March 1, 2026
Second Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 25
Reading
1
The LORD said to
Abram:
“Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk
and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.
“I will make of
you a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you
and curse those who curse you.
All the communities of the earth
shall find blessing in you.”
Abram went as the
LORD directed him.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (22) Lord,
let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Reading
2
Beloved:
Bear your share of hardship for the gospel
with the strength that comes from God.
He saved us and
called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel.
Verse
Before the Gospel
From the shining
cloud the Father’s voice is heard:
This is my beloved Son, hear him.
Gospel
Jesus took Peter,
James, and John his brother,
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Lord, it is good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make three tents here,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, behold,
a bright cloud cast a shadow over them,
then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.”
When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate
and were very much afraid.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying,
“Rise, and do not be afraid.”
And when the disciples raised their eyes,
they saw no one else but Jesus alone.
As they were
coming down from the mountain,
Jesus charged them,
“Do not tell the vision to anyone
until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030126.cfm
Genesis 12:1-4; 2 Timothy 1:8-10; Matthew 17:1-9
In order to
understand today’s Gospel, we need to put it into context. Peter had
just, in the name of the other disciples, recognised their Teacher, Jesus, as
the expected Messiah of Israel:
You are the
Messiah, the Son of the living God. (Matt
16:15)
It was a climactic
moment in Jesus’ relationship with his disciples.
But this was
immediately followed by Jesus’ explanation to them of exactly what being
Messiah was going to mean for him. Far from being a mighty warrior-king
who would crush all the enemies of God’s people, he was going to be rejected by
the leaders of his own people, arrested, tried, condemned, tortured and
eventually executed—not by them, but by the very hated enemies they expected
the Messiah to overthrow.
This was too much
for Peter (undoubtedly speaking in the name of all his companions) and he
objected strongly. In turn, he was severely scolded for obstructing God’s
way of doing things. Even more, Jesus had said that if anyone wanted to
be his follower, then they would have to be prepared to walk the same road of
rejection, oppression, and even death.
Morale
boost
All of this must have seemed
like a large bucket of cold water landing on the heads of the disciples. What
Jesus had said was totally against all they had ever heard about the expected
Messiah. It is in this perhaps depressed mood that today’s experience
takes place.
Perhaps to give a
boost to their morale, to help them see that the way of Jesus would lead to
victory and triumph, Jesus takes Peter, James and John to a high
mountain. They are the inner circle of the Twelve, and are found with
Jesus at other times of crucial importance, like at the raising of Jairus’
daughter and during Jesus’ agony in the garden.
This happened “six
days” after the declaration of Jesus as Messiah. It is perhaps a reminder
that it was after six days that God called Moses into the cloud of glory on
Mount Sinai. Also in biblical times, revelations often took place on
mountain tops. There has been much speculation about which mountain in
Palestine was the ‘Mount of the Transfiguration’, but it does not really
matter. It is the divine significance of a mountain, any mountain, that
is being emphasised.
Transformation
As the disciples watched,
Jesus was suddenly transformed (Greek, metamorphoo, a rare word in
the New Testament, from which our English word ‘metamorphosis’ comes):
…his face shone
like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light.
Again, it reminds
one of the radiance on Moses’ face after he came down from the mountain where
he had spoken face to face with God.
Then, suddenly,
Moses and Elijah are seen talking with Jesus. Their presence is very
significant as they represent the two great traditions of the Old Testament:
Moses personified the Law of God’s people, and Elijah, the traditions of the
great prophets.
Their presence and
their talking with Jesus indicate their total endorsement of all that Jesus is
doing, and also of all that he will experience in the days to come. Jesus
is the natural continuation of their Jewish tradition and is fully part of
it. Therefore, the disciples need have no misgivings about anything they
have heard from Jesus about his coming destiny.
