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Transfiguration
Mar
4
Written by:
Sunday, March 04, 2007
2nd Sunday of Lent
March 4, 2007
The transfiguration of Christ was the ultimate "mountaintop experience." As far as we know, this was the only time Jesus allowed others to see him in glory before the resurrection. For a brief moment, a door opens between one reality and another, and beings from that other reality, heaven, enter our world. As Jesus enters that realm briefly, he becomes radiant and is joined by Moses and Elijah, who also appear glorified. The message to us is: this is the place where our Lord wants to take us, too. He says in effect, Follow me to this place.
What do we learn from the transfiguration? Behind the door that opens in this Sunday's readings (Luke 9:28-36) lies a world filled with light. Jesus himself is, in reality, also a being of light. Sin, Jesus teaches us, is in fact darkness. Darkness is actually not a thing so much as a lack of something: a lack of light. To live in darkness is to exclude the light. When we live in sin, we close the light of Christ off and choose to live this way. To repent means to turn around, to turn back to the light. Repentance and confession cleans the windows of our soul so that the light can shine in there again.
How do we then follow Christ to that mountaintop, heaven? Because it is not in this creation, we cannot arrive there without help. Conversion is a daily path to reach our goal. We rejoice to think that such a place lies at the end of our journey!
Like Peter, James and John, we too would rather pitch a tent and stay in our peak moments of happiness and joy, but Jesus tells his disciples, and us, that we must first return to our daily lives and carry our cross each day with Jesus. He will always be at our side to assist us, and we have readings like this to give us hope on the journey!
Father Gary
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