03-17-2014, 12:27 PM
OUR TRANSFIGURATION IN CHRIST BY SHARING IN HIS SONSHIP AS SPELT OUT IN THE PASCHAL MYSTERY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: GN 12:1-4; 2 TIM 1:8-10; MT 17:1-9http://www.universalis.com/20140316/mass.htmLast Sunday, the liturgy spoke of the loss of our sonship and likeness to God because of the Fall. Adam wanted to be like God without God. He wanted to enjoy the knowledge of God without God. By so doing, he was usurping the place of God. He rejected his sonship. In the gospel, Jesus too was tempted to deny His sonship. In the three temptations of Jesus, Matthew prefaced them with the words of the Devil, “If you are the Son of God ..” It was the Devil’s intention to shake Jesus’ confidence in His dignity and identity as the Son of God. If Jesus had fallen into the traps of the devil, He would have shown that He doubted the Father’s love for Him. But Jesus remained firm in His faith in the Father.Indeed, we must shake ofF our temptation to be complacent in our Christian life. The apostles were tempted after their encounter with the Lord to stay on the mountain. Nay, baptism is only the beginning of Christian life. It is necessary that we recover the fullness of our sonship in Christ and the likeness of God in us. Quite often, we take our sonship for granted. We lose our enthusiasm and direction. Like Jesus, we are tempted to take short cuts to holiness and the accomplishment of our mission. The Devil tempted Jesus to change stone into bread; to bring people to their knees by jumping off spectacularly from the Temple or to simply accept the kingdoms of the world, all prepared by Satan. All He needed to do was to bow down and worship him.Hence, the season of Lent is to prepare those of us who are baptized to renew our baptismal vows and therefore our sonship in Christ at Easter. For the Catechumens who are not yet baptized, it is a spiritual preparation for them just as it is for the Christian community to repent of their sinful ways so that Christ can live in us. The forty days of Lent are meant to help us renew our sonship. The Church is technically on retreat. We need to be transformed into our true identity, which is to be created in the likeness of God. Indeed, we are called to share and radiate the radiance of God as Jesus did at MountTabor.The first thing we need to do to recover our sonship is to be clear of what our sonship entails. The Transfiguration experience was meant to give Jesus and us, a preview of our calling. We know our destiny only because the Father gave Jesus a preview of His own destiny in the Transfiguration. Indeed, the preview of the glory of Jesus enabled Him to find clarity in His vision and to formulate His mission statement. The gospel says, “As they came down from the mountain Jesus gave them this order, ‘Tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.’” In these words, we have the vision and mission of Jesus. Both are intimately connected.We, too, in our sufferings and confusion must recapture our goal in life. Having a clear vision and goal are important so that we do not lose focus. At the same time, it gives us encouragement in our journey. Without clarity of our destiny, we cannot give ourselves totally to the cause.Indeed, if Abram could leave his country and go to an unknown land, it was because of the vision that God gave to him. It was the promise of land, posterity and kingdom that gave Abraham the impetus to move out of his comfort zone. In the same way too, Paul was given a preview of the glory that was to come. Paul too was clear of his goal. He said, “This grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time, but it has only been revealed by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus. He abolished death, and he has proclaimed life and immortality through the Good News.”If the vision statement as spelt out in today’s liturgy is our transfiguration in Christ, we must now inquire what the mission statement is. In the mind of Jesus, the mission statement is clear. There is no way to attain this goal of transfiguration without the passion.Indeed, whether it was for Abraham or for Paul, the journey to the Promised Land was immensely difficult. They had to endure trials and difficulties. Faith demands that we take the journey from sacrifice to glory. We need to die to our selfish desires so that like Jesus, we are capable of giving ourselves for the sake of others. The path to glory for a Christian is to follow the same route of the master.We have Abram in the first reading who in faith took the journey. he knew that the journey was fraught with difficulties. He had to deal with the Egyptians and all sorts of people who threatened his family. Again and again, God challenged him to trust Him. The greatest of these challenges was in the sacrifice of his son. It is not without reason that Abram was called the Father of Faith. St Paul said, “With me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy – not because of anything we ourselves have done but for his own purpose and by his own grace.” The context of this letter of course refers to his address to young Timothy, the pastor. He knew that the gospel requires a new way of living. The life of discipleship surely means that we would have to suffer because our principles of faith and morality are very different than the so-called modern way of living.How then can we find strength in our journey of faith? We need to renew our Transfiguration experience. The Transfiguration was an experience given by the Father to Jesus and His disciples so that they could be strengthened for the trials ahead of them. Jesus went to the mountain knowing full well what awaited Him in Jerusalem — His betrayal, rejection and crucifixion. Through the appearance of Moses and Elijah, Jesus found confidence in His momentous decision to go to the cross. The Father gave His approval when He declared “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” Only because of this preview, could Jesus confidently proceed to Jerusalem, the place of His passion and glory in view of his earlier prophecy regarding His violent death. How can we have a glimpse of this Transfiguration experience in our lives?Firstly, we must pray. We have to spend time on the mountain, praying. Up there, we receive “the strength that comes from God.” In prayer, we are prepared, encouraged, restored, so that we can deal with the hardships. It is in prayer that we experience intimacy. The Lord wants to reveal His glory to us, His beloved disciples. The cloud which overshadowed Jesus and His apostles fulfilled the dream of the Jews that when the Messiah came the cloud of God’s presence would fill the temple again. We are transfigured in the process of growing in intimacy with Him. In this way, we regain our sonship.Secondly, we must listen to Jesus. On top of Mount Tabor, Christ was revealed as the Son of the Father to His disciples. The Father said, “This is my beloved Son; Listen To Him.” The transfiguration is repeated every time we listen to Him and allow our faith to be enlightened. However, now it is we who are transfigured. It is in this vein that we can understand the importance of the gospel reading for today, the Transfiguration of the Lord. Jesus met with Moses and Elijah. Moses represents the Law. Elijah, the Prophets. These are the leaders of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. They met with Jesus to discuss how the Word of God would be brought to its fulfillment.Yes, God wants to share His glory with us. Are we interested to share in His glory? We can get excited about this glory that is meant for us only if we get a glimpse of it as the disciples did. Peter, James, and John were privileged witnesses of the glory of Christ. We, too, as disciples of Christ are called to be witnesses of His glory.Only in having seen the glory of God, can we imitate Jesus who left His mountain top experience to enter into His ministry of suffering. When we have been transfigured by the light of Christ, we must leave our mountain tops to reveal Him to the world. We Christians are asked to follow Jesus, not only by listening to His words, but also by sharing in His experience of human life as an opportunity for ultimate victory and freedom.- See more at: http://www.csctr.net/reflections/#sthash.RLdQlRfJ.dpuf
SCRIPTURE READINGS: GN 12:1-4; 2 TIM 1:8-10; MT 17:1-9http://www.universalis.com/20140316/mass.htmLast Sunday, the liturgy spoke of the loss of our sonship and likeness to God because of the Fall. Adam wanted to be like God without God. He wanted to enjoy the knowledge of God without God. By so doing, he was usurping the place of God. He rejected his sonship. In the gospel, Jesus too was tempted to deny His sonship. In the three temptations of Jesus, Matthew prefaced them with the words of the Devil, “If you are the Son of God ..” It was the Devil’s intention to shake Jesus’ confidence in His dignity and identity as the Son of God. If Jesus had fallen into the traps of the devil, He would have shown that He doubted the Father’s love for Him. But Jesus remained firm in His faith in the Father.Indeed, we must shake ofF our temptation to be complacent in our Christian life. The apostles were tempted after their encounter with the Lord to stay on the mountain. Nay, baptism is only the beginning of Christian life. It is necessary that we recover the fullness of our sonship in Christ and the likeness of God in us. Quite often, we take our sonship for granted. We lose our enthusiasm and direction. Like Jesus, we are tempted to take short cuts to holiness and the accomplishment of our mission. The Devil tempted Jesus to change stone into bread; to bring people to their knees by jumping off spectacularly from the Temple or to simply accept the kingdoms of the world, all prepared by Satan. All He needed to do was to bow down and worship him.Hence, the season of Lent is to prepare those of us who are baptized to renew our baptismal vows and therefore our sonship in Christ at Easter. For the Catechumens who are not yet baptized, it is a spiritual preparation for them just as it is for the Christian community to repent of their sinful ways so that Christ can live in us. The forty days of Lent are meant to help us renew our sonship. The Church is technically on retreat. We need to be transformed into our true identity, which is to be created in the likeness of God. Indeed, we are called to share and radiate the radiance of God as Jesus did at MountTabor.The first thing we need to do to recover our sonship is to be clear of what our sonship entails. The Transfiguration experience was meant to give Jesus and us, a preview of our calling. We know our destiny only because the Father gave Jesus a preview of His own destiny in the Transfiguration. Indeed, the preview of the glory of Jesus enabled Him to find clarity in His vision and to formulate His mission statement. The gospel says, “As they came down from the mountain Jesus gave them this