A
good place to be
Peter, with his usual
impulsiveness, enthusiastically suggests building three tents or shrines for
Jesus, Moses and Elijah so they could stay on the mountain. It was a
wonderful place to be just then. Often, when things are good, we would
like them to stay that way forever. Unfortunately, life is seldom like
that and we have to move on. When we are in the cinema watching a film,
we can’t shout to the projection room and say, “Stop the movie right
there! I like this bit.” Life moves on. It is true of Jesus
and it is true of his followers. We have to keep moving forward, and come
to terms with the happenings in our lives. In the First Reading, Abram
too is told to leave his country and his family home, and go to where God will
lead him. God is telling us the same every day of our lives.
As Peter spoke a
“bright cloud” covered them. It was no ordinary cloud, but a luminous
cloud. It both concealed the unbearable brightness and revealed the very
presence of God himself (it reminds one of the cloud which covered Mount Sinai
when Moses spoke with God there).
From the cloud
comes a voice, the voice, of course, of God himself:
This is my Son,
the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!
These are the
exact words spoken at the baptism of Jesus. Again, they are an
endorsement of Jesus and of all that he will experience, including his
rejection by his people and his suffering and death on the way to life and
victory.
“Listen
to him”
This is directed at Peter and
the others. To listen to Jesus is:
- to hear what he says,
- to accept what he says,
- to make it one’s own,
- to identify with it fully.
So far, the
disciples have not been doing this; they have been hearing, but not accepting.
Only
Jesus
At the sound of God’s voice,
the disciples prostrate themselves on the ground, terrified. They hear
the gentle voice of Jesus,
Get up [rise up] and do not be afraid.
Jesus’ words point
to resurrection to a new life and the abolition of fear and anxiety. They look
up and see Jesus standing there alone; the Father is gone; Moses and Elijah are
gone.
From now on they
will see ‘only’ Jesus, but after this experience, they know that he is not
alone, that he has the full backing of his Father and of the Jewish tradition
of the Law and the Prophets. They were learning the lesson that, though
Jesus the Messiah would be rejected, suffer and die at the hands of his own
people and their enemies, glory and victory would follow.
They were learning
that, if they wanted to be truly his followers, they must accept this fully,
and that they themselves must be ready to go the same way. If they stay
with Jesus, victory, his victory, will be theirs too. If they stay with
Jesus, they will have nothing to fear.
Back
with the people
Then they came down from the
mountain. Being with Jesus means not staying up on a mountain. Being on
the mountain was a wonderful experience:
“It is good for
us to be here,” said Peter.
But Jesus came
down from the mountain to be with the people in their pains and sorrows, in
their fears and anxieties, in their sicknesses and disabilities and in their
sinfulness.
Jesus’ other name
in Matthew’s Gospel is Emmanuel, “God with us”. Jesus’ place
is to be with his people, and his followers have to do the same. It is
nice to spend quiet days at a lovely retreat house deep in the
countryside. It is nice to have a really good Mass with good homily,
lovely choir, candles and incense. But most of the time our Christian
life is to be spent sharing in the joys and sorrows of our brothers and
sisters. We are to be the salt of the earth, the leaven in the
dough, the candle on the lamp stand, helping people to know, understand and
experience the love of their God for them.
Most of the time
we meet Jesus especially in those in need: the hungry and thirsty (in every
sense of the word), the sick and disabled and those in prison:
…as you did it
to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’
We are to find
Jesus in them and they are to find Jesus in us.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/la021/
LECTIO DIVINA
Second Sunday of Lent
Initial Prayer:
Oh God, who in the
glorious Transfiguration of Christ, the Lord, you confirmed the mysteries of
faith by the witness of the Law and of the prophets and you have admirably
pre-announced our definite adoption as your children, may we listen to the Word
of your Beloved Son to become coheirs of his immortal life.
Reading of the Gospel – Mt 17:1-9
1 Six days later,
Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high
mountain by themselves. 2 There in their presence he was transfigured: his face
shone like the sun and his clothes became as dazzling as light. 3 And suddenly
Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking with him. 4 Then Peter
spoke to Jesus. 'Lord,' he said, 'it is wonderful for us to be here; if you
want me to, I will make three shelters here, one for you, one for Moses and one
for Elijah.' 5 He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered them
with shadow, and suddenly from the cloud there came a voice which said, 'This
is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favor. Listen to him.' 6 When they heard
this, the disciples fell on their faces, overcome with fear. 7 But Jesus came
up and touched them, saying, 'Stand up, do not be afraid.' 8 And when they
raised their eyes they saw no one but Jesus. 9 As they came down from the
mountain Jesus gave them this order, 'Tell no one about this vision until the
Son of man has risen from the dead.'
