Second Sunday of Lent, Year B

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B

Genesis 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18

Romans 8:31-35, 37

Mark 9:2-10

Last Sunday, the First Sunday of Lent, we heard proclaimed St. Mark’s account of the temptation of Jesus in the desert. Having just been baptized by John in the Jordan, Jesus is “driven by the Spirit” into the wilderness where He will come face to face with Satan and the allurement of sin. Jesus’ victory over temptation and sin gives us confidence that, in Christ, we, too, will be victorious in our struggle with the powers of evil. That Gospel passage is a fitting start to our annual lenten journey, a journey that takes us away from sin and toward a deeper love of God.

Today we have just heard proclaimed the account of the transfiguration of Jesus in the presence of Peter, James and John. What a dramatic shift from last Sunday’s Gospel. We have moved quickly from a mortal struggle with sin and death to a vision of the glories of heaven itself. This movement from sin and death to heavenly glory gives us a picture not only of Jesus’ divine mission but also of our journey as Disciples of Christ.

In the Gospel Reading, Saint Mark tells us about what happened on Mount Tabor.  Prior to this, in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus told his disciples about his passion and death.  He told them that he would suffer terribly and be killed by the religious authorities of the day.  In reality, what he told them was that he would have to suffer in order to reach the glory of his Resurrection.  But Saint Mark tells us that the apostles did not understand what Jesus had said to them.  Still, and perhaps because they really did not completely understand what they had heard, Jesus’ words saddened and worried them.

It was then that Jesus led Peter, James and John up a high mountain apart from the others to pray.  These were the same apostles who would later witness first the agony and then the arrest of Our Lord in the Garden of Olives.  But that would be in the future.  After hearing what the Lord had said to them in Caesarea Philippi the
apostles had spent several miserable days worrying about what might happen.  They felt dejected.  

Seeing their doubts, Jesus decided to show them his true glory.  He wanted to relieve them of their sadness and worry so he allowed them to see what today we call, “the Transfiguration.”  The divine brilliance was something that the apostles saw briefly.  Suddenly they saw Jesus' face highlighted brilliantly and his clothes appeared to be dazzlingly white.  The prophet Elijah and the patriarch Moses appeared with him.  But this lasted only a short time, just a few moments.  And afterwards, they only saw Jesus.  The Lord allowed them to see this so that they could enjoy, for a short time, the happiness that is reserved in heaven for those who follow God faithfully.

We can imagine what those disciples felt as they saw Jesus transfigured before their eyes, His clothes dazzlingly white. And Moses and Elijah standing before them. In spite of their fear, Peter exclaims: “Rabbi, it is good that we are here.” In the presence of the great heroes of old and of the promised Messiah this was truly a glimpse of heaven itself, of the glory that was to come. Is it any wonder that Peter wanted this moment to continue indeed, to go on forever?

But this was not to be. Not until Jesus had undergone His passion and death and been raised from the dead. Then, and only then, could He enter into His glory, taking His disciples with Him. He charged them to tell no one of this vision until He had risen from the dead.

Do you see what Jesus is teaching His disciples and us? Do you understand that the crown of victory comes only after we have been victorious in our battle with sin. Jesus’ own resurrection reveals to us that He has won the battle with the devil? But the struggle continues to be played out in each of our lives. With fidelity to Christ and trust in His grace we, too, will be victorious in our earthly contest. For now we must “listen to God’s Son” and see in Him the model after whom we fashion our lives.

It is precisely Jesus’ obedience that won for Him and us the crown of everlasting life. Jesus refused to be led away from His mission by the enticements of the devil. Not even the threat of death would divert Jesus from fulfilling His Father’s will. As St. Paul tells us, Jesus obediently accepted even death on a cross. The obedience of Abraham, our father in faith, is a type or a foreshadowing of the obedience of Jesus that would save the world. Not even the death of his own son could sway Abraham from the way of faith. It was this obedience, born of faith, this absolute trust in God, which was counted as Abraham’s justification. It is our obedience to God, born of faith, that will be the cause of our justification in Christ.

The transfiguration gives us a brief glimpse of the life to come in heaven. At the same time it reveals the glory that is ours right now in this life. We must not see our life in God as only a future reality. We are sons and daughters of God now, and the glory of God enlivens us at this very moment. His justifying and sanctifying grace introduce us into the life of heaven even in this world. In living faithfully the Christian life today, especially our worthy reception of the sacraments, we move that much closer to the fulfillment of life in Christ–our heavenly home.

