Feb 28 2010
Second Sunday of Lent: Transfiguration
Transfiguration, by Raphael
(the above is one of my favorite paintings. Isn’t it lovely?)
The transfiguration is one of those strange Bible events, isn’t it? There’s Jesus, on Mount Tabor, with James, John and Peter. And all of a sudden, Moses and Elijah appear, and Jesus’ true glory shines forth; he is transfigured. It had to be an incredible, if somewhat strange, moment for the three apostles.
Peter wants the moment to last forever. But Jesus tells him they have to go back down the mountain.
I feel this way the end of Mass. We’re there, we’re (hopefully) at peace with our neighbors, we are thinking of God. It’s a good, quiet place to be. And then the dismissal. “Go.” We have to leave?
Yes. Because life is beyond the mountain, the sanctuary, the retreat house. We must take what we have learned, and go.
It’s similar to the Gospel we heard last week. Jesus goes up into the mountains for forty days. The Devil tempts him. He resists, and even though He’s God, I think he came down from the mountain stronger, more prepared to face His Passion. This week, it’s another mountain that He’s climbing. And again, He comes down. I hope the apostles were stronger after seeing God in His true glory.
During Lent, we too “go away for awhile” into a sacred space. We give things up, we pray more, in order to become stronger in our faith, and closer to God. We give up the things that are not “God” and fill our hearts and minds with Him.
We all get these transfigurations–these glimpses of God’s glory–in our lives. Can we sustain the wonder and awe once we’re off the mountain?
