Second Sunday of Lent (C) - Transfiguration
 

Gen 15:5-18/Ps 27/Phil 3:17-4:1/Lk 9:28-36

  Introduction
 

      Every song has an introduction, an overtone that tells how the rest of the notes of a musical piece will flow. In the same manner the Transfiguration is also a foretaste of how the “glorious song” of his Resurrection will be, at the end of his ministry.

 
   
  Background
 

  1. Luke tells us that the garments used of Jesus became radiant. The word used was “stilbein” meaning glistening gleam of burnished brass or gold or of polished steel or of the golden glare of the sunlight. It tells that Resurrection will be ultimately an eternal experience and can not be simply understood by human mind and can not be seen by our naked eyes. (It explains why there was no witness to the actual resurrection and only signs like “empty tomb” could describe it).

  2. Towards the end of the Transfiguration story, a cloud overshadowed them. In Jewish thought the presence of God is regularly connected with the cloud. It was in the cloud that Moses met God. It was in the cloud that God came to the Tabernacle, etc. And it was also the dream of the Jews that when the Messiah comes the cloud of God’s presence would return to the Temple. This descent of the cloud in our Gospel is a way of saying that the Messiah had come.

  3. For the Jews a case must be proven by 3 witnesses (Deut 19:15), that’s why Jesus took the 3 apostles, Peter, James and John with him. And during the Transfiguration, he was seen talking with the 3 other great witnesses: Moses, who was the supreme law-giver of Israel, and Elijah, who was the first and the greatest of the prophets. Then the Voice of God was heard, which assured the world that his will rest on Jesus, being His beloved Son. They were giving “a green light” to Jesus to “go on” with his mission; he was assured that he was on the right way to the cross. It is also worth noting that this Transfiguration event can be found in the three synoptic Gospels, Mark (9), Luke (9) and Matthew (19). This similarities of their writings proved that this transfiguration experience did actually happen.

  4. The Transfiguration erased the fears of the apostles caused by Jesus’ statement that he was going to Jerusalem to die. It was the complete negation of all that they understood of the Messiah. His exposition of his passion did not only baffle their minds but broke their hearts too. And what they witness in Mt. Tabor gave them something to hold on to, something to hope for. Even they could not fully understand their wonderful experience with Jesus’ transfiguration was enough for them to feel secured and at peace. They can not control such enormous joy in their hearts that made them exclaimed, “Teacher, it is good for us to be here.”

  
  Application to life:  
 
  1. When we became Christians, God did not promise a 24 hour ‘glorious experiences’. In fact Jesus encourages us to accept the pains and trials in life. But amidst these cold and sad experiences of ours, God usually gives us a “glimpse” to glories of the life. Even how dark “the sky of our life” is, God always show us some kind of “silver lining’ in the heavens. He shows that there is always something to hope for after all these crosses in life.

  2. It was not only Jesus who was transfigured. But the apostles themselves were transformed too. Their faith grows and their way of looking at life was also changed. Their fear was overcome by their experience joy of seeing the Lord. May our experience in prayer change not only our perception of God but may lead also to the total “transfiguration” of our hearts.  And we hope that this change may be reflected in the way we interact and associate with other people, being more compassionate and understanding to them. As one of the saints said, “Prayer changes not God but the person who prays

  3. Transfiguration was taken from the original Greek word “Metamorphous” which means “to make a great change in form” (“Meta” meaning “to make a great change” and “Morphe” meaning “form”). It is to change the outside to match the inside of a person. In Heb 10:20 it was said that Jesus’ Divine nature was “veiled” in human form and the transfiguration was a unique display of His divine character and a glimpse of his divine glory. May this coming election in the Philippines changes not only the external appearance in the political arena (new names and faces of politicians) but rather it should make a deeper change within the hearts of every Filipino.
  
  Conclusion  
 

We should not stop only in the “intro” when we are listening to any song. We should finish the whole song. Like any other music even how beautiful the introduction is, unless we experience “dynamism of the whole tune” until we heard the last note, only then we can fully appreciate the whole beauty of any musical piece. We are just in the intro of Lenten season. May we go on listening to the melody of prayer, fasting and charity in the whole season of Lent until we experience the joyful “song of Easter.”