our fidelity to the Infinite Love of God in our daily life. It is the victory of Love that we carry in Jesus. Immerged in Christ, in his Infinite Love, we are victorious.