2nd Sunday of Lent

February 28, 2010

Gen 15, 5-12.17-18
Phil 3, 17-4:1
Lk 9, 28-36

As we plough through the heart of sorrowful Lent, the Church sees to it that we do not lose sight of the glorious end promised by the Lord. In the first reading, we recall the covenant between Yahweh and Abraham: “Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can. Just so shall your descendants be.” In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.” This glorified body is what Peter, John and James had a taste of when they accompanied Jesus on Mt. Tabor to pray.

In faithful suffering, which is itself a prayer of the highest order, we are transfigured with Christ. “While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” This is a marvel which struck the disciples dumb, leaving Peter foolishly uttering words he had no time to reflect on: “Let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah.” What puny tent is there a need of in the presence of such a stunning phenomenon! The Law and the Prophet preceded the Man who was to be our Savior, and now on this mountain they were all seen together in complete unimaginable splendor. Speechless, all words sounded foolish and petty, and so those who were supposed to be witnesses could later not even talk about it.

From where we are the prize that awaits the faithful falls short of any telling. There’s just no way to articulate the bounty and grandeur of whatever lies there on the other side of life. There is, of course, a way to get a taste of it even here, but there is no way our resources can adequately comprehend, much less describe the wonders of that experience. In the end, we have to rely on a promise which is yet unseen, and this constitutes our faith – that we hold  on to that vision, even as we go through the pains and agonies of life, the dark night of our soul when all consolations and joys have been taken away from us, when what meet us endlessly on the way are obstacles, failures and defeat.

The Cross is what Jesus was about to embrace, and lest we despair in utter helplessness as we behold the Man on the Cross, here on Mt. Tabor he showed himself in his glorified body, attended by Moses the Lawgiver and Elijah the prophet – all signs of a promised victory, which will make us steadfast in the hours of the impending ignominious end of the Suffering Servant. Behold Him – the Man, the Son of Man! Suffering makes sense, makes much sense, if we endure it as a protest against the oppressive culture around us, if it becomes our way of assisting in the emergence of the Reign of God against an unjust world. The Cross has a meaning only in the light of a transfigured humanity, the building of a new creation.

Bro. Romy Abulad, SVD
USC, Cebu City