Listen to him

II Lent B Luke 9, 28-36

Every year on the second Sunday of Lent we read the Gospel of the Transfiguration. In our Lenten journey we remember that Jesus on his way to Jerusalem he was transfigured. Peter, James and John were lead up a high mountain, Moses and Elijah appeared and Jesus was transfigured, he was glowing and God’s voice proclaimed who he was, “God’s beloved Son” and we we were reminded to “listen to him.” What does it mean to say that something is transfigured? The word is almost exactly the same in Spanish transfigurar. Transfigure is a word that we rarely use, and only in Church, and just twice a year. A more common word is transform, it means change. When a young lady I know celebrates her 15a she is transformed. Before the mass she is just a little girl in her jeans and tennies. But when she puts on that dress, has her make up done and hair styled she is transformed. She is transformed into a young lady. Transform implies change and things can easily be transformed back to the way they were before. She gets home that night, the dress is put away, her make up washed off and her returns to its natural state. Transfigure is different. To transfigure means to change the appearance of a person or thing very much in a positive and spiritual way. So, to transfigure something means to make it better, more spiritual and more beautiful. Now there is no way that Jesus could be transformed into something better or more positive, Jesus couldn’t even be made more beautiful so how could one say that Jesus was transfigured on Mt. Tabor? I don’t think that it was Jesus who was transformed that day on Mt. Tabor, no I think that it was the Apostles who were transfigured that day. They came to see Jesus for who he really was, they came to see that Jesus was the beloved Son of God, and even though they weren’t able to understand what that meant they were transfigured. They became more beautiful; they were transformed in a more positive and spiritual way because of their relationship with Jesus. The voice of God proclaimed who Jesus was, “God’s beloved Son,” again this is for our benefit not Jesus’. And God then said, “listen to him.” We become transformed by listening to the voice of Jesus. This is the importance of the word. The word proclaimed at mass has the power to transform us. Celebrating the sacraments also transforms us. When we listen to Jesus’ voice we are transformed. Just before Pope Francis went into the hospital a week ago he shared his lenten message. He challenged us to be close to the poor and most especially the migrants. In listening to the migrants we are listening to Jesus. Our celebration here transfigures us because like the Peter, James and John we are in the presence of Jesus. We are in the presence of one another. Jesus didn’t need to be transfigured to be the Beloved Son of God. We need to be transfigured though. Every time we gather to celebrate the Eucharist we are transfigured. When we are in the presence of Jesus our faces became as bright as the sun, we began to dazzle in the presence of the divine and the same voice that proclaimed that Jesus was his beloved son with whom God was well pleased proclaims that we too are God’s beloved Sons and daughters and we know that God is well pleased with us.