This Is My Beloved Son—Listen To Him!
1. The Mountain Experience
2. A Face Transformed
Introduction
1. The Mountain Experience
There are moments in everyone’s life when we see difficulties ahead of us, especially when facing important decisions. Jesus saw ahead of him a growing opposition from the religious leaders of the people: they would kill him if he proceeded with his mission. Yet he would carry out that task, and so he went up the mountain to pray that the Father would give him courage. In the vision of the transfiguration he saw how he would rise from the dead and succeed. We pray with our Risen Lord among us that we too may see his light, and by his strength make the right decisions.
2. A Face Transformed
Lent is for us the privileged season of change, of transformation, in deed, of transfiguration. Our complacent and guilty faces have to be changed into faces of joy, love and service. The face of our world is to be changed from injustice into integrity, from hatred into kindness and friendship. We are afraid of change, especially at the cost of ourselves. Today Jesus shows us the way. He saw suffering and death waiting for him and so his face and heart were sad. But then the Father made Jesus’ face radiant for he would find life and resurrection and his face became radiant with joy and glory. If we follow Jesus and let him transform us, our face will become radiant too.
First Reading: Leave Your Security!
God demands a radical change from Abraham. He is called, when still a pagan, to leave his security on a pilgrimage of faith and hope to a promised land that will be given not to him but to the new people to be born from him.
1 Reading: Genesis 12:1-4A
The LORD said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.” Abram went as the LORD directed him.
Responsorial Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22.
R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full. R.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine. R.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you. R.
Second Reading: God Calls Us to the Life of the Gospel.
God calls us to accept and spread the gospel of Jesus and to suffer for it. If we suffer with Jesus, we shall live with him.
2 Reading: 2 Timothy 1:8B-10
Beloved: Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made manifest through the appearance of our saviour Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Acclamation: Matthew 17:5
From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:
This is my beloved Son, hear him.
Gospel: Stand Up, Do Not Be Afraid
The brief glimpse of his future glory strengthens Jesus on his road through suffering and death to resurrection. At the same time Jesus strengthens the faith and hope of his disciples and of us on the road of our own transformation in Christ.
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Commentary
Read: Abraham placed his absolute trust in Yahweh. Paul exhorts us to be steadfast in the Lord so that one day we will share in Christ’s glory. Peter, John, and James are granted a glimpse of this glory of Christ, a glory that would be their heritage if they accept God’s Chosen One.
Reflect: Yahweh made His promises to Abraham and he believed Him. Peter, John, and James were granted a vision of the glory of Christ that touched them deeply and transformed them. God continues to reveal His promises and manifest His glory in many ways in our lives. How do we recognize such revelations and manifestations?
Pray: Let us pray for the inner sight to recognize God’s glory in ordinary people and events around us.
Listen: The words from the cloud: “This is my Son, my Chosen one, listen to him.” Listen to him today.
Act: Meditatively recite the fourth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary.
In the Transfiguration of Matthew, we see Christ as the new Moses. In Mark, the divine secret behind the man Jesus is revealed. In Luke, this event shows Christ immersed in a deep experience of personal prayer. Through Moses and Elijah, Jesus reveals the ‘exodus’ towards heaven, which will be fulfilled by his death, resurrection and ascension. In the center of the earthly journey of Jesus Christ the veil is broken and anticipates his divine aspect, which Easter will show definitely. Let us contemplate in faith and prayer, the Son, the Chosen One.
Blessing
The transfiguration of Jesus
is to us a model and a sign of hope.
The man Jesus was really the Lord Jesus.
His true and deepest self-showed for a brief moment.
What we are meant to be in our deepest selves
will become apparent
if we let Jesus “transfigure” (change) us and become with him
people who live for others.
May God give you this courage and bless you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go in peace and become new in Christ. R/ Thanks be to God.