Scripture:
Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 9:28b-36
Reflection:
Last week, we reflected on the temptation of Jesus in the desert, when the devil tempted Jesus to betray His true self; to serve Himself instead of being obedient to the Father’s plan, coming to serve rather than to be served. We reflected on our own temptation to be false to who we are, and our call to be true to who God created us to be.
Just as the Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent is always the account of Jesus being tempted in the desert, the Gospel reading for the Second Sunday of Lent is always the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountaintop. This year we have Luke’s account (Luke 9:28b – 36). At the Transfiguration, Peter and James and John get a glimpse of the fullness of Jesus that is to come. During the temptation, Jesus was tempted to betray His true self. Here, Jesus’ true self is revealed. When Jesus is transfigured, a voice from heaven declares, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” Luke tells us that on the mountaintop, Moses and Elijah appear and speak “of the exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.” Jesus reveals everything about being the Son of the Father in His Passion, death, and Resurrection. I think Peter, James and John do not speak of this at the time was because they didn’t fully understand what it meant until Easter, or even Pentecost.
Just as Jesus’ true self was revealed on the mountain, our true selves are to be revealed in the world. As I was thinking about this, I thought of the song, “Child of God”: “If anybody asks you who I am, who I am, who I am; if anybody asks you who I am, tell him I’m a child of God.” I also thought of Philippians 4:5: “Your kindness should be known to all.” There is also 1 Peter 3:15: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you a reason for your hope.” There is another old song: “and they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love; yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” And again, there is this refrain: “If anybody asks you, where I am going, where I am going, soon. I’m goin’ up yonder…I’m goin’ up yonder to be with my Lord.”
We are called to live our lives in such a way that reveals that we do believe that we are indeed children of God; that, in following Jesus, we are willing to show kindness to everyone, and demonstrate our love for each other and for the world, in working for justice and peace. We are to live as people of hope, helping now to building up the kingdom, and looking forward to being with our Lord in heaven.
To be true to who we are, we need God’s grace. We need to be open to God transfiguring us, to be “the change we want to see.”
May our lives be a revelation of God’s love in Jesus Christ. May we do our part in helping “transfigure” our world into the place God created it to be.
Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama.