What a vision these three apostles had! Jesus, their friend and teacher, was standing before them suffused with divine glory, flanked by two of Israel’s greatest heroes. No wonder Peter was dumbfounded!
Think, too, about what had just happened a week before this strange event: Jesus had told them for the first time that he was going to be put to death by the chief priests and elders of Israel. Now, after having given them a few days to digest this troubling news, Jesus took them up a mountain and gave them a taste of why he would endure such suffering. For just one moment, Jesus showed them what he would look like after the death he had just predicted.
We tend to focus on repentance and fasting during Lent. We speak about bearing our cross or putting to death our human sinfulness
. But like Peter, James, and John, who saw Jesus’ glory before they experienced his cross and their own, we too need to have our eyes lifted up from time to time. We too need to see Jesus risen in triumph and transformed in glory.
Brothers and sisters, our ultimate goal is not to die but to live!
We don’t exist to repent but to live with Jesus in an unbreakable bond of love
.
Through his transfiguration, Jesus wants to give us a glimpse of our own future, when we will live with him in glory, no longer weighed down by sin but lifted up by the Spirit.
As you listen to the Scriptures at Mass today, picture yourself with the apostles on the mountain. Let the Spirit show you Jesus’ glory.
Try to imagine what he was speaking about with Moses and Elijah.
Ask him how to keep your eyes focused on the glory he promises rather than on the difficulties of the day
. Allow him to share with you whatever heavenly thoughts he would like to put in your mind and heart. May his resurrection empower you today—and every day.
