SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT 2023

2ND SUNDAY LENT, 05 MARCH 2023, GENESIS 12. 1-4a; 2 TIMOTHY 1. 8b-10; MATTHEW 17. 1-9: TRANSFIGURATION 2ND SUNDAY LENT, 05 MARCH 2023, GENESIS 12. 1-4a; 2 TIMOTHY 1. 8b-10; MATTHEW 17. 1-9: TRANSFIGURATION Pivot: Configured and Transfigured! Indicative: The scene of the transfiguration of the Lord is a revelation and re-confirmation of the original identity of Jesus and a reminder and indicator of our own future glory 1. The Lord’s transfiguration in the first place is a call for confirming our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. We must believe that he incarnated himself and put on our human body and nature. That does not mean that he is merely human. He is the Son of God and has come to us on a mission of love for our salvation 2. Transfiguration is a call to reset our minds to understand and accept God’s will and God’s ways. God’s ways are not our ways. God wants to save us, not the way the world thinks and does. For the world, defeating the enemy and gaining victory is usually a big, pompous, and overturning way with a display of power and might 3. But God’s way is a totally contrasting way. It is a way of love, humility, mercy, and sacrifice. It is the way of the Cross. It is not through power and destruction but through humility and compassion. It is through inner power and renewal. It is not through domination but through submission and surrender 4. The Lord wants us to understand this mystery of salvation through suffering. This shall not distress us but make us prepared. God suffers, not because He is powerless and helpless. It is because He wants to atone for our sins so that our salvation becomes just and justified 5. The episode of the Lord’s transfiguration points to our whole journey of faith as God’s children and followers of Christ. It comprises a constant movement from disfiguration through configuration to transfiguration 6. Accordingly, in the first place, we must be sincerely aware of the manifold ways in which sin disfigures our divine image. With this awareness, we must be led to repentance. Then turn to Jesus and configure ourselves to him. Be conformed to him. Imitate and emulate him. Become more and more like him Imperative: Disfiguration can be countered effectively only through a steady configuration to the Lord. This transfigures us here and now and later, in eternal glory (REFLECTION 2 FROM 2020, 06 AUGUST) Pivot: Glory is our destiny! Indicative: Transfiguration is the way to our destiny of glory. Let us not be upset at the fact of misery but always raise our hearts to the destiny of glory by constant transfigured life, transformed heart 1. Jesus is transfigured on Mount Tabor in the presence of 3 of his disciples. It is not a display of self-glory but a manifestation of his true identity. It is not to impress them but to confirm them in faith. His glory is not partial but total, both interior and exterior, as indicated by the glow of his face and clothes respectively. The experience of divine glory is so relishing, as indicated by Peter’s exclamation: “it is nice to be here; let us make three tents” 2. Jesus’ transfiguration points to our own transfiguration, being adorned with divine glory. This is possible through a constant integral transformation of our both interior and exterior, by attentive listening and adhering to the Lord 3. The event of Jesus' transfiguration is a manifestation of his original divinity, identity, and glory. The purpose is not to display his glory, not to impress upon the three disciples his greatness. It is not self-directed, seeking self-glory 4. Rather, it serves as a fount of hope that prepares and strengthens the disciples, in the face of the cross and the death of Jesus ahead. The transfigured glory of Jesus illumines and assures the disciples that Jesus who meets the fate of the cross, is not a helpless failure, forced to such a miserable end; rather he is the glorious Son of God, who willingly and freely accepts the cross as God's will for salvation. 5. It is not a fate of misery and damnation, but a destiny of glory and salvation. Thereby when faced with the ignominy of the cross, let them not be shaken or shocked; let them not be dissipated or frustrated. Let them not be stuck with the cross and death, but rather let their focus go beyond the glory and eternity. Behind and beyond the disfigured crucified, one should see the transfigured resurrected Lord, re-vested with the original heavenly glory 6. Thus that simple Jesus, who is walking along with them as an ordinary man, that suffering Jesus, who will be subjected to the humiliation of the cross, is not a disgraced and defeated man. Instead, he is the glorious "beloved Son of the Father", attested so by the Father Himself from heaven. So do not lose faith in him, when things go contrary, but continue to keep trust and hope in him 7. Jesus' transfiguration is also an indicator, a forecast, and a foretaste of our own resurrection and the glory of the resurrection. It is a prefiguration of our own future glory. The frequent disfiguration of life, with all the vicissitudes and adversities, is not the final or permanent reality 8. Transfiguration is the ultimate and definitive experience. Misery is not an absolute fate, but glory is our eternal destiny. Therefore, the transfiguring experience must trigger us to direct our focus, beyond the temporary upsets of the cross, to the eternal upheaval of resurrection 9. This is possible only through a constant REINVIGORATION of our original identity of being God's image and likeness. This in turn is possible through a faithful CONFIGURATION with Jesus. The more we are tuned and communed to him, the more we live and grow like him, the more we adhere to him In "attentive listening to him", the more we shall experience and share the same