Genesis 15.5-12,17-18 | Philippians 3.17–4.1 | Luke 9.28b-36

We begin the second week of Lent with Mother Church.

Today the evangelist Luke tells us about the transfiguration of the Lord (which is the fourth luminous mystery of the holy rosary, prayed on Thursdays). The Transfiguration of the Lord has a liturgical feast on August 6th.

Praying on a mountain (Mount Tabor), were Jesus, Peter, James and John; the apostles had been overcome by sleep. Jesus' face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. In glory, Moses and Elijah appeared, who spoke of exodus that Jesus was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. When the apostles woke up, they saw the glory of Jesus, Moses and Elijah.

When Peter realized that Moses and Elijah were about to part, even without knowing what he was saying, he suggested to Jesus that he make a tent for each of the three. At that moment, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, leaving the apostles frightened.

They heard a voice spoking: "This is My chosen Son; listen to Him". Then Jesus was found alone and, at that time, the disciples did not tell anyone what they had seen.

The mountain represented the closeness to God, Who was in heaven. The dazzling white clothing represented the divine glory of Jesus. The two men represented the Law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah), that is, the First Testament, which pointed to Jesus, the New Testament, to Whom one should listen. The tent represented the human temptation to escape the responsibilities of the present time in order to remain in spiritual ecstasy. The cloud represented the supernaturality of divine revelation. And the voice represented God the Father, confirming that Jesus was the Messiah. 

The transfiguration points, on the one hand, to the glory of Jesus as the only Son of God the Father (dazzling white clothing) and, on the other hand, to His passion and crucifixion (foreseen in the First Testament).

This Lent, let us accept Jesus’ invitation to go up the mountain with Him, through prayer, to understand the magnitude of the mystery of His divinity and His passion, death and resurrection. Let us accept the invitation to listen more deeply to Moses, Elijah and Jesus, that is, to the Scriptures in their entirety. Let us overcome the temptation to escape reality in an intimate and sterile religiosity. Let us spend our lives for the good of neighbors in order to pass from death to life with Christ.

Today the book of Genesis tells us about the covenant that the Lord made with Abram, the promise that He would give his descendants the land of Canaan. This covenant was made through the sacrifice of animals. It is worth remembering that Abram was a nomad and elderly and that his wife Sarai was barren. Abram put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.

Through the death and resurrection of His only Son, God the Father made the new and eternal covenant, promising us forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Like Abram, despite the evidence to the contrary, let us have faith in the Lord, and we will see His fidelity fulfilling His promises.

Today the apostle Paul speaks to us in his letter to the Philippians, on the one hand, of the enemies of the cross of Christ, who had their minds occupied with earthly things and who had their glory in their “shame”, and, on the other hand, that Jesus will change our lowly body to conform with His glorified body.

This Lent, let us imitate Paul, observing those who thus conduct themselves according to the model we have in the apostles. Let us stand firm in the Lord, for our citizenship is in heaven.

On March 13th, I celebrated 15 years of priestly ordination. Today I invite you to give thanks to God with me, for His mercy and love, for having called me to this sublime vocation, so that He may sustain me with the Holy Spirit, so that, in my ministry, Christ must become greater and I must become less. And may Mary, Mother of priests, accompany me with Her intercession. Amen.