order, ‘Tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.’” In these words, we have the vision and mission of Jesus. Both are intimately connected.We, too, in our sufferings and confusion must recapture our goal in life. Having a clear vision and goal are important so that we do not lose focus. At the same time, it gives us encouragement in our journey. Without clarity of our destiny, we cannot give ourselves totally to the cause.Indeed, if Abram could leave his country and go to an unknown land, it was because of the vision that God gave to him. It was the promise of land, posterity and kingdom that gave Abraham the impetus to move out of his comfort zone. In the same way too, Paul was given a preview of the glory that was to come. Paul too was clear of his goal. He said, “This grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time, but it has only been revealed by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus. He abolished death, and he has proclaimed life and immortality through the Good News.”If the vision statement as spelt out in today’s liturgy is our transfiguration in Christ, we must now inquire what the mission statement is. In the mind of Jesus, the mission statement is clear. There is no way to attain this goal of transfiguration without the passion.Indeed, whether it was for Abraham or for Paul, the journey to the Promised Land was immensely difficult. They had to endure trials and difficulties. Faith demands that we take the journey from sacrifice to glory. We need to die to our selfish desires so that like Jesus, we are capable of giving ourselves for the sake of others. The path to glory for a Christian is to follow the same route of the master.We have Abram in the first reading who in faith took the journey. he knew that the journey was fraught with difficulties. He had to deal with the Egyptians and all sorts of people who threatened his family. Again and again, God challenged him to trust Him. The greatest of these challenges was in the sacrifice of his son. It is not without reason that Abram was called the Father of Faith. St Paul said, “With me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy – not because of anything we ourselves have done but for his own purpose and by his own grace.” The context of this letter of course refers to his address to young Timothy, the pastor. He knew that the gospel requires a new way of living. The life of discipleship surely means that we would have to suffer because our principles of faith and morality are very different than the so-called modern way of living.How then can we find strength in our journey of faith? We need to renew our Transfiguration experience. The Transfiguration was an experience given by the Father to Jesus and His disciples so that they could be strengthened for the trials ahead of them. Jesus went to the mountain knowing full well what awaited Him in Jerusalem — His betrayal, rejection and crucifixion. Through the appearance of Moses and Elijah, Jesus found confidence in His momentous decision to go to the cross. The Father gave His approval when He declared “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” Only because of this preview, could Jesus confidently proceed to Jerusalem, the place of His passion and glory in view of his earlier prophecy regarding His violent death. How can we have a glimpse of this Transfiguration experience in our lives?Firstly, we must pray. We have to spend time on the mountain, praying. Up there, we receive “the strength that comes from God.” In prayer, we are prepared, encouraged, restored, so that we can deal with the hardships. It is in prayer that we experience intimacy. The Lord wants to reveal His glory to us, His beloved disciples. The cloud which overshadowed Jesus and His apostles fulfilled the dream of the Jews that when the Messiah came the cloud of God’s presence would fill the temple again. We are transfigured in the process of growing in intimacy with Him. In this way, we regain our sonship.Secondly, we must listen to Jesus. On top of Mount Tabor, Christ was revealed as the Son of the Father to His disciples. The Father said, “This is my beloved Son; Listen To Him.” The transfiguration is repeated every time we listen to Him and allow our faith to be enlightened. However, now it is we who are transfigured. It is in this vein that we can understand the importance of the gospel reading for today, the Transfiguration of the Lord. Jesus met with Moses and Elijah. Moses represents the Law. Elijah, the Prophets. These are the leaders of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. They met with Jesus to discuss how the Word of God would be brought to its fulfillment.Yes, God wants to share His glory with us. Are we interested to share in His glory? We can get excited about this glory that is meant for us only if we get a glimpse of it as the disciples did. Peter, James, and John were privileged witnesses of the glory of Christ. We, too, as disciples of Christ are called to be witnesses of His glory.Only in having seen the glory of God, can we imitate Jesus who left His mountain top experience to enter into His ministry of suffering. When we have been transfigured by the light of Christ, we must leave our mountain tops to reveal Him to the world. We Christians are asked to follow Jesus, not only by listening to His words, but also by sharing in His experience of human life as an opportunity for ultimate victory and freedom.- See more at: http://www.csctr.net/reflections/#sthash.RLdQlRfJ.dpuf