March 20, 2011
Second Sunday of Lent A
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
The LORD said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:1-2
While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. Matthew 17:5-6
Piety
Transfiguration is what piety does for each moment of our life. The priest has the fullness of the mystery of God behind and part of every moment of life in the fullness of the Sacrament of Eucharist. Christ words are his words in the moment of consecration at Mass and likewise in Confession when the words of forgiveness are Christ using the voice of the priest as his words of forgiveness to the sinner. The Sacrament of the Present Moment is what transfiguration is all about. All of God’s love is in the moment we are in when our love transfigures the now with the presence of the love of God. Wheresoever’s there is love, God is there. Whatsoever we do out of love becomes the work of God. Because God is love, there can never be a moment of life that does not have the fullness of God’s love if we know how to look. We are created in the image and the likeness of God. God would not be God if we had a moment where the love of God was missing. In fact we would not be alive. Our very life is the result of God’s love for us. God forever loves. When we are not aware of God’s love, it is simply because we are not looking. God does not force his love upon our realizations. Moments of transfiguration in our own lives is what opens us to the awareness of God at work in who we are and what we do. The only limit on the visibility of God’s love is our willingness to look deeper than appearances. We have to go below the surface to see the eternal expression of God’s love in the moment. The realization of God’s love in our lives is only limited by our willingness to accept what is in a moment that touches the eternal of God. St. Thomas of Aquinas defines heaven as the eternal now. It is the now of our lives that touches the eternal now of heaven. Now is the door that opens on the eternal love of God.
Study
Study of the Transfiguration of Christ improves our prayer life. The forty days of prayer and fasting were his preparation for his mission. We have by prayer and fasting a chance to be like Christ. We too by our contemplating the mystery of the Transfiguration climb his mountain. The events of our daily life that come into our prayer are transfigured. Like Christ we can talk to the Father. With Christ we can hear the Father approving of us. We become extensions of Christ in time by our prayer and good works of Lent. Transfigurative events take place in our lives as we subject the events of our lives to prayer and find ourselves as companions of Christ. We are challenged to be real Christs by our study and actions around the meaning of Christ in our lives.
Action
Lent is a time of Christ actions in our lives. With our knowledge of the resurrection of Christ from the dead we are able to talk about what happened to Christ on the mountain with his disciples. Prayer, fasting and good works give reality to the Lent we are celebrating. Christ is safe in heaven with his resurrection. But he lives on in each of us by our willingness to love in his name. Reaching out to our brothers and sisters with our Lenten observance gives reality to the Christ of our hearts. We have to give Christ away in order to keep him safe in our hearts. Lent is meant to be celebrated by all that we do for the sake of Christ. We build our tents to Christ by our lives. We are temples of God and all the sacrifices we offer during this time for the sake of others cleanse the temples of our bodies. The sacrifices of Lent celebrate the Resurrection of Christ by making him live on in who we are. Finally we climb the cross of Christ to look out on our world with his eyes and to find out where he wants us changing our world for him. Lent is our time to declare our belief in the Resurrection and to be transfigured by all we do in the name of Christ. Let us climb the mountain of the Transfiguration that we too may be changed by our closeness to Christ into living presences of whom he is in our lives by sharing our love for one another.
