March 17 // Second Sunday of Lent

Reading I: Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Responsorial Psalm: 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-145
Reading II: Philippians 3:17-4:1 or 3:20-4:1
Gospel: Luke 9:28b-36

This Sunday, we hear the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration. It is God’s declaration that this carpenter’s son from a small town in Galilee is the fulfillment of the hopes and longings of the Jewish people, his people.

The author of Luke has Jesus going up a mountain to pray. It would be interesting to know what this prayer was about. Perhaps he was not saying anything but listening for the voice of God. That too is prayer.

Then something amazing happened. Jesus’ face “changed in appearance” and his clothes became “dazzling white”. Moses, representing the Law, and Elijah, representing the prophets, appeared on the mountain and began talking with Jesus. Jesus, we believe, is more than the ultimate interpreter of Jewish law, more than the ultimate Jewish prophet. His appearance that day pointed to a key part of our faith—that Jesus, while being fully human, is himself divine.

Of course, Peter, James and John didn’t get it. Not at first. Still, Peter had the sense that the scene before them was something very good, and he wanted to stay for a while. The tents that he wanted to make would have reminded Jesus’ contemporaries of the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles, their harvest feast. And the Transfiguration was surely a harvest, of a very special sort.

Then a cloud came over them, and a voice was heard, telling Peter, James and John that Jesus is God’s chosen son, and that they should listen to him.

Jesus’ first disciples were not called to remain happily on that mountain. They had to go out among their people (and eventually to the world), spreading the Good News of the Messiah.

We can probably identify with Peter, James and John. If we’re experiencing something wonderful, like a wedding or a win by our favorite sports team, we want to stay in that moment. We don’t want to go back to ordinary life. But God does call us back, and God will always be with us.

~Sheryl Zabel