Last week our Gospel recounted Jesus’ encounter with the devil and his temptations in the desert. The temptations occurred at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. This week we fast forward to the story of the Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-9.
To put the story in context, it is important to know that several days before the Transfiguration Jesus told his disciples “He must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Matt. 16:21). Upon hearing this Peter rebuked Jesus and Jesus dismissed him just as he did the devil in the desert because like the devil, Peter was attempting to divert him from his God-determined path. A few days later Jesus took Peter, James and John up a high mountain where his appearance changed in their presence. His “clothes became dazzling white.” Moses and Elijah appeared and had a conversation with him. The three disciples heard the voice of God say: "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." For Jesus the Transfiguration was affirmation that his mission was valid. For the disciples, it was an overwhelming event they would not understand until after the Resurrection.
In his Lenten Message for 2023 Our Holy Father Francis said: “During this liturgical season, the Lord takes us with him to a place apart. While our ordinary commitments compel us to remain in our usual places and our often repetitive and sometimes boring routines, during Lent we are invited to ascend “a high mountain” in the company of Jesus and to live a particular experience of spiritual discipline – ascesis – as God’s holy people.” The Holy Father reminds us that, “Lenten penance is a commitment, sustained by grace, to overcoming our lack of faith and our resistance to following Jesus on the way of the cross. This is precisely what Peter and the other disciples needed to do.
To deepen our knowledge of the Master, to fully understand and embrace the mystery of his salvation, accomplished in total selfgiving inspired by love, we must allow ourselves to be taken aside by him and to detach ourselves from mediocrity and vanity. We need to set out on the journey, an uphill path that, like a mountain trek, requires effort, sacrifice and concentration. “ Jesus received strength and courage to carry his cross from God his Father during his Transfiguration. The power of the transfiguration is available to us as well just as it was available to Peter, James and John. If we have confidence in God’s love for us, if we truly desire to fulfil God’s will in all aspects of our lives, if we trust God with childlike confidence and if we remember to give God glory for all that God has done for us, then we will have the strength to carry our own crosses. Not only will we have the strength to deal with our problems, our lives can be transformed. And, through the love of God that shines in us, we can transform the lives of others.
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
it is wonderful for us to be here
in the presence of your beloved Son.
Let his radiant face give us light and peace.
Do not allow sin to disfigure us further
nor divide our communities.
May the light of his transfigured face
shine on all of us and give us courage,
that we too may become lights to one another,
until we may enter your everlasting light.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
