Gospel & Reflection for the Second Sunday of Lent.
Luke 9:28-36
Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ – He did not know what he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen.
Reflection
Friends, four months ago, the highest price ever paid for a piece of movie memorabilia was reached at an auction house in Dallas, Texas. The winning bid was an astronomical $28 million, with the buyer paying an additional $4.5 million in fees to auction house. So, for $32.5 million, an unnamed collector brought a pair of ruby coloured shoes, worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 movie ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
As we know, the ‘Wizard of Oz’ is a tale of a young girl called Dorothy, who along with her pet dog Toto finds herself in the dream like land of Oz. Along with her newly found friends the Lion, Scare Crow, and the Tin Man, she makes her way along the yellow brick road to Emerald City, the home of the Wizard of Oz, who maybe able to help Dorothy find her way back home. When they finally encounter the Wizard, they hear his booming voice, and see His face through flames, thunder, and clouds of smoke.
It all looks so powerful, promising, and frightening, but then Dorothy’s dog, Toto, pulls back a green curtain exposing an ordinary man, working a machine which broadcasts the Wizard’s voice, and generates the impressive display of his presence. The Wizard was not who he was claiming to be and being revealed for who he really is, he tries to keep up the pretence by shouting: “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”
The story of the Transfiguration of Jesus is something like that scene in the ‘Wizard of Oz’ except it is the exact opposite!
When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, John and James, the curtain of His humanity was pulled aside. But what was revealed was no pretence. With that veil of His humanity pulled back, Jesus’ divinity shines. He is seen clearly as the Son of God, the Messiah. While Dorothy and her friends were told to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, God demands we do the opposite. With His booming voice, in bright light and cloud, God tells us: “This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to Him.”
Friends, the journey of our faith, our walking the road of faith, hope, and love is a voyage of constant listening. We listen to what is saying to us through all of life’s experiences, the triumphs and the failures.
Sometimes, God shouts in the major and difficult moments of our lives, but mostly God whispers, gently calling us forward to follow His ways, His teachings, and His love everyday, and with the people who surround us. Like the disciples on the mountain, sometimes we can be confused by what we hear and experience, misunderstanding or misinterpreting it.
Yet, Lent is our time of attentive listening; our time to meet God on the mountain, wherever and in whomever, that mountain may be for us. Every day we have is a Transfiguration day. God breaks into our lives constantly and lights them up with His presence and blessings if we can grasp and see Him. We are reminded that God is with us. God loves us. He is authentic, and He never presents Himself as something or someone, He is not. To know this, to believe this, to witness to this, is what makes the Transfiguration present and real to us always.
So, this Lent, let us never doubt but that God is speaking to us; God is lighting up our lives in a significant way, unveiling His truth and His love. He is trying always to shape our hearts and minds to be like His because behind our humanity is the glorious truth of us as sons and daughters of God. Lent affords us the time to glimpse beyond that curtain of our lives, and to hear and see the glory of our God within us and around us.
Let none of us waste these precious weeks to do just that.
Fr. Richard.
