Second Sunday of Lent (A)
The Mountain Experience
There are moments in one’s life when we see difficulties ahead of us, especially when facing important decisions. Jesus saw ahead of him a growing opposition from the religious leaders of the people: they would kill him if he proceeded with his mission. Yet he would carry out that task, and so he went up the mountain to pray that the Father would give him courage. In the vision of the Transfiguration he saw how he would rise from the dead and succeed. We pray with our Risen Lord among us that we too may see his light, and by his strength make the right decisions.
Reading 1: Gn 12:1-4a
God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.
I’ll make you a great nation
and bless you.
I’ll make you famous;
you’ll be a blessing.
I’ll bless those who bless you;
those who curse you I’ll curse.
All the families of the Earth
will be blessed through you.”
So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him.
Reading 2: 2 Timothy 1:8-10
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
Prayer
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
it is wonderful for us to be here
in the presence of your beloved Son.
Let his radiant face give us light and peace.
Do not allow sin to disfigure us further
nor divide our communities.
May the light of his transfigured face
shine on all of us and give us courage,
that we too may become lights to one another,
until we may enter your everlasting light.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Reflection:
5 March 2023
Matthew 17:1-9
Listen to Him
In Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus does or says something important, he goes up on a mountain: The Last Temptation takes place on the Mount (Mt 4:8); the beatitudes are spoken on the Mount (Mt 5:1); he multiplied the loaves on the Mount (Mt 15:29) and, at the end of the Gospel, when the disciples encounter the risen Christ and are sent into the world, they were “on the mountain that had been indicated to them” (Mt28:16).
In the Old Testament, mountains were sites of encounter with God. Moses had the manifestation of God and received the Law on Mount Sinai. Matthew, the evangelist, aims to present Jesus as the new Moses, who delivers the new law to the new people, represented by the three disciples.
The shining face and bright robes also often recur in the Bible. The Lord is “covered with majesty and splendour, wrapped in light as with a garment,” says the Psalmist (Ps 104:1-2). The luminous cloud that enveloped the people was a sign of God’s presence among his people while the Israelites were in exodus through the desert. When Moses received the law, a cloud enveloped the mountain. He also came down with a shining face. Cloud and luminous face are, therefore, a reflection of God’s presence.
Using these images, Matthew says that Peter, James, and John have been introduced to the world of God, which made them understand the true identity of the Master and the destination of his journey. He would not be the glorious messiah they expected but a Messiah who would be opposed, persecuted and killed.
In the previous chapter, to the question: “Who do you say that the Son of Man is?” Peter represented the Apostles and voiced their conviction that Jesus is the long-awaited messiah. Now, in the transfiguration scene, the voice from the sky attests to the disciples’ conviction: that Jesus is the beloved Son, in whom God is well pleased. The voice adds a command: “Listen to him.”
In the Bible, the word “to listen” means “to obey” (Éx 6:12; Mt 18:15-16). The Father’s recommendation to Peter, James, and John, and through them, to all the disciples, is to obey – “to put into practice” what Jesus teaches. It is the invitation to focus one’s life on the proposal of the beatitude.
Moses was the one who gave the Law to his people, and Elijah was considered the first of the prophets. For the Israelites, these two characters represented the Holy Scriptures. The manifestation of the face of God is understood only through the Scriptures. On Easter day, to clarify the meaning of his death and resurrection to his disciples, Jesus will resort to the Old Testament: “Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them everything in the Scriptures concerning himself” (Lk 24:27).
Without Jesus, the Old Testament is incomprehensible, and without the Old Testament, Jesus remains a mystery.