Gospel Reflection for the 2nd. Sunday of Lent

Transformation and Change

In our gospel this Sunday, Jesus brings his disciples away from the noise and business of the market place and takes them up a mountain. This is not unusual in itself. We know from the gospels that Jesus himself often went to the mountain top to pray on his own. While they are on the mountain, something very strange an unusual happens. Jesus is changed in a very dramatic way; he is transformed beyond all recognition. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. Imagine the surprise and shock of those who were with Jesus. Yet even with this amazing experience, Peter is still able to proclaim this great prayer, ‘Lord it is wonderful for us to be here.

As we continue our Lenten journey and Jesus continues his own journey towards Jerusalem, he knows what he is facing. He will be betrayed, denied, condemned and crucified. Perhaps he feels and senses the disciples fear and anxiety and so wants to reassure them. So he gives them a glimpse of the shape of things to come; he is revealed to them in all his glory.

Maybe this brief glimpse of Jesus in all his glory is also meant for us today. Perhaps like the disciples, we too experience fear, doubt and even a lack of faith. Perhaps we too need to be encouraged and strengthened by Jesus, especially as we continue our journey through Lent. We too need know that our prayer, fasting and sharing with the poor is not an end in itself or that it is all done in vain. We are heading towards the resurrection and the new life of Easter, but we have a distance to go yet. But the experience of Jesus transformed offers each of us taste of what lies ahead of us. If we share in the suffering and passion of Jesus, we will also share in his resurrection. As St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, if we have become one with him in his dying as he did, in the same we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was. (Rmns. 6.5)

This is the hope in which we are asked to have faith as we make our way through Lent. When we are tempted to give up and give in, let us look to Jesus changed and transformed. May see in him the future that is promised to us, not only at Easter but in the fullness of God’s Kingdom.

As we continue to make our way through Lent, let us do what the voice of God says to each of us; ‘This is my Son, Listen to him.’

• Michael Moore OMI