Moments of
Silence:
So that God’s Word may enter in us and
enlighten our life.
MEDITATIO
Key for the Reading:
The Gospel
according to Matthew insists on the coming of the Kingdom of
Heaven. This is
why Matthew’s Gospel is the Gospel of the Church, that is of the People of God
guided by its Head and Master Jesus, the Christ. The text which narrates the
event of the Transfiguration forms part of a section of the Gospel in which,
the Evangelist develops the theme of the beginning of the coming of the Kingdom
in a group of disciples who gradually will constitute the Body of the
Church. We find
the account of the Transfiguration in all the Synoptic Gospels (Mk 9: 2-8; Lk
9: 28-36), and we also find a reference to this event in the second letter of
Peter (2 Pt 1: 16-18). The text of Matthew (17: 1-9) though presents some
diversity. The account is found immediately after the first announcement of the
Passion and the mentioning of the conditions necessary for the following of
Christ and also the event of the glorification of the Son of Man in the glory
of the Father (Mt 16: 21-28). Before the glorification, Jesus has to go to
Jerusalem for the fulfillment of the Pascal mystery, that is: Passion, Death
and Resurrection (Mt 16: 21). Those who desire and wish to follow Jesus have to
deny themselves and then, also carry their cross to follow the Master. (Mt 16:
24). Only in this way can we participate in his glory: “Anyone who wants to
save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find
it” (Mt 16: 25). Those who do not accept the event of the Cross in the life of
Christ and therefore in the program of following him, are considered by Jesus
as “Satan”, because they do not think “according to God but as human beings do”
(Mt 16: 23). The expression which Jesus addresses to Peter: “Get behind me, Satan!”
(Mt 16: 23) reminds us of a similar expression used by Jesus in the parable of
the final judgment “When the Son of man comes in his glory”, (Mt 25: 31-46):
“Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for
the devil and his angels” (Mt 25: 41). This curse is addressed to those who do
not know the Lord and thus they do not form part of his Kingdom.
Then follows the
account of the Transfiguration (Mt 17: 1-9) with the question on the coming of
Elijah and the healing of the epileptic demoniac (Mt 17: 10-21). After these
events Jesus, for the second time, announces his Passion (Mt 17: 22) and
concerning the question of the payment of taxes for the needs of the temple,
Jesus plays on the words regarding the reality of son-ship (Mt 17: 24-27). In
the Transfiguration the Father declares that Jesus is “My Beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. Listen to him” (Mt 17, 5). We are also sons, in him, of the same
Father (Mt 5: 45; Mt 17: 25-26).
Jesus then
presents himself as our guide on the journey towards the Kingdom. In the
account of the Transfiguration Jesus is presented as the new Moses who encounters
God “on a high mountain” (Mt 17: 1) in the “bright cloud” (Mt 17: 15-18) with
the bright face (Ex 34: 29-35). Elijah
also encounters the Lord on Mount Horeb, the mountain of God (1 K 19: 9-13).
Just as in the event of Sinai (Ex 19: 20, 33-34), here also in the
Transfiguration there is the revelation of the new law. To listen to the
Beloved Son in whom God the Father is pleased (Mt 17: 5). This new law, given
by God on Tabor by means of the new Moses, reminds us what the Patriarch says
in the Book of Deuteronomy: “Yahweh, your God will raise up a prophet like me;
you will listen to him” (Dt 18: 15). In this text of the
Transfiguration,
more important than the law, of which Jesus is the fulfillment (that is why
after the vision the Apostles “saw no one, but Jesus alone” (Mt 17: 7), the
revelation on the part of the Father is stressed who proclaims the divine
filiation of Jesus Christ. Besides this proclamation in the Transfiguration,
the identity of the Son is proclaimed two other times in the Gospel of Matthew:
at the beginning and at the end. After the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, a
voice from heaven says: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am pleased” (Mt 3:
17); and when Jesus dies on the Cross, the centurion exclaims using words of
revelation and of faith: “Truly this one was the Son of God!” (Mt 27: 54).
