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It is the Second Sunday in Lent. Last Thursday we have discussed about the Fourth Luminous Mystery which is the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Thabor and this Sunday we find ourselves reflecting on the same glorious event.
The Transfiguration of the Lord is one of the significant events in His earthly life. It is considered as the culminating point of His life with His baptism as the beginning and His ascension as its end. Through this event, the Lord Jesus Christ manifested His glory and the three Apostles were so overcome with the experience that Peter without thinking about it [see Luke 9:33] proposed that the three of them - him, James and John - make three shelters, one each for the Lord, for Moses and for Elijah, because they wanted to continue enjoying that glorious experience. It was a foretaste of heaven and they hoped it would not end anymore. They thought it would be best to stay on the mountain - away from the troubles and worries of life down the mountain. The experience was far beyond what they could have tasted or could ever enjoy on earth that Peter did not bother about making shelters also for the three of them. They were so awed with what they witnessed that it was enough to be there in the presence of that great heavenly vision.
But as we stated last Thursday, there are no short cuts to heaven. The Apostles cannot stay up the mountain to enjoy the glory of the Lord and forget that they were still on earth with the mission to be accomplished: to tell others about this good news - that heaven is the ultimate destiny of everyone and life on earth is but a preparation for that destination.
The Transfiguration is more than a vision of the Lord's glory too. It was also a call for Peter, James and John and for every one of us to be transformed from being earthly to heavenly, from being concerned with merely physical and corporeal enjoyment to the longing for spiritual and moral perfection, and from being sinful or inclined to sin to holiness of life and avoidance even of the occasions of sin. The Transfiguration is a celebration of the Lord's glory and of our vocation to be conformed to our Lord. As Christians we are called to deny ourselves and be like Christ [see Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; John 12:26]. We are called to be transformed from being sinful to being holy so that we may be able to enter heaven and enjoy God's presence for all eternity.
Last Sunday we discussed about the temptations of the Lord. The same temptations are continuously being offered to us by the devil. May the Transfiguration keep us focused toward our ultimate destination which is eternal union with the Father in heaven so that we may never fear going down from the mountain and face the troubles and worries of life. It is our purpose through these 40 days of Lent: to recharge our spirits so that we many never lose hope and never lose sight of heaven.
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