2nd Sunday of Lent, Year B

 "For after he had told the disciples of his coming death, on the holy mountain he manifested to them his glory, to show, even by the testimony of the law and the prophets, that the passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection.”  During this eucharist celebration of the second Sunday of lent, the words just heard are taken from the preface for today’s mass. These words are a perfect summary of the meaning of lent especially of this second Sunday: the cross and glory belong together and cannot be separated. In this Sunday, we are invited to understand better the paschal mystery: the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this mystery is spelled out in the readings for today's Mass. 

The first reading describes the story we know well: the sacrifice of Isaac. The Lord asks Abraham to offer his only begotten son on a mountain he will show him. Isaac must become the sheep for the sacrifice; Isaac must carry the wood to the top of the mountain. But this is a foreshadowing of the passion of Jesus. Jesus was also the only Son who was to become the sheep for the sacrifice. Moreover, it is believed that the mountain where the sacrifice of Isaac was to be taken place is the mountain where our blessed Lord died. And just as Isaac carried the wood, Jesus also carried the wood of the cross. 

In today’s Gospel, we can see the outcome of the death of Jesus. Let me give a little bit on background story in order to understand the Gospel better. It was the last year of the life of Jesus, and he was on his way to Jerusalem for the feast of the tabernacles. He was there to mingle among the crowds as the Good shepherd to seek out his lost sheep, to teach the people the saving truth He had come to teach. Peter has just confessed his faith in Jesus as Messiah, but Jesus teaches his disciples just what kind of Messiah he is. "He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days." With this in mind, Jesus then takes the three to the top in order for them to see the transfiguration. In this event, Jesus reveals to the three His glorified body. Why? “If we are going to persevere on the road, then we must have some idea, at least, of the goal that lies ahead. When times are black and the situation grave, when the call is for perseverance, self-denial and courage, when the horizon offers nothing but opposition and failure, it is not in our nature to persevere unless we have a pretty fair idea of what the goal is. Moreover, we need a solid conviction that this goal is well worth the pain required to achieved it.” 

And in the second reading, we hear about the resurrection of Jesus when St. Paul reminds us that Jesus was raised and is at the right hand of God to intercede for us. In short, the readings today invite us to reflect on a deeper level the paschal mystery: Passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ because our lives should also be a constant paschal mystery. In fact, it is our baptism that makes us enter into the paschal mystery. It is confirmation where we get the graces, we need to understand our own paschal mystery. Our sinful life is a continuous passion, a suffering, for we constantly break away from God, but when we repent in the sacrament of confession, we are Resurrected in the mercy of God and born again to the union with Him. In the Eucharist,we have the strength to endure our own paschal mystery. In Holy matrimony or Holy order, we enjoy the company of another to make our paschal mystery easier. And all of this is done so we can one day we can ascend into heaven and sit at the right hand of God. 

This Sunday, too, also speak to our catechumens in a special way. The transfiguration is an example that the glory that comes forth from Jesus’ body is a glory that he means to share with all who are baptized into his death and resurrection. As our catechumens prepare to be incorporated into the Church, we can hope that they, and also us, will able like the transfigured Jesus: Radiant in the glory of God. 

Just as the three disciples saw the transfiguration and heard the voice of God, we too are like them, for we now also behold the same glorified Lord in the Eucharist. So, as we received the Eucharistic Lord, let us ask him for the strength we need to continue carrying our cross so that at the end of our lives we can also be transfigured into the Trinitarian life. Let us ask Jesus in the Eucharist to continue to increase our love for the cross in this life in order for that love to be reflected in the life to come.