LISTEN THROUGH CHRIST’S SACRED HUMANITY

V/​ I will turn to you O God, 

R/​ to God who gives joy to my youth

V/​ Give me the Wisdom that sits by your throne; 

R/ that I may be counted among your children

Lord, in your all-providential plan, you have led me to this moment to rediscover me in your Word and Wisdom. Aid me to make this time of meditation and prayer enriching, transforming, and liberating for my well-being and others. Amen!

Second Sunday of Lent, Year C

16th March 2025

Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Psalm 27(26): 7-9, 13-14; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36

The Mass readings on the second Sunday of Lent are like an encounter with the beginning and end of salvation history. They begin with the covenant with Abraham for his descendants, before even his son is born. And they take us to Christ, the summit of that line, on the threshold of his paschal mystery.

A covenant is between two parties, but here, God commits himself on behalf of both. The transfiguration is also rooted in covenant. It has been pointed out that the key to understanding it is Exodus 24, the covenant between God and his people, when Moses ascends Mount Sinai, and where God reveals his glory and the mountain is covered by a cloud. But Jesus is both human and divine, who makes himself accessible to us. Our scene on the mountain, which we refer to as Tabor, begins in a much more ordinary way. So ordinary, in fact, that Peter, James and John can hardly stay awake while Jesus is at prayer.

For, as Luke alone tells us, Jesus has gone there in order to pray. The fatigue of the disciples at this point should alert us to how prayer can be misunderstood. If we consider only external appearances, as the disciples appear to be doing, we can overlook the whole mystery.

It takes someone like Edith Stein, a person of deep faith and prayer, to perceive the reality of what is happening within. She writes, “No human eye can see what God does in the soul during hours of inner prayer. It is grace upon grace.” Even more, she recognizes that own soul is the holy of holies, that most sacred place in which to encounter God’s presence. And even more staggeringly, Christ’s prayer unveils the mystery of the inner life that is nothing less than the indwelling of God in our soul. This mystery alone is as dazzling as the scene about to unfold.

Suddenly, while still in prayer, Jesus is transfigured, his face and clothes become a dazzling brightness, and Moses and Elijah appear in glory and speak with him. The disciples are wide awake now, drinking in every detail. This discussion is unique beyond words.

Moses and Elijah represent the law and the prophets, whose sacred ministries that for centuries foreshadowed the Messiah, and now they are speaking with him in person. They are discussing his departure, his exodus. This evokes the historical exodus as ultimately pointing to the passing of the Messiah through death to resurrection. Jesus, radiant with God’s glory, is being strengthened for the trial ahead. Peter, in his enthusiasm, wants to set up three tents for them. But before he can say any more, the cloud of God’s presence descends, filling the disciples with fear and awe.

At the baptism of Jesus, we heard the voice of the father to his beloved son. Today, it speaks to us, this is my son, my chosen one, listen to him. This recalls the here Israel introducing the Decalogue, for Jesus is the law in person, the word of God. And now there is no cloud, no Moses, no Elijah. The disciples see only Jesus. May we too, see only Jesus.

Saint Paul tells us, “our lowly bodies will be transformed into Christ’s glorious one.” But we also know from the Carmelite saints that prayer can transform us into the likeness of Christ, even in this life. Elizabeth of the Trinity captures perfectly the double nature of this likeness. By opening herself, in silence and stillness, to the action of God within her soul, she placed herself at his disposal so as to be changed more and more into him. She was drawn into the inner life of the Trinity. And that is the essence of the scene of the transfiguration, the death that leads to life, the suffering that leads to glory.

In Jesus, who went through all this for our sake.