Only Christ
Homily on the 2nd Sunday of Lent; 16 March 2025, DBPH Chapel, Talamban
Today we celebrate the second Sunday of Lent. The gospel passage we have heard today presents to us Jesus being transfigured on Mt. Tabor. I guess during his public ministry Jesus loved climbing mountains, in as much as he would frequently be seen by his disciples spending the night on the heights not just to bond with nature but above all to pray to his heavenly Father and experience some intimate bonding moments with him. But this particular mountain was rather different because it was here that Jesus and his disciples had an amazingly unique experience too wonderful to describe.
More than twenty years ago during a pilgrimage in the Holy Land I myself was blessed to have climbed Mt. Tabor and it was only then that I understood why Jesus wanted to pray on top of that high mountain. Mt. Tabor has a height of 575 meters above sea level. And its perfect shape stands out as the only peak in the middle of the Jezreel Valley. I can tell you the view up there was breathtaking. It is the ideal place to watch both the sunrise and the sunset.
This could explain why Jesus became so absorbed in prayer on top of that mountain that his appearance changed, his face began to shine like the sun and his clothes dazzling white. Moreover, two persons who played a great role in their history suddenly appeared to him conversing with him, like as if they were already giving a hint that the end of his life was near. In fact according to St. Luke’s account, Moses and Elijah were seen speaking with Jesus about his death on the cross.
While reflecting on this particular scene, it occurred to me that Jesus as a Jew must have had a great admiration for and devotion to these two holy men of the Old Testament, to such an extent that on that particularly important occasion while he was absorbed in prayer they suddenly made their apparition to him who was beginning to be distressed. Most probably they appeared in order to encourage Jesus in his extremely difficult mission to save humankind as the promised Messiah and Servant of the Lord.
Not only that, Moses and Elijah also appeared to the three disciples, Peter, James and John, in order to confirm their faith in Him whom Peter confessed to be the Christ. They were so caught up by the extraordinary spectacle that they seemed to have lost a sense of time. Peter even volunteered to set up three tents so that they could spend a much longer time up there with him that night.
The most intriguing part of that supernatural experience, however, was the voice; the voice that spoke to them from an overshadowing cloud. It said: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” When the cloud vanished they saw no else but Jesus. Whose voice could that be? And what could that voice really mean? It was definitely the voice from the Father speaking to the three disciples in order to confirm their faith in Jesus, his beloved Son. The voice also commanded them to listen to every word that Jesus would say. It simply meant that while in the past they have been listening to his chosen prophets, especially Moses and Elijah, from then onward they should be listening to Jesus.
Dearly beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, as we begin the second week of Lent, we ask ourselves what the Lord might really be teaching us today. For more than a week now we had been observing the Church’s PPA program for this Lenten season: (1) prayer, (2) penance and (3) almsgiving. Today when we come together as Catholics on this second Sunday of Lent, I believe the Lord wants to emphatically teach us the supreme importance of PRAYER in our life, I mean, real prayer and not just a mechanical recitation of empty words.
Everyday we need to spend a quiet and prayerful ME time with God; a quality time when we are able to listen more than speak; when we are able to reflect more than thoughtlessly reacting; when we are able to restrain our impulsiveness and choose the way of gentleness. Amidst all these crises dividing us as a God-fearing country, I believe this is the only thing that can really unite us now, PRAYER; a prayer that focuses on God, and not on self; a prayer that seeks to do the will of the Lord and not our own. We really need this kind of prayer which makes us bow humbly before God who is the God of Justice, at the same time, the God of Mercy.
Moreover, may we let our unifying force be no other than Jesus Christ. Only Jesus has shown genuine mercy and compassion to the poorest of the poor, to the weakest of the weak, and to the worst and most scandalous of all sinners, not for self-gain, not for power and popularity, but for God’s greater glory and the salvation of all. He chose not to kill sinners, even if he had the power to do so, but to patiently call them back to conversion. And to prove that God does not wish any sinner to die, Jesus chose to die on behalf of all of us sinners, in fulfillment of the death-defying mission he had received on Mt Tabor.
And so, my dearly beloved brothers and sisters, let us strive to follow Christ and HIM alone, and pray for those who do not yet follow HIM. Like Jesus, may we also experience our own transfiguration according to what St Paul taught in the second reading “He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.”
May this Eucharist and every Eucharist we celebrate this Lenten season unite all of us and effect the transfiguration of our entire nation to the image and likeness of Jesus, our Lord, our Hope, and our Saviour. GiGsss!
P.S. Many of us might have already unfollowed or unfriended those who do not share our own personal opinion on very delicate matters. Could JESUS be telling us more importantly to unfollow or unfriend any person who blatantly mocks God and wants to drag us with him/her to hell? Just reflect and pray.
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