Today's Readings
As we walk this Lenten journey together, I must admit that I love the people that God has brought into my life! I consider myself greatly blessed by God in the many wonderful relationships and friendships he has nurtured. The love of my parents, my wife and our children has given me the confidence that there are people who are with me every step of the way. Equally, I feel blessed by some very close friends, who know me better than most, and would do anything they could to support me, especially in times of need. Equal still, are the blessing of the many, many wonderful people that I work with, and see on a regular basis, as we share our efforts in doing our part to live and grow in community. We all have varied levels of relationships. Some are more intimate and special than others, yet all have their place in making our lives meaningful. Knowing that, our goal today is to explore how our call to deepen our relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ will only serve to benefit us, and what it is that He is trying to reveal to us.
Our first reading from Genesis offers a look at the unique and special relationship between God and Abram, specifically their covenant to one another. Today we see God reaffirming his promise to Abram to make his descendants as numerous as the stars, but God also seeks a reaffirmation of His own, seeking some reassurance of Abram’s commitment to the relationship. Abram responds, performing an ancient ritual sacrifice called “splitting”. This special ritual, which was traditionally used as a way of ratifying a contract, calls for one party to offer the symbolic sacrifice of an animal, split in two, as a way of offering himself and all that he has as a commitment to the covenant. The covenant is ratified when the other party walks between the split animal, acknowledging the sacrifice. In a sign of trust and his deep relationship with God, Abram splits a heifer, a goat, a ram, a dove, and a pigeon, and with much faith, waits for God patiently through the night, falling into a deep sleep, only to be awoken to see the fire that is God walking between the split sacrifice, sealing the covenant promising his descendants land of their own.
In today’s Gospel account of the Transfiguration, we see a unique coming together of God’s Law, His promise, and His Son, as well as another example of a true friendship. In this case, we focus on the special relationship between Jesus, Peter, James, and John, and how it is built on trust. Unlike the other disciples, these three came with Jesus because their relationship had grown, and their trust was mature enough to handle all that was about to happen, for in an amazing crescendo of God’s Word and grace, Christ gave them, and all of us, a glimpse of a new exodus from the enslavement of sin, and a new covenant for everlasting life.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that Luke’s Gospel likes to emphasize the action of the Holy Spirit and the importance of prayer in Christ’s earthly ministry. One unique to quality of the Gospel of Luke is that Jesus always spends time in prayer before major events like the Transfiguration. The Catechism says that Jesus’ prayer make for “a humble and trusting commitment of his [own] human will to loving will of the Father.” (CCC #2600) In this case he prays with His disciples Peter, James and John atop a mountain, a symbolic place for divine encounters. The divine encounter of the Transfiguration most likely happened on Mt. Tabor near Nazareth. (Concise Dictionary of Theology) It is called the Transfiguration, because “While [Christ] was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” (Lk. 9:29) Jesus was transfigured, which literally means that he changed form and appearance into a more beautiful and spiritual state of being. (Oxford Dictionary) The disciples, who had fallen asleep, awoke to a dazzling light and saw the transfigured Christ talking with Moses, representative of God’s Law, and Elijah, representative of God’s promise through the Prophets. This confirmed yet another special relationship, foreshadowing a new exodus and all that would take place in Jerusalem. Peter, James and John were blessed to witness this the intimate relationship between Christ, Moses and Elijah, because of their close relationship and their faith in Jesus Christ!
Today’s Good News is that God is ready to deepen His relationship with you, so as to call you to accept His grace and promise of a new life for you, your family, and all those you serve. But we need to become more than just acquaintances, or even “best friends” with the Lord. We need to trust and grow with Him, knowing, as the Psalmist sings, that only He is our light and our salvation! (Ps. 27) In our first reading, God’s covenant with Abram, promises us descendants as countless as the stars, and a land to call our own. The second reading asks the Philippians, and us to join others in imitating those who follow Christ, so as to try and be more like those who have truly deepened their relationship with Him, for in doing so, Paul promises that we will be transformed as “He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body” (Phil. 3: 21) Finally, in our Gospel, and in our upcoming celebration of the Eucharist itself, we see the benefit of having a close relationship with the Lord, as Peter, James and John, and all of us gathered here, are able to witness Christ in all of His glory as he confirms His union with the Law and the Prophets, revealing to us a glimpse of the new exodus, and a new covenant to come.