At the beginning of this Lenten season we are privileged to move, for a moment, beyond time into eternity. There, with Peter, James and John we are enveloped briefly by heaven itself. The fullness of that vision awaits us at the end of time. For now we walk by faith and not by vision. For now we hear the voice of the Father calling us to listen to His Son and live by His Gospel. The transfiguration is a foretaste and promise of heaven. In an even more sublime way the Eucharist which we now celebrate is that same foretaste and promise of heaven. We have listened to God’s Son. He invites us now to enter once again into His Eucharistic sacrifice.

Sometimes we also, like the apostles,  have problems understanding the whys and wherefores of daily life.  We don’t know how we are going to resolve the problems that confront us on a daily basis.  At times like this, the Lord asks us to have faith in him.  This Lenten season is the perfect time to show our faith in Christ, to show him that we are ready and willing to listen to him and to follow him.  During these days of Lent, we, in this community, should prepare ourselves, through penance and fasting, for the celebration of the glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  The Lord reminds us also about what he told the apostles, that before we experience the glory, we have to go through the Calvary of daily life.

Our First Reading tells us about the sacrifice that Abraham was prepared to make to show his love for God.  At first, God called him by his name.  And Abraham answered quickly, “Here I am.”  God wanted to test Abraham by asking him to do a most difficult thing: to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, whom Abraham loved dearly.  This was extremely hard for Abraham.  But the Lord only wanted to test him.  God had chosen Abraham to renew the dialogue between God and humanity that had been broken by the Original Sin of Adam and Eve.  And Abraham showed, by his attitude, that human beings, despite having sinned, still had the capacity to love and obey the one true God. Centuries later, God, in turn, would show his great love for humanity by sacrificing his only Son, Jesus Christ, on the Cross

 In the Second Reading today (Romans 8:31-34) we are told that God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for our benefit. What this means is that God gave up what is most precious to Him. We have the confirmation of the value God placed on his Son Jesus Christ in the Gospel Reading where he said: “this is my Son the beloved…” In the context of our reflection, God gave up His “Isaac” so that we can be blessed.

Today there is a call on all of us to give up what is most precious to us,

our Isaac so that we can receive something more than that Isaac. In fact our Isaac lies between us and our blessings. Often we have many Isaacs blocking our blessings. Remember that Isaac represents all those things that stand in the gap between us and the fulfillment of God’s promises. There are so many of them coming in various forms and shapes. We have some Isaacs in the form of fashion, material possession, technology, selfish desires and a good number of others.

In the Gospel Reading (Mark 9:2-10), we are also shown in a practical way how we can give up our Isaac. We are told that our Lord Jesus Christ took with him three of his apostles who constitute the inner caucus: Peter, James and John (a typical expression of the trinity) and went up on a high mountain. We can recall also that Abraham took Isaac to a mountain in Moriah.  

On the mountain of transfiguration, our Lord Jesus Christ gave up his normal appearance and took up another appearance. On the mountain at Moriah, Abraham gave up his son Isaac. To climb a mountain, a serious minded person must give up his load at the foot of the mountain in order to climb effectively.

The word transfiguration simply means change of figure. Put in another way, it means giving up the present figure and obtaining another one. To experience transfiguration one needs to let go certain things at the foot of the mountain. The Lenten season is a period of mountain climbing; a time we are expected to let go those Isaacs that distract us from God. The time we are required to let go and let God to let in our blessings.

There is no better time for us to let go our Isaacs than this Lenten season. That is why we are at this time called to practice abstinence. There is productive and active correlation between abstinence and giving up our Isaacs. It is instructive then for us to be conscious of the fact that our abstinence must be based on those things that have strong grips in our lives; the Isaacs in our lives.

Our transfiguration comes after giving up our Isaacs. There will be no transfiguration unless there is a decisive letting go of the contending Isaacs in our lives. We are transfigured when we live for God and not just for ourselves. We become transfigured when we come forth and remain in God’s exciting presence and when we are able to exclaim like Peter “it is good for us to be here!” 

As we move further into this season of lent, let us carefully check ourselves in order to identify those Isaacs that need to be moved from our lives. If we don’t let go our Isaacs we may not attain our transfiguration. If we don’t let go the Isaacs we may not be able to hear the voice of God calling us His beloved sons and daughters.

Saint Paul, in the Second Reading, asks us to be joyful and confident.  He tells us that if God is with us we can do anything, that when we have problems, when the difficulties of life seem to overcome us, we should think of the glory that awaits those who carry their cross patiently, as Our Lord carried his Cross for us.

On this Second Sunday of Lent, the Church encourages us urgently to transform our lives.  Life is short and we don’t know how much more time we have to change.  If we follow the Lord faithfully, joyfully and with hope, some day we will surely enjoy the glory that God has reserved for us.