Second Sunday of Lent
Twenty years back, I remember hiking on the French Alps. Later that year, I got the opportunity to be on top of Mount Blanc. From up on the mountain, the world looks very different. I was on the top of Mont Blanc waiting for my admission letter from the University of Dayton. I remember the stress, the anxiety, the fear, and the anticipation. But on the top of Mount Blanc none of those issues seemed the same. Not because anything had changed. Life just looked different from the mountain. I had more courage, gained new perspective, and I was more ready to face life than before I went up. Here I am twenty years later.
Today’s gospel reading describes the transfiguration of Jesus on the top of a mountain. Here are my three practical implications:
- Connecting with our Origin and Destiny. Jesus took his disciples up the mountain at a very critical moment in his life. He literally was between life and death. It was at this time that he took Peter, James, and John up the mountain. On the one hand, the transfiguration was Jesus’ own sake. It was a reassurance to Jesus that he was accomplishing God’s will. It was a reassurance to him that he was sent by the Father and that his destiny lay with his Father. On the other hand, the transfiguration revealed Jesus’ origin and destiny to the disciples. In Jesus, they must find their own origin and destiny. “This is my beloved Son, listen to him!” Life is complex and often complicated. Life has a way to suck us in. Our jobs, making ends meet, relationships, children, illnesses, and global epidemics can suck the life out of us. Perhaps, like Jesus, we too have found ourselves between life and death. If we do not want to get lost, the one thing we must do often is to connect with our origin and our destiny. Twenty years back, I was literally on the top of a mountain. I had no spiritual motive. I went as a tourist. But the mountain did its magic. I am not sure what our mountain looks like. It could be laying down our phones, for a moment disconnecting from social and traditional media, find quiet time, spending time in prayer, or reflecting on the scriptures. Lent is the time for spending time on the mountain. Let not lent pass without being on the mountain with Jesus.
- Live Life Below! But Get Perspective On the Mountain! On the top of the mountain, Jesus was transfigured. It is also on the top of the mountain that the disciples got a perspective on the coming events of Jesus’ life. In the coming days, their faith in Christ would be tested. They would be inclined to question his identity, his mission, his suffering, and death. They would be tempted to question their own intentions and decisions. That is why, on the way down the mountain, Jesus told the disciples about his suffering and death. After all, life is lived below! Jesus predicted his suffering and death to the disciples, so that when it happens, they might not lose perspective. Like the disciples, our life too is lived below. But it is from the top of the mountain that we must get our perspective. How often I have lost perspective in my life! In the midst of our very complex, complex, and demanding life, in the midst of the sufferings and meaninglessness that confront us, even in the midst of our successes and our happiness, the important thing is never to lose perspective. Here is the practical implication - live life below but get your perspective from the mountain!
- Rise, Do Not Be Afraid! I am very glad that the passage of the transfiguration describes the fear of the disciples. For me, it humanizes this very otherworldly event. Matthew tells us, “they [the disciples] fell prostrate and were very much afraid.” Being on the top of a mountain with God, sometimes alone, sometimes with others can be intimidating. Sometimes there is so much hurt, so much baggage, so much pain, so much doubt inside that we can be afraid to even attempt to be with God on the mountain. Fear is real. Fear can cripple us. Fear can make us irrational. Fear can make us take decision that are not helpful. I love the fact that Jesus came to the disciples and said to them, “Rise, and do not be afraid!” And then, Jesus walked down the mountain with the disciples to face life. That is where God is – with us here below. God meets us on the mountain and then accompanies us on our life below. Let us not be afraid. Jesus himself is with us. But to find God here below, we must meet God on the mountain.
Every Eucharist is our deepest experience with God. This is our mountain. God brings us to this mountain week after week. He brings us here to face our fears, our doubts, our successes, our failures, our joys, and our grief. Here we face life itself. Like the disciples, we too fall prostrate. Jesus says to us, “Rise, and do not be afraid!” Here we learn to listen to Him. Let us rise and go down the mountain for this week. Let us remember, Jesus himself goes with us!
- Satish Joseph