Cycle A - Year I:  

5 March 2023: Second Sunday of Lent 

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Readings:

First Reading:        Genesis 12:1-4

Second Reading:   2 Timothy 1:8-10

Gospel:  Please Read  Matthew 17:1-9 

"This is my Son.... Listen to Him!"

In the noisy world of our generation, do we still hear God's voice, and do we listen to Him?  Or, are we so distracted with our life's struggles that we forget we have a loving and caring Father who assures us of passage through the storms?

In the last part of Matthew's chapter 16, Jesus shakes His disciples from their comfort zone by speaking about His coming passion and death. The disciples would not want to hear of this depressing and frightening event as they were expecting that the coming of the Messiah would be a time of glory and victory over their enemies.

So Jesus prepared the disciples for His coming passion and death. As they were travelling to Jerusalem, our Lord Jesus took three of His disciples, Peter, James and John to a high mountain. Up there Jesus was transfigured and appeared in glory with Moses, the greatest lawmaker of Israel, and with Elijah, the greatest of the prophets. St. Matthew's account tells us that Jesus' "face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him." (Mt 17:2-3) Then they heard a voice from the cloud, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." (Mt 17:5)   

Matthew tells us nothing of the content of Jesus' conversation with Moses and Elijah, but Luke tells us that they speak of Jesus' departure "which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem" (Lk 9:31), an obvious reference to His death, resurrection, and ascension.

The Transfiguration stands in contrast to the humiliation about which Jesus warned the disciples in Chapter 16 of St. Matthew. On that high mountain, Jesus is glorified -- a preview of the Godly majesty that He will experience after the Ascension.  The 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 it at that time.

Yet, the truly amazing thing is how quickly the disciples forget their unique experience in the mountain. Peter, James and John have seen Jesus revealed in glory, but their courage will fail them at the cross. Peter will deny Jesus three times. There is a lesson here for us. We, too, have experienced the hand of God in our lives but we find faith difficult when trouble looms.

In the transfiguration event, the disciples heard a voice from the cloud "Listen to him". This was directed at Peter and the others. This is also directed to us today. We must listen to our Lord Jesus Christ in His preaching. To listen to Jesus is to hear what He says; to accept what He says; to make it our own; to identify with Jesus and His teaching fully.

By His transfiguration, Jesus confirmed that indeed He is the Messiah, the Son of God, and pointed to the fulfillment of the prediction that He will come in His Father's glory at the end of time. So that the central message of the transfiguration event is that God wants to share His glory with us.

As we progress in our Lenten journey, let us pray for an unwavering faith and listening heart through repentance and prayers.  And prayer is better described as listening than speaking. Spend some time echoing God's words, or just listening to the words of love and peace in prayer.

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!