First reading and the gospel narrate God experience of Abraham and the disciples of
Jesus both on a mountain in two different settings. Mountain in the Bible is a place of
silence, encounter with the divine [Lent is like climbing a mountain and at the summit of
it to wait for God, his light to engulf us]. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac.
He trusted in the impossible when God promised a son in his old age. Thinking of
sacrificing his son was a horror to him, yet he believed, as Paul says, in ‘God who is for
us’, and somehow God will fulfill his promise. Abraham transformed his pain by
abandoning himself in the hands of God. Seeing Jesus transfigured, Peter wanted to
build three tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Earlier Peter objected to Jesus’
prediction of his suffering and death, now he wants the heavenly bliss to stay and with
that the suffering of Jesus not to happen.
Transfiguration of Jesus was an epiphany, a removing of the veil, a knowing of the truth
about Jesus. Appearance of Moses and Elijah confirms Jesus is the true messiah and
revealer of eternal life. In Jewish tradition death of Moses was a mystery, his tomb was
unknown and Elijah was assumed to heaven. They were being held by God. They also
represent Law and prophets, through whom people heard the voice of God. Their
presence with Jesus shows that the voice of God in law and prophets was about
Jesus. In the transfiguration, God himself affirms it by the heavenly voice, ‘this is my
beloved Son, listen to him’. Conversing with Moses and Elijah, Jesus talked about his
way, his sacrifice on the cross which can be understood only in the saying, ‘God so
loved the world, he gave up his son for us’. His cross was a passage to a transformed
existence in his resurrection. Listening to Jesus is about our transformation, examining
our life in relation to Christ, walking the way of Christ. How do our knowing, will,
emotions support our transformation, freedom to trust in the light of Christ?
Faith is gift of light to prepare us for darkness: in her book audacity to believe, Dr.
Sheila Cassidy tells her story of leaving England to go to Chile to work among the
poorest of the poor. In 1975, she was arrested by the Chilean police for treating bullet
wounds of a revolutionary leader. At an interrogation center she was stripped, tied to a
bed and tortured by electrodes attached to her body. Then she was placed in solitary
confinement for weeks before she was released and expelled from the country. She
writes: ‘I did not hate the men who had hurt me. The freedom of spirit we enjoyed was
something that our captors did not possess. Incredibly, in the midst of fear and
loneliness I was filled with joy, for I knew without any trace of doubt that God was with
me and that nothing they could do to me could change that’. She had faith like that of
Abraham, a freedom of spirit, to lean on God in times of trials!
Jesus’ transfiguration and revealing of his heavenly light was to prepare the disciples
for his suffering and death. Like Abraham, disciples needed to learn that readiness to
abandon or sacrifice what is often precious to us is required to listen to Christ and
follow him. Listening to Christ is shutting out unwanted noises in life; it is feeding our
hungry souls with good news that transfigures us; it is a fasting from strife and hate
and walk the way towards a healed and renewed heart, radiant with God’s grace. The
tent Christ wants is our hearts!