Fr. Joeven Matugas, SX
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
In the first portion of the Gospel today, Jesus went up the mountain to pray (v. 28). At this time of Lent all of us Christians are also invited to pray. This is the appropriate time for prayer. When we say prayer it is not just to murmur with our lips what we want to ask of God. But prayer is the time where we situate our very selves with God. Through meditating His Word and reflecting inside ourselves and listening to Him. This Year of Mercy the Holy Father invites us to experience the forgiveness of God. We cannot share the mercy of God if we do not practice it first ourselves. With this, we need prayer.
The second portion of the Gospel that draws my attention is the “departure of Jesus”, the exodus of Jesus “which he was about to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem” (v. 31). What is this departure of Jesus? I am asking myself while reading this Gospel passage. Why this Transfiguration of Jesus is the Gospel of this 2nd Sunday of Lent? After reading the text and meeting this word ‘departure’, then I began to understand the connection of this Transfiguration to this season of Lent. The departure of Jesus, his exodus, refers to his own passion, the suffering he endured on the road to Mt. Calvary, moreover, his own death. The bruises, the wounds inflicted on his body, The scourging, the whipping, the spitting, the mockery, the carrying of the cross, the loss of his water and the blood, the tiredness, his nailing to the cross, his thirst, the loss of his breath... All these horrible words are not all enough to describe the suffering of Jesus. All this are for the fulfillment of his mission, his coming close to us.
Every year we have the Stations of the Cross. In one of our small Outstations here in Kabala parish called Kamanzo, they used to make the Stations of the cross at 3 o` clock in the afternoon. They made it outside. They began from the town clinic one hundred meters away coming towards the church. A good number of them joined, though the village is not large. During the Stations of the cross, they came with drums and beat them and the hymn books for the singing. They sang even Limba songs, both the old people and the young, clapping their hands. Seeing them under the scorching heat of the sun and in the cloud of dust and the sweat coming out from their bodies and moving from one station to another, I have found it not so pleasing. But they themselves are pleased to do it in the same way, every year according to their tradition of praying to God. When I looked at them, I can understand what they feel and how they share the suffering of Jesus on the Cross.
The third portion tells us that the three disciples saw `his glory` (v. 32). The departure of Jesus is not only his death but also his rising up from his grave and his ascension into heaven and return to the Father in glory. This is the heavenly manifestation of God for us. That we people also experience this glory of God through Jesus death and resurrection. This transfiguration foreshadows the great and wondrous mystery of Jesus as we are now in this season of Lent, commemorating his passion through the Stations of the Cross every Friday until His resurrection and ascension in the coming Easter time.
The last portion of my reflection is this, that “while he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; LISTEN to HIM.”(V.35-36).
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
In the first portion of the Gospel today, Jesus went up the mountain to pray (v. 28). At this time of Lent all of us Christians are also invited to pray. This is the appropriate time for prayer. When we say prayer it is not just to murmur with our lips what we want to ask of God. But prayer is the time where we situate our very selves with God. Through meditating His Word and reflecting inside ourselves and listening to Him. This Year of Mercy the Holy Father invites us to experience the forgiveness of God. We cannot share the mercy of God if we do not practice it first ourselves. With this, we need prayer.
The second portion of the Gospel that draws my attention is the “departure of Jesus”, the exodus of Jesus “which he was about to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem” (v. 31). What is this departure of Jesus? I am asking myself while reading this Gospel passage. Why this Transfiguration of Jesus is the Gospel of this 2nd Sunday of Lent? After reading the text and meeting this word ‘departure’, then I began to understand the connection of this Transfiguration to this season of Lent. The departure of Jesus, his exodus, refers to his own passion, the suffering he endured on the road to Mt. Calvary, moreover, his own death. The bruises, the wounds inflicted on his body, The scourging, the whipping, the spitting, the mockery, the carrying of the cross, the loss of his water and the blood, the tiredness, his nailing to the cross, his thirst, the loss of his breath... All these horrible words are not all enough to describe the suffering of Jesus. All this are for the fulfillment of his mission, his coming close to us.
Every year we have the Stations of the Cross. In one of our small Outstations here in Kabala parish called Kamanzo, they used to make the Stations of the cross at 3 o` clock in the afternoon. They made it outside. They began from the town clinic one hundred meters away coming towards the church. A good number of them joined, though the village is not large. During the Stations of the cross, they came with drums and beat them and the hymn books for the singing. They sang even Limba songs, both the old people and the young, clapping their hands. Seeing them under the scorching heat of the sun and in the cloud of dust and the sweat coming out from their bodies and moving from one station to another, I have found it not so pleasing. But they themselves are pleased to do it in the same way, every year according to their tradition of praying to God. When I looked at them, I can understand what they feel and how they share the suffering of Jesus on the Cross.
The third portion tells us that the three disciples saw `his glory` (v. 32). The departure of Jesus is not only his death but also his rising up from his grave and his ascension into heaven and return to the Father in glory. This is the heavenly manifestation of God for us. That we people also experience this glory of God through Jesus death and resurrection. This transfiguration foreshadows the great and wondrous mystery of Jesus as we are now in this season of Lent, commemorating his passion through the Stations of the Cross every Friday until His resurrection and ascension in the coming Easter time.
The last portion of my reflection is this, that “while he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; LISTEN to HIM.”(V.35-36).