Sunday March 8, 2020, Second Sunday of Lent
• Gn 12:1-4
• Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
• 2 Tim 1:8-10
• Mt 17:1-9
By Marc Massery
In the Gospel reading this weekend, we read about the Transfiguration when Christ takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain to reveal His glory in the presence of Moses and Elijah. Scripture says, “And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun” (Mt 17:2).
You might be asking yourself, “Why are we reading about the Transfiguration in the middle of Lent?” Well, according to the Gospel of Luke, we know that, on the mountain, Christ talks to Moses and Elijah about His entry into Jerusalem, where He would be crucified. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains it this way:
Christ’s Transfiguration aims at strengthening the apostles’ faith in anticipation of his Passion: the ascent onto the “high mountain” prepares for the ascent to Calvary (CCC, 568).
What is Lent but a preparation for Holy Week, for the Passion and death of Jesus Christ? God gives the Apostles an experience of Christ’s glory because it will give them strength to endure their future suffering.
As we plod through Lent, let’s remember that suffering for Christ promises to end in glory. Let’s consider how Peter and John were transformed by their experience of the Transfiguration. Elsewhere in Scripture, they give a first-hand account of this event:
We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain (2 Peter 1: 16-18).
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
Few things help us endure suffering like knowing something wonderful awaits us on the other side. Directly before the Transfiguration scene takes place in Matthew, Jesus says to His Apostles: “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” (Mt 16:28). Christ says throughout the Gospels that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. That means He offers us a taste of Heaven here before we experience its fulness in eternity.
But in this Gospel reading, Peter doesn’t want his experience of the glory of God to end. He suggests making tents for Moses and Elijah so that they might stay. But then God the Father Himself intervenes, telling the Apostles to listen to His Son.
In our lives, we experience good times and bad times. Like Peter, when the good times happen, we tend to want to hold onto them forever, to try to make eternal what is only temporary. This is perfectly natural. After all, we were made for eternal happiness in Heaven. However, so long as we live on this fallen earth, we will endure the Cross. The more we embrace the Cross that God has designated for us to carry, the easier it will be for us to bear it.
Taking a lesson from Peter’s mistake, we need to be careful not to make an idol out of the good seasons of our lives. As wonderful as some experiences in our lives can be, nothing will ever compare to the eternal glory waiting for us in Heaven. Jesus asks us to let go of our desire for glory here on earth and patiently wait for our desires to be fulfilled in the life to come.
Photo by Sebastien Gabriel on Unsplash
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