February 24^th 2013. SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

Gospel: Luke 9:28-36

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

___________________________________________________________________________________  

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

Gospel                             Luke 9:28-36

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, 'Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah'. - He did not know what he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, 'This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.' And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

The story of the Transfiguration has three elements that are crucial for the daily life of the Christian. Our lives are full of confusion, egoism, banality and emptiness. The first thing we must do is extract ourselves from this chaos on a daily basis and “ascend Mount Tabor”. Secondly, in solitude with the Lord, we must contemplate the Scriptures (represented by Moses and Elijah), and in this way come to an awareness of the beauty of the face of Christ and the meaning of our lives. Thirdly, we must descend from this “mountain” and live out our mission in the world. This is the correct rhythm for an ordered Christian life. Sometimes we tend to think that it is sufficient to pray when trials present themselves. But we cannot confront the trials of life unless we are already ascending Tabor on a daily basis, contemplating the glory and beauty of the Lord. This permits us to descend daily, “enter Jerusalem”, and carry out our mission in the world (Don Fabio's translation now follows).

The story of the Transfiguration has three elements that are fundamental for the daily spiritual life of the Christian

The Second Sunday of Lent traditionally recounts the story of the Transfiguration, an event that assists us in our Lenten journey because it presents us with a glimpse of the glory that we are journeying towards. The passage is dense and has many elements that are worthy of reflection. We will focus on a reading of the text that has something fundamental to say for the daily spiritual life of every Christian. The passage can be thought of as being structured in three parts, even though Luke’s version of the story has a very concise statement of the third part. Firstly there is the ascent to the top of the mountain; secondly, something happens on the summit; and, thirdly, there is the descent. This is a paradigm of the spiritual life of the Christian. The Transfiguration precedes Jesus’ descent into Jerusalem and the fulfilment of his mission. Every Christian has a mission to fulfil and, in order to do so, must first do exactly as Jesus did in the story of the Transfiguration.

Firstly we must detach ourselves from the confusion of our lives, ascend the mountain, contemplate the Scriptures (represented by Moses and Elijah), and come to an awareness of the beauty of the face of Christ

Jesus ascends the mountain and brings with him only three disciples. There is a dimension of intimacy and privacy about the event. We too, in order to be able to complete our mission, must be taken apart and make an ascent of the sort described in the Gospel. An “ascent” is a transition from a non-redeemed state to a redeemed state, a transition from chaos to the beauty of the divine order, a transition from confusion to light. This Lent, as in every Lent, we need to make an ascent of this sort. In fact we need to make such an ascent every day of our lives. We must extract ourselves from the confusion of life and climb that mountain. In the modern world, there is a tendency to analyse ourselves endlessly. We are continually preoccupied with our health and our self-esteem. We ask why we have not fulfilled our potential. We lament the fact that we have not achieved the goals that society places in front of us. The ascent to the mountain is a journey away from these introspective fixations towards a relationship with the Lord. On Mount Tabor, the disciples saw the face of Jesus and discovered his beauty. This discovery of the beauty of Christ was made through an encounter that involved Moses and Elijah. Moses was the one who wrote the Law whilst Elijah was the most famous of the prophets. By means of this intimate encounter with the Scriptures, the providence of God, and the prophetic message of the Old Testament, the face of the Lord is transformed before our eyes! Through this ascent to the contemplation of the Scriptures, we finally see the beauty of God. Without this ascent, our daily lives are filled with banality and hopelessness. Our spirits are crushed by the greyness and drabness of an existence that is not oriented towards him. Everything around us has a dull uniformity and sameness. We see an endless series of facts but comprehend nothing of the truth that lies beneath them. When we ascend the mountain, we extract ourselves from the ordinary and are finally alone with Jesus. It is only then that we can begin to appreciate his beauty. This, in fact, is the exclamation of Peter. “How beautiful it is for us to be here!”

We must ascend Mount Tabor every day of our lives and gaze on the beauty of Christ

This is an experience that we have absolute need of: to place ourselves with the Lord in front of the Scriptures. Only then can we be freed from the quicksand of our own psychological fixations and egoistic preoccupations. The spirit moves within us and we realize that we have something beautiful before us. We are no longer a slave to the pressures and demands of the endless wheel of our lives that drives us around in circles. We feel a desire to remain where we are because we have discovered that “it is beautiful to be here.” It is interesting that Peter says “it is beautiful for us to be here,” even though it is the Lord who is beautiful. But it is beautiful to be with the Lord when we discover his beauty. The more the Lord reveals to me what he is truly like, the glory of his face, his hidden truth, then the more I am content to be with him. Every place becomes beautiful if I am with the Lord. The Gospel of Luke ends with a conversation between two dying men regarding paradise: “Truly I say to you, this day you will be with me in paradise.” Paradise is pre-announced and foretasted through an experience of intimacy with the Lord Jesus. To be with the Lord is to be in paradise. The remarkable conversation between two men dying on their crosses emphasizes this fact. We enter the Kingdom of God when we are with the Lord Jesus. That is why it is essential to extract oneself from the things of this world and be in solitude. Every Christian must ascend Mount Tabor every day of their lives and be alone with Christ, contemplating the most profound meaning of their existence.

Descending from Mount Tabor: living out our mission in the world

We must ascend Mount Tabor daily, and then we must descend from the mountain and live our lives. Sometimes there is a tendency to search for the Lord afterwards, at the moment that life presents us with difficulties. But that is not how Jesus did things. The most frightening moment of his life was lived in Gethsemane with the same three disciples that he had taken up Mount Tabor. At the moment of crisis he went to the disciples who were sleeping and said “Stay awake and pray that you will not be led into temptation.” This is not some sort of abstract or vague recommendation to the disciples to pray. Jesus is the second person of the Holy Trinity, who has become incarnate and who is going through the most critical moment of his mission. His exhortation to prayer is something that is fundamental for all of us. To avoid falling into temptation, we must be faithful to prayer on a continuous basis. Prayer is not something that you must do merely at the moment of temptation. Rather, prayer must be regular and unremitting so that when trials come we are in a position to confront them.

            Life is a continual process of ascending Tabor, of experiencing the Transfiguration and then entering into mission, represented by Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. We should not think that we can enter into the trials of life and then seek the Lord at the critical moment. God is good and will not abandon us if we do behave in this fashion, but the correct rhythm of Christian life involves firstly ascending Tabor and then going to Jerusalem. I must first discover who the Lord is for me and who I am for him, and then go and live out the mission that the Lord has entrusted to me.