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2nd Sunday of Lent - Cycle C

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Revelation and covenant.  These are core elements of our faith.  Revelation is how God has “revealed” himself to us – how God has made is presence known to us.  Covenant is the basis of our relationship with God – how he seeks a continuing and growing relationship with us.  Both these elements play a role in understanding our readings on this 2nd Sunday of Lent:

The Word for the 2nd Sunday of Lent
Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Psalm 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 9:28b-36

Our first reading is from the book of Genesis.  Here we learn of the covenants made between God and Abram (who we will know later as Abraham).  The opening of our passage reminds us of the covenant where God promised that Abram’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars.  From there God promises Abram the land – a place where his descendants will live – the “promised land” that Moses will later lead the people.  But Abram needs proof.  How will he know that it is his?  God then asks Abram to commemorate this moment by preparing a sacrifice.  He spends the day protecting the sacrifice from scavengers but when night falls, he sees a flaming torch pass between the carcasses – a sign that God has accepted his sacrifice, and in essence, “signed” the covenant.  Abram was able to make this covenant because of the trust he had developed in the Lord, a trust that is echoed in our Psalm when we sing “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”  This reading also reminds us that our Baptism is a covenant with God, and the fire used to light Abram’s offering, God’s light, prefigures what we receive when we accept the Baptismal candle – the light of Christ.

Our second reading comes from Paul’s letter to the Philippians.  How does one live as a Christian?  This is the question Paul is addressing with the community in Philippi.  As a basic premise, he tells them to follow the example of himself and the other Apostles.  He then continues by telling them not to focus on earthly desires but instead on higher ideals.  This revelation forms the basis of their salvation, to stay true to their faith – their covenant in Christ.  During our baptism we too have our lowly bodies transformed.  We are cleansed of all sin (including original sin) and become new creations.

Our Gospel for this Sunday gives us Luke’s version of the Transfiguration.  Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain to pray, and during their prayer they witness Jesus transfigured – his face changed and his clothes a dazzling white.  During this time they see him conversing with Moses and Elijah.  The Apostles are amazed, dumb-struck.  They see this as a good thing but don’t quite know what to make of it.  A cloud comes to surround them and they hear a Heavenly voice, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”  This moment of the Transfiguration is considered by Christian scholars to be the establishment of the “new covenant,” like a passing of the torch, linking the old covenants with Moses and Elijah with this new covenant with Jesus, with the affirmation of the Father.  We become transfigured as well during our Baptism, symbolized by our wearing of the white garment.

Final thoughts:
How do we see God?  In our humanity, we might find him distant, ethereal, even perhaps just a theoretical construct to explain the unexplainable.  Our readings for this week, however, remind us that God not only has revealed himself to us, but actively seeks to be in relationship with us.  And not with just with his prophets, not just with Jesus and the Apostles, but with all of us.  The beauty of our Gospel this Sunday is not so much the Transfiguration of Jesus, but that through Peter, James, and John, we were witness to it.  And through their witness, we continue to realize that transfiguration, that call to covenant, each time we gather to celebrate the Mass, each time we pray, each time we reach out with the love and trust that the Lord is our light and salvation.  Today and every day.

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