Cycle C - Year II:  

13 March 2022: Second Sunday of Lent 

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Readings:

First Reading:        Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18

Second Reading:   Philippians 3;17--4:1

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 9:28-36 

A glimpse of Jesus' divinity!

Our Lenten journey began last Ash Wednesday on a rather somber tone as we reflected on our Lord Jesus Christ -- His suffering and His sacrifice, His life, death, burial and resurrection.  Because Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance to prepare us for the glory of Easter.

On the second Sunday of Lent, the liturgy inspires us to keep faith as we take a break from our sadness and meditate on the fourth Luminous Mystery of the Holy Rosary, the Transfiguration of Jesus at Mount Tabor. This is one of the most dramatic scenes in all of Scripture.

In St. Luke's version of the transfiguration event there is a detail in his story which is unique to St. Luke's account: he wrote that Jesus was transfigured while the Lord was praying.  

"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." (Lk 9:28-31)

The transfiguration of our Lord was a unique display of His divine character and a glimpse of the glory which Jesus had before He came down on earth in human form.  In that holy mountain, the chosen apostles had the experience of "the already of the not yet", so that the "inner circle" of Jesus' apostles could gain a greater understanding of who Jesus is. And so these disciples who had only known Jesus in His human body now had a greater realization of the deity of Christ, even when perhaps they could not fully comprehend their experience at that time. This extraordinary event in the mountain made a lasting impression on the apostles and is a source of courage and strength that will sustain the chosen apostles through the difficult way of the cross. The flash of Jesus' glory swept the apostles up into an experience of overwhelming joy. "Master, it is good that we are here," Peter says.

This is also the reason why the Church places the moment of Transfiguration before us so early in the Lenten Season. We are given hope that by persevering in our Lenten penance and mortification, we will come to share in the Lord's glory. Through the discipline of Lent, we are being purified and we experience our own transfiguration into the disciples Jesus calls us to be.

How does this Transfiguration event affect our lives today as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ?

First of all, we must accompany our Lord in His Lenten journey. There is no shortcut to our heavenly goal. That is to say, we could not have the Gospel without sacrifice, holiness without prayer, virtue without effort, communion without confession, and Easter without Lent.  We cannot escape taking our share in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must take upon ourselves our share of the Lord's suffering and death, so that we also will share in His eternal glory.

For God wants to share His glory with us.  And today we get a glimpse of His glory in our Lord's transfiguration. So as we continue with our Lenten journey, let us pray earnestly and ask God to deepen our faith in His love and His loving plans for all of us, especially when they may not immediately make sense to us. Let us seek His grace to embrace our crosses and allow them to increase our virtue and to be a channel of God's strength, so that we can also share in the Lord's Easter, at the end of our Lenten journey. Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!