Besides, in this proclamation, the Father reveals Jesus as the servant of the
Lord, pre- announced by Isaiah: “Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one
in whom my soul delights” (Is 42: 1).
The discovery of
the identity of the Son, arouses in the three witnesses the fear of God, falling
on their faces (Mt 17: 6). Already at the beginning of the Gospel, in the birth
of Jesus, the Magi “Entering into the house saw the Child with his mother Mary,
and falling to their knees, they did him homage” (Mt 2: 11). A similar reaction
is also found in the Gospel of John, after the self-revelation of the Lord, in
the account when Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane. Jesus says to them: I am he!”
[...] As soon as he said, “I am he”, they moved back and fell on the ground”
(Jn 18: 5-6). Also in the Book of Revelation, John “in ecstasy” (Rv 1: 10), saw
“one similar to a son of man […] his face like the sun shining with all its force”
(Rv 1: 12-16), and because of all these visions he fell at his feet like dead
(Rv 1: 17). The apostle in Rm 14: 11 and Ph 2: 10 will proclaim that before the
Lord, “in the name of Jesus every knee will bow before him in heaven, on earth
and in the underworld; every tongue shall proclaim that Jesus Christ is the
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
This vision is
strictly linked to the mystery of the Passover, it seems like an apparition of
the Risen Jesus in all his glory, it is a pre-announcement of the future life.
For this reason, “coming down from the mountain, Jesus ordered them: “Tell no
one about this vision until the Son of man has risen from the dead” (Mt 17: 9).
To Orientate the Meditation and the
Realization:
•
Read
once again the passage from the Gospel and find in the Bible all the texts
quoted in the key to the reading. Try to find other parallel texts which can
help you to penetrate deeper into the text in the meditation.
•
Some
questions:
•
Have
you ever asked yourself who the Person of Christ is? Your vision of the
identity of Jesus corresponds to that proclaimed in the Transfiguration?
•
What
meaning does the proclamation of Jesus as Son of God have in your life?
•
Jesus
cannot be understood without the Pascal mystery of the Passion, Death and
Resurrection. What sense does this mystery have for you? How do you live it
daily?
ORATIO
Psalm 97:
I seek your face,
oh Lord, show me your face. Yahweh is king!
Let earth rejoice,
the many isles be glad! Cloud, black cloud enfolds him, saving justice and
judgement the foundations of his throne. I seek your face, oh Lord, show me
your face.
The mountains melt
like wax, before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens
proclaim his saving justice, all nations see his glory.
For you are
Yahweh,
Most High over all
the earth, far transcending all gods. I seek your face, oh Lord, show me your
face.
Concluding Prayer:
Let us rejoice,
Beloved,
and let us go
forth to behold ourselves in your beauty to the mountain and to the hill, to
where the pure water flows, and further, deep into the thicket. (John of the
Cross, Spiritual Canticle, 36)
CONTEMPLATIO
“Let us go forth
to behold ourselves in your beauty”
This means: Let us
so act that by means of this loving activity we may attain to the vision of
ourselves in your beauty in eternal life. That is: That I be so transformed in
your beauty that we may be alike in beauty, and both behold ourselves in your
beauty, possessing then your very beauty; this, in such a way that each looking
at the other may see in the other their own beauty, since both are your beauty
alone, I being absorbed in your beauty; hence, I shall see you in your beauty,
and you will see me in your beauty, and I shall see myself in you in your
beauty, and you will see yourself in me in your beauty; that I may resemble you
in your beauty, and you resemble me in your beauty, and my beauty be your
beauty and your beauty my beauty; wherefore I shall be you in your beauty, and
you will be me in your beauty, because your very beauty will be my beauty; and
thus we shall behold each other in your beauty. (John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle, 36/5)
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