2nd SUNDAY OF LENT
28 February 2021
It's always a good idea to read the Gospel passage before listening to or reading the reflection.
CLICK HERE to read today's Gospel passage
CLICK HERE to listen to this reflection on the 5 Minute Gospel Podcast
LEARN MORE about the Gospel of Mark
Mark tells us the story today of Jesus taking Peter, James and John up a high mountain where they could be alone by themselves. There in their presence he was changed: his clothes became dazzlingly white and Moses and Elijah, prophets who died centuries before, appeared there talking to him.
This event is linked to what had happened six days earlier when Jesus said to the disciples:
“The Son of Man is destined to suffer many things, to be rejected … and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again.” (Mark 8:31)
Peter and the other disciples found this hard to accept. They hoped for a Messiah, a saviour, who would be a conquering hero. Someone who would free Israel from the Roman Empire and give freedom to their homeland.
How could someone suffering, rejected and dying be the Messiah?
The answer came in the Transfiguration of Jesus.
The dramatic change in Jesus’ appearance gave Peter, James and John a sense of what was to come. He showed them where suffering, rejection, death and resurrection would take him.
Later, when the disciples witnessed Jesus’ suffering and death, they would remember their experience on the mountain. When they faced their own trials, they would remember that experience.
The transfiguration gave them hope that suffering and death lead to the glory of the Resurrection. In seeing Jesus change, Peter James and John saw their own future – the glory of the Resurrection and life without end.
They were terrified as Jesus changed – they didn’t know what to say. Peter – often the first to speak but the last to think – said:
“… it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
Peter didn’t want the experience to end.
Then came the Father’s voice saying:
"This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him."
What can you and I take away from this Gospel?
Pope Francis once spoke of how Jesus prepared the disciples for the trials that would come and wanted to give them hope for the future. Then he said that Jesus does the same for us:
“… Jesus — and listen carefully to this — always prepares us for trials … Jesus never forsakes us in the trials of life: he always prepares us, helps us, as he prepared his disciples, with the vision of his glory.” (Pope Francis, Homily, 25 February 2018)
This is one lesson we can take from the Transfiguration:
“Jesus never forsakes us in the trials of life: he always prepares us, helps us, as he prepared his disciples, with the vision of his glory.”
The vision of Jesus’ glory shows us what awaits us in the future.
The second lesson comes from the words of the Father:
“This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.”
A simple lesson: Listen to Jesus!
Lent is a great time for putting these two lessons into practice.
In Lent, we renew our openness to letting Jesus prepare us and help us in the trials of life. Lent is a time for remembering the Transfiguration lesson: that Jesus never forsakes us and promises us the glory of life without end.
Lent is a time for strengthening our listening to Jesus. We listen to Jesus by giving more time to prayer, to reading the Gospel and to the Mass. We listen to Jesus by fasting and giving up things we do not really need. We listen to Jesus by sharing more with the poor – because he has told us that what we do to them, we do to him.
FURTHER READING
CLICK HERE to read Pope Francis' Ash Wednesday Homily
AND
CLICK HERE to read Pope Francis’ Message for Lent 2021
___________________________