First Reading: Genesis 15:5-12,17-18
Responsorial Psalm 27:1,7-9,13-14
Second Reading: Philippians 3:17-4:1
Gospel: Luke 9:28-36
The readings today call us to a mountain top experience, to listen to God’s voice and to respond with trust and obedience.
The first reading today captures a very special moment in the history of salvation, namely, the covenant with Abraham – a testament of God’s desire for intimacy with man. It is God’s initiative to enter a personal relationship with humanity damaged by sin. God promises to make Abraham’s descendants as countless as the stars of heaven, and to give him a land. Through him, all the nations will be blessed. It is only in the light of Christ who is a descendant of Abraham that the descendants of Abraham truly become as countless as the stars at the sky, the nations of the earth blessed, and in Him, we have an eternal dwelling.
The Gospel today presents us with the transfiguration of Our Lord on the mountain. Throughout the Scriptures, setting or rather geography is a crucial and integral part of any story and sometimes theological. On the first Sunday of Lent, the Gospel took us to the desert where Jesus remained for 40 days and 40 nights, praying and fasting, and was tempted by the devil. The desert is a place of encounter, and intimacy with God. In Hosea 2: 14, we read, “Thus said the Lord: I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth when she came up from Egypt.”
On this Sunday, the gospel is set on a mountain. None of the evangelists give the name of the mountain. By the fourth century Christian tradition decided that it was on Mount Tabor and a Basilica commemorating the transfiguration was built there. Pilgrims will climb the difficult slop of the mountain which has 4,340 steps cut into the rock. If the evangelists were not concerned about the precise location of the transfiguration, we can only assume that for the evangelists the name of the mountain is not important because mountain is primarily theological and spiritual rather than a mere geographical setting. The name of the mountain is far less important than the theological motif that mountains represent a place of revelation and encounter with the divine. To go up the hill is a metaphor for rising from the valley of sin and materialism, to aspire for the divine and to ascend toward God.
Jesus took Peter, James and John and they went up the mountain to pray. The transfiguration of Jesus is first of all a prayer experience. As He prayed, His face changed in appearance and His clothing became dazzling white. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah were seen conversing with Him about His Exodus that He was to accomplish in Jerusalem. The appearance of Moses and Elijah indicates that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets. This is confirmed by the voice from the cloud, “This is my Chosen Son; listen to him.” The prophets depicted the age of salvation as a New Exodus when God will intervene and save His people in a way similar to the way He saved them from Egypt. The Exodus Jesus is going to accomplish in Jerusalem refers to His death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. Jesus is being presented as a new and greater Moses. Just as Moses took three special companions to encounter God, Jesus goes up the mountain with three special disciples. The first exodus began in Egypt and ended in the promised land, the land God promised to Abraham in the first reading, but the New Exodus will begin in Jerusalem and end in the true promised land; heaven.
The transfiguration of Christ challenges us to look beyond the cross and trials of our daily life to see the glory that awaits us. The memory of this vision not only helped the apostles to overcome the scandal of the cross, but also, the persecution that came afterwards.
In the second reading today, St. Paul warns the Philippians severely and in tears, against the examples of those who live as enemies of the cross of Christ. What does it mean to live as enemies of the cross? How does one live as an enemy of the cross? Paul gives specific examples; their god is their stomach – they are concerned only about what to eat and drinking, they worry only about earthly things. Paul says, their end is destruction. This is a call to detachment. This is not the kind of message modern Christians want to hear, much less a very materialistic society. As hard to accept and as unpleasant as it may seem, the extent we are able to detach constitutes the test and proof of our willingness to follow and imitate Jesus.
Happy Sunday
Rev. Fr. Chidi Onwuka, m.ss.cc.