Sunday, Feb. 25th, is the 2nd Sunday of Lent (Lent B). Mass Readings: Genesis 22:1-2, 9a,10-13, 15-18; Psalm 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19; Romans 8:31b-34; Mark 9:2-10.
Every 2nd Sunday of Lent during all of the 3-Year Cycles A,B,C (maybe you didn’t know there was a 3 year Cycle of readings!) the Church presents us with the Mystery of the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus.
Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
The Eternal Word, God the Son came into this world that we ourselves might be transfigured. The Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus is not solely for His sake, but for our sake.
What was about to happen immediately after Peter James and John experienced the Lord Jesus transfigured before them?
The Passion of Death of the Lord.
Jesus knew how weak the faith of his Apostles was (and he knows how weak our faith us as well!), so he gives them a glimpse of the Glory of His Divine Nature. That must have been baffling to the disciples of the Lord!
And if the Glory of the Transfigured Lord Jesus wasn’t enough for them– Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus.
Two of the greatest Prophets of the Old Testament were before their eyes. The Gospels do not tell us that Peter, James and John heard what they were conversing about.
Let’s enter into that conversation during this 2nd Sunday of Lent. Read through this account of the Transfiguration of the Lord a few times through.
Peter James and John were there, but now YOU are there too.
I would probably be thinking—if only I could sneak around the other side of the mountain and plant a recording device… I want to know what they are talking about!
Moses and Elijah were conversing with the Lord Jesus. What must this have looked like. The Gospels don’t say they were listening to Jesus, but that they were conversing with Jesus.
Lent is a time of conversing with the Lord Jesus. Conversing with the Lord also means listening to him. Conversing and listening go hand in hand. A very wise priest once told me that 75% of any good conversation is listening.
During a conversation, there is a giving and receiving. This conversation between the Lord Jesus, Moses and Elijah can teach us something.
Primarily, our disposition toward the Lord is one of receptivity. We need to be open and docile (teachable). What might the Lord be asking of me? Sometimes in a conversation, the temptation is to always be the one speaking—to always have the “upper hand.”
Lent is about listening… Obviously listening to the Lord, but also listening to the needs of those around us.
That might perhaps be something to mention the next time we go to Confession—not listening enough—not being open and receptive to what the Lord is asking of me—as well as not being an attentive listener to those around me.
The Sacraments bring about this transformation—our own personal transfiguration into the likeness of the Lord Jesus.
Father John Paul/ National Catholic Register
This article is reprinted with permission.