transfiguring glory 10. If sin disfigures us, depriving us of our original beauty and dignity of being God's images, grace through Jesus transfigures us, restoring to us that lost light and radiance. The shining light and brightened glow will indicate that our transfiguration is more a matter of illuminating and brightening our darkened selves and false lives 11. The more we are enlightened, breaking off the sheaths and layers of darkness that often block and blur our radiance, the more we re-discover our real identity and radiate the light of that true image 12. Thus real transfiguration lies in the daily process of brightening up our lives. Light up the life, Daily on the "mountain" - of the vicinity, proximity, and intimacy with God, in a spirit and ambiance of solitude and serenity, in the heights of our spirits, in the focused moments of prayer, in a personal encounter with Moses and Elijah, signifying the Law and Prophets, i.e. the entire Scripture and Tradition 13. Transform and glorify life, wholly and fully, by changing both the interior, indicated by the change of face, which is the index of the interior, and the exterior, indicated by the change in clothes 14. Let our every day be a continuous journey of removing the shades of darkness that reduce our glow. Let it be a vibrant march of regaining our lost radiance. Let the light of Christ make our hearts, and our life, more bright, with more hope and more renewal. Imperative: Often we want to see only glory and cling to such moments. But only the path of the cross and following Jesus will lead to glory (REFLECTION 3 FROM 2023, 18 FEBRUARY) Pivot: Be transfigured! Indicative: God created us in His own image and likeness. He wants us to be like Him. Sin reduces this likeness and makes us unlike Him. We need then to recuperate what we have lost 1. We are living in a world where life is increasingly disfigured. Often, life is losing its beauty and charm. Thus many do not experience the joy and value of life. Dehumanisation in its various forms such as injustice, inequality, lack of respect and dignity, deception, dishonesty, selfishness, greed, and violence causes this disfiguration 2. Therefore, we need transfiguration so that the beauty and joy of life can be resurged. This transfiguration will be possible only with the help of the Lord because he himself is the Lord of transfiguration. Today’s gospel narrates the scene of the transfiguration of the Lord. 3. This episode occurred not so much to display his greatness or parade his glory before the poor disciples. It is not to prove himself or impress them. The main purpose is to make them aware of his original identity so that their faith will not be shaken in testing times. Rather they will remain firm looking back and drawing their courage and strength from this transfiguration of the Lord. 4. Thus the Lord transfigures himself with his heavenly glory before them so as to confirm them in their faith and re-commit them to him. His transfiguration is a prefiguration of our own transfiguration one day when we finish our earthly pilgrimage. 5. Now how will we be transfigured on the last day? We will be transfigured on the last day when we strive to be transfigured every day. What does this imply? The gospel gives us some pointers. We need to be led up a high mountain apart by ourselves. 6. That is we need to withdraw and raise ourselves from the earth, from the low and below interests. From time to time, we need to climb up from our ordinary preoccupations to be alone with God in silence and serenity. 7. We need to stay in intimacy with him and relish his presence. It is this ecstatic joy that made Peter acclaim, “Lord, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents”. It was so cherishable that Peter did not want to miss it. 8. We need to listen to Jesus because he is the beloved Son of the Father. We too will become the beloved sons and daughters of the Father if we listen to His Son. Listening to him implies that we accompany him always, encounter him and be in dialogue with him like Moses and Elijah. It also implies that we transfigure ourselves both interiorly and exteriorly. Imperative: There is an excessive concern about the external figure and its transfiguration. So much money and time are spent on beautifying the external body and material features. But what about the interior transfiguration, which is the beauty of the heart, and the worth of living? (REFLECTION 4 FROM 2022, 19 FEBRUARY) 1. In the gospel today, we have the transfiguration episode. This indicates that what is very important is to be deeply aware of the various “disfigurements” of our life. Then, strive sincerely for a “transfiguration” of it. For this, first of all, we need to participate and share the “transfiguration experience” of Jesus himself. We need to behold his heavenly glory and sanctity. We need to confirm our faith in his divinity despite the garbs of human fragilities 2. We need to relish the moments of being with him and desire to abide close to him again and again. Hear what Peter exclaims at the transfiguration experience of Jesus: It is good to be here. Let us make … tents”. We need to listen to the Lord as the beloved of the Father. 3. However, we cannot hide only in such ecstatic moments. Taking our courage and strength from such deepening and strengthening experiences, we need to come down the mountain of Tabor. We need to gird ourselves with the task of living the transfiguring experience in our daily living. We need to change both our ‘face’ and our ‘clothes’ that is the face of our interior life and the clothes of our exterior actions and behavior. Direction: Total transfiguration comes only with our resurrection. But we can commit ourselves to a daily transfiguration. This does happen when we constantly try to become more and more renewed and transformed persons