Reflection for the Second Sunday of Lent
A few years ago, I was given the great privilege to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land with some parishioners. One of the holy sites that we visited on the pilgrimage was the church on top of Mount Tabor. The church was beautiful and there were some ruins surrounding the church. I remember that our guide took us to a particular ruin that had a slab of stone on the ground. According to some traditions, the slab of stone is considered the exact stop where Our Lord was transfigured before his apostles. The reason was because it was the highest point of the mountain. We do not know the exact spot where our Lord stood and was transfigured before his disciples. Nevertheless, it's interesting to consider that for some, the tradition that our Lord stood at the highest spot to reveal his glory shows the attempt to prepare his disciples to experience his suffering, the “lowest” point in our Lord's life.
It is important to note what happened in the verses before the gospel that we read today. Just prior to the Transfiguration, Jesus began to reveal to His disciples that He would suffer greatly, be rejected by the elders, be killed and then rise on the third day. This caused much fear for the disciples as they grappled with this unsettling revelation from our Lord. Matthew and Mark even include that Peter tried to discharge our Lord from experiencing his passion, which resulted in a rebuke. Our Lord, however, remains firm and even prepares three of his disciples for this great event. The Gospel today tells us that our Lord takes Peter, John and James to the top of the mountain where he was transfigured before them. Moses and Elijah appear and Our Lord converses with them regarding his passion. Filled with joy, Peter exclaims, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”. We see so many connections between the scene of the Transfiguration and the agony in the garden. First, Peter, James and John are chosen for both events. Secondly, the three apostles fall asleep as the event is taking place. Thirdly, both events take place in a mountain: Mount Tabor and Mount of Olives. These similarities help us understand what our Lord is doing. He is preparing Peter, James and John to witness his passion by revealing his glory. By seeing a glimpse of his glory and divinity, the three apostles were better equipped to understand the extent and the depth of the redemptive work of Christ in his suffering, death and resurrection. However, as we see later on, all the disciples leave except for John. Although Peter and James were witnesses of the Transfiguration, the raising of the daughter of Jairus, and the agony in the garden, they were not prepared to accompany our Lord through the passion.
My dear brothers and sisters, oftentimes we find ourselves in the same place as Peter and James. Our Lord gives us moments throughout our lives when we can experience the glory of the Lord, his peace and his loving presence as Peter, James and John experienced in Mount Tabor. These moments are of great joy and we can find ourselves wanting to make our tent in the presence of the Transfigured Lord. However, when we are asked to accompany our Lord in his passion by taking up our crosses and follow him, things can get difficult. In the Gospel, we see that Peter desires to make three tents to host our Lord, Moses and Elijah. To make a tent is to desire to remain at a place for an extended period of time. When we experience the joy and the glory of Christ in our lives, we are given this opportunity to make our tents and to dwell there. This is to give us the opportunity to constantly remember the glory of Christ even in the midst of suffering. Those cherished moments can become an oasis during the difficult moments in life. However, as followers of Christ, we are also called to encounter our Lord and to follow him in our sufferings. The saints frequently emphasized the importance of uniting our sufferings with the passion of Christ. To live as good disciples of Christ is to live with, in and through Christ in all aspects of our lives. One cannot experience the resurrection without experiencing the passion. One cannot experience the passion without first encountering the glory of the Transfigured Christ.
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