Second Sunday of Lent

Luke 9:28b-36

About eight days after he said this, Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to you with great confidence, seeking to bask under your rejuvenating light. During this time of Lent I wish to leave aside the old man and become more like you.

Petition: Lord, grant me the grace to encounter you more intimately.

Following the Master: The apostles Peter, James and John felt privileged that day. The Master has chosen them alone to accompany him up Mt. Tabor. The farther up the mountain they go, the more their attention is centered on Christ. They have already forgotten about the other apostles. They wonder when the Lord will stop, where he is taking them, what is the purpose of their journey. They do not understand, but they have learned to trust him and have followed him ever since he called them. He has always shown himself to be true, and so Peter, James and John stand firmly in their trust in him. This is a great lesson for us, too. We need to learn to follow Christ wherever he leads us. Although at times the going is tough and obstacles seem to be everywhere barring our path, like Peter, James and John we know for certain that the Lord is with us.

The Master’s Light: They reach the summit of the mountain. The Lord begins to pray. The apostles are tired out with the climb, and although they try to pray, they soon fall fast asleep. Then the sound of voices invades their sleep, and they feel a bright light on their closed eyes. Waking up, they are overawed at what they see. Before them is the Master in his Glory. At his side stand Moses and Elijah, conversing with him in an unmistakable attitude of respect. He is dazzlingly white, almost too bright for their eyes. It is their Lord and Master. They are filled with the greatest joy. They are overcome by their experience of Christ in his glory. Peter says what comes to his mind—that he wants to remain there always. He has not fully understood, but he has grasped that to be with Christ, to live in the light of the Master, is to live in joy.

My Beloved Son: Moses and Elijah appear in glory. They bear witness that their mission, and that of all those sent by God throughout the centuries of Israel’s history, was a preparation for the coming of Christ. They spoke in veiled language, in symbolic language, and though they perceived a Messiah would come, they did not fully know him. They did not know that he would be God’s only Son, born of a woman. Now the veil has been removed. The New Covenant is proclaimed by the Son himself. He speaks to the world as the Son of the Father. And it is the Father who calls on the apostles to listen to his Son, his beloved Son. Let us ask for the grace to listen to Christ. Let us ask for the grace to pick up the Gospel with renewed simplicity, with a generous and open heart, with faith and confidence in God, that we might hear the words of the Son of God.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, you so loved us that you came to show us the way to live our lives in the truth. You, the Eternal Word of the Father, lead us on the path of holiness. Do not let us grow weary, especially when the path is difficult. Give us your strength to stay the course.

Resolution: Today I’ll take up the Gospel and read a passage from it, exercising my faith in it as God’s own word, full of light and truth.

From Mount Tabor to Calvary

Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. From Mount Tabor to Calvary

Appearances can be deceiving. After all, Jesus was just another Galilean. His hands were the rough hands of a workman. People in Nazareth knew his mother. Some even remembered the man they thought was his dad.

Transfiguration

Yet when Jesus went up on Mt. Tabor with his three closest disciples, his appearance changed. The glory of his divinity suddenly became visible, shining through his humanity, dazzling his overwhelmed disciples.

But then two others showed up — Moses and Elijah. Of all the great figures of the Old Testament, why them? The Jews were not abstract but rather very concrete thinkers. When they thought about the first five books of the Bible, “the Law,” or “Torah”, they thought of a person — Moses. When they considered the Bible’s prophetic writings, the greatest prophet came to mind — Elijah. The Law and the Prophets. That was the Jewish way of saying “the Bible.” Moses and Elijah witness to Jesus because all of Scripture witnesses to him.

But what did the three of them talk about? His miracles? His teaching? Neither. They spoke about his “departure” soon to be accomplished in Jerusalem. This is what is predicted and described in a mysterious way all throughout the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, namely his march straight through indescribable suffering and death on his way to resurrected glory.

Calvary

One thing that has troubled many people about his passion are his words from the cross “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matt 27:46). Some have even read into this a mistaken theology that Jesus, taking our place, experienced the most terrible consequence of our sin, namely being cut off from communion from the Father, separated from God and his grace. Not a chance. That fact that Jesus bore our sin cannot mean this. He is not a sinner. His communion with the Father and the Spirit can never be interrupted. The cloud overshadowing the disciples there was the same cloud of the Spirit that overshadowed Mary at the annunciation. The voice of the Father resounded forth from it. The Father and the Spirit were with Him on Mt. Tabor. The Father and the Spirit were with Him on Golgotha.

So how do we take Jesus’ words? They are a quote from a psalm. In fact the ancient Jewish practice was to designate a particular psalm not by a number but by its first few words (we still do this with conciliar documents such as “Lumen Gentium”). There is a psalm in fact that begins with this phrase, Psalm 22. Make this psalm part of your meditation on the passion this Lent. In a remarkable way it predicts the mockery that is hurled upon Christ that fateful day, the piercing of his hands and feet by a pack of “dogs” (a uncomplimentary term used in those days to refer to gentiles), the gambling for his clothing, even his eventual deliverance by the God who hears his cry. So Jesus, from the cross, is proclaiming what is manifest in the transfiguration: “all the law and the prophets bear witness to me and to what is happening right now.”

Tabor to Calvary

This is why Jesus came. This is why for ten chapters in Luke’s gospel, Jesus is resolutely making his way towards Jerusalem (Lk 9-19). His teaching and his miracles are remarkable. But if he had not laid down his life for us, if he had not been raised from the dead, we’d still be in our sins. The entire drama of human history finds its center and its meaning in these few tumultuous days.

Some have asked why Mel Gibson’s movie was only about Jesus’ passion, and not the entire life of Christ. This is the reason. Theologically, the page dividing the New and Old Testaments is not the gold-edged one between Malachi and Matthew, but rather the crimson-tinged page of the passion.