We are now on the Second Sunday of Lent. This day we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration, one of the high points of the Gospels. Jesus has just announced to Peter, John, and James what awaits him: his death and resurrection. At the same time, a voice confirms Jesus in his mission with the command, “Listen to him!” It is the high point of Christ’s ministry because here God assigns to him great honor and glory. God exalts Jesus above all other powers in creation, and positions him as ruler and judge.
In the transfiguration, God commands us to listen to his Beloved Son. That is, to listen to him most intently. (Take note of the imperative). In this day and age, with so much distraction and noise, one of the most difficult things to do is to listen to Jesus, i.e. to listen to him with understanding. Often, we all are drowned out by so much noise that we only hear but not listen to what is being said. The cacophony of the world makes us miss out Jesus’s message to us, not knowing that it is this message that will give us inspiration and hope in the midst of hopelessness, will guide when we are lost, soothes and allays our fears, and consoles when in anguish.
So much is happening in the world today. The pandemic has wreaked havoc all throughout since March 2020. The war in Ukraine is causing enormous economic pressure, and more divisiveness in an already divided world, causing paralyzing fear, untold suffering, displacement, death, and destruction to so many, not to mention that other smaller conflicts are happening in every corner of the world like in Southern Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen which, in a smaller scale, also bring suffering and pain. Right here at home, two of my clients Chad Booc and Jurain Nguho were killed in Mindanao, alongside three other unarmed civilians, for being teachers of Lumad schools.
The air is filled with fear and uncertainty. The temptation is to despair, to give in to our helplessness and hopelessness.
In the transfiguration, Jesus is transfigured before three of his disciples. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. It is a revelation of Jesus’ divinity and majesty. It is an event to reinforce the wavering faith of Peter, James and John, and to assure them that he is truly the Son of God, who will undergo suffering and death. Which is why in the same event, God told the disciples about his love for his Son and commanded them to listen to him.
In times like this, our faith may also be wavering. Many may wonder if God is still in control or if God even exists. But as in the transfiguration, there is a need for us to be quiet, keep the noise of the world out and give our undivided attention to the message that Jesus may be whispering to us through these events. Jesus being the God of love conveys a message of love. That is why his message can never be understood by a heart filled with anger, hatred, lust, and worldliness. Because then the heart becomes deaf to his imploring for it becomes hardened as a rock.
Only the pure of heart can truly understand and discern the gift of the Transfiguration. Only when we empty ourselves with the trappings and distractions of the world that we absorb his message of love even in the worst events of our lives. And only then can we truly witness the real transfiguration of Christ in all its glory and majesty.
In one of his reflections on the transfiguration narrative, Pope Francis said that at the time, Jesus’ disciples thought of him as an earthly authority who always triumphs, however, the faith Jesus gives is different: “he triumphs in the humiliation of the cross.” Jesus makes seen what will come after the cross, what awaits all of us,” he said, explaining that Jesus always prepares each person for the trials they will face, and gives them the strength “to go forward in trials and overcome them with his strength.” He also explained that “Between this beautiful transfiguration and that Resurrection there will be another face of Jesus. There will be a face that’s not so beautiful,” “There will be an ugly face, disfigured, tortured, despised (and) bloodied. Jesus’ entire body is like something to throw away,” he said, adding that there are “two transfigurations, and in the middle is Jesus Crucified, the Cross.” He encouraged us to listen to Jesus just as the Father ordered Peter, James, and John and to look at the Cross often, and to remember how Jesus was “annihilated” to save us.
The Transfiguration is an event that reinforces our faith in the midst of trials and tribulations. It tells us that if we only listen to Jesus, these trials will lead us to salvation just as he saved us because of his suffering and death on the cross.
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