Second Sunday of Lent
Perhaps you have been on the top of a mountain. And I mean not just a hill, but a mountain. It gets you away from all the noise, the dust, pollution, and the crowds. The fresh air and the quiet is refreshing and renewing. But the best thing about being on the top of the mountain is the view. From the top of a mountain, the world looks different. From the top of a mountain, everything looks different. It gives us a different perspective. It gives us a new way to look at reality. It gives us a new vision.
Perhaps this is why Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain. Here are my three practical implications:
A New Perspective
Jesus took his disciples up the mountain at a very critical moment in his life. Jesus knew that opposition was building against him and that his conflict with the religious authorities was reaching a boiling point. He knew they were plotting to eliminate him. He was literally between life and death. Perhaps, then, Jesus went up the mountain for his own sake. On a very human level, perhaps he needed the reassurance that he was indeed accomplishing his Father’s will. The voice from the cloud “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” must have been very reassuring.
On the other hand, Jesus went up the mountain equally for the sake of the disciples. The Transfiguration was a divine revelation. The vision of Jesus with Moses and Elijah and the voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him!” gave the disciples a new perspective, a new vision, a new insight, a new understanding of Jesus’ identity and mission. But they also saw themselves differently. On the top of the mountain, they got a new perspective into their own life and mission.
Today, I am inviting you to allow Jesus to take you to the top of the mountain. I am inviting you to make time this week to be on the top of the mountain with Jesus. There we can see him better. There we can hear the voice of God better. There we can see ourselves differently. From the top of the mountain, we can look at life differently.
Live Life Below but Get Your Perspective Above
There is an interesting detail in the passage of the Transfiguration. It was Jesus who led he disciples to the top of the mountain. The disciples originally wanted to pitch tents and remain there. But Jesus, who took them up the mountain also led them down.
I said in the introduction that on the top of the mountain, we are away from the noise, the dust, the pollution, and most importantly, people. But when we come down the mountain, we have no choice to get back to life. Likewise, Jesus came down from the mountain to face life… and death. Jesus led the disciples back to the ground to the very things they had left behind. However, there is a difference. They have they come down the mountain with a whole new perspective – “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased!” Perhaps this is true not only for the disciples, but for Jesus as well.
Like the disciples, our life too is lived below. But it is at the top of the mountain that we must get our perspective. How often I have lost perspective in my life! In the midst of our very complex, complex, and demanding life, in the midst of the sufferings and meaninglessness that confront us, even in the midst of our successes and our happiness, the important thing is never to lose perspective. Here is the practical implication - live life below but get your perspective from the mountain!
Not Merely a Perspective but a Presence
Once the disciples came down the mountain, life was still the same. Just like our own lives, it was complicated, it was complex, and it came with its share of joys, sorrows, challenges, and consolations. But now, they had a new perspective. But it was not only a new perspective that they had. There was a new presence. They had Christ with them. Jesus came down with them faced life and death with them. By his example, taught them to navigate through life realistically, meaningfully, and with faith.
We too, live complicated lives. Death is even worse. But the Transfigured Jesus is with us. Jesus does not remain on the mountain and send us down. Jesus does abandon us on the mountain and come down by himself. Jesus is where we are. We live life and face death with Him who is with us here and now. This Eucharistic table is our mountain. But when we go down the mountain to our homes, our work, our life, Jesus goes with us. He lives with us. He laughs with us. He cries with us. He rejoices with us. He suffers with us. He dies with us. All we must do now is, “Listen to Him.”
Today, as we leave Church today, let us go down the mountain with a new perspective – “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him!” But it’s not just a new perspective. We go down the mountain with a new presence. Amen
- Fr. Satish Joseph