Second Sunday of Lent
I don’t want to give away the movie, but like many of the first movies of a superhero (or in this case, superheroine) it explains Carol Danvers’ history and identity, as well as her becoming who she truly is meant to be.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus shows us a glimpse of what we’re supposed to be. In the midst of the impending Passion of our Lord (in the Gospel according to Luke, the Transfiguration happens after the first prediction of Jesus’ Passion, and right before Jesus sets out for Jerusalem to undergo His Passion), Jesus gives Peter, James, and John a glimpse of what will happen after Jesus’ Passion and Death. The Gospel describes Jesus as with “dazzling white” clothing and His face changed in appearance. We often depict Jesus as glowing in His Transfiguration. But what it comes down to is that Jesus shows His special apostles a prefigurement of His glorified body, and Jesus speaks with Moses and Elijah about “his exodus,” Jesus leading His people from slavery to freedom.
We were created for that glory that Jesus shows us in the Transfiguration. We were created to communion with the saints in heaven as we make our way on our pilgrimage on earth. We were made for heaven; that is the goal of every human life.
When we depict saints artistically or for sacred worship, we do so with a glorified body, and with a halo. Good liturgical depictions of the saints may include the instruments of their life or even their death, but it does so in a way that shows that they are at peace. We also try to make it look like the eternal light of heaven, that place where there is no night because the Lamb is the light and He is never hidden. If you look at our icons, we have gold leaf for their halos as a way of reflecting and showing off the light. And their faces are definitely peaceful, not affected by the passions or by even the external events of the world, but simply living the peace of Christ.
But that reality is not only for those in heaven. If we are living the life of Christ, if we are putting on Christ and living as He desires, then we, too, can shine here on earth. About certain holy men and women on earth, some have even mentioned that they seemed to shine. Moses’ face shone after every encounter with God, as we read in the Old Testament.
And if we shine more and more as we live the heavenly life, then we become more dull the more we immerse ourselves in our earthly life. St. Paul speaks about that in our second reading. He talks about those whose “end is destruction. Their god is their stomach; their glory is in their ‘shame.’ Their minds are occupied with earthly things.” The more that we focus, instead, on the heavenly life, the more Jesus “will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.” The more that we focus on our earthly life, the more we resist that transformation that Jesus shows us in the Transfiguration.
Now, you might be thinking that you have to focus on our earthly life because you live an earthly life. You, like I, have to pay bills, buy food, travel back and forth, pay mortgages or rent, etc. But that’s not what I mean by the earthly life. Earthly life is when we focus on our fallen and base desires. When we are lustful; when we are greedy; when we make money or power or fame a god; when we lie; when we gossip. When we do those things, we say no to the divine light that wants to change us, wants to transfigure us. When we focus on prayer, on generosity, on helping our neighbors, on the common good, even while we are working or vacationing, then we allow that light to penetrate into the very fabric of our life and make us shine with the light of the eternal sun that never sets in heaven. When we live the heavenly life, we can truly say that the “Lord is my light.”
I don’t know about you, but I feel like our world is darker now than it was even not that long ago when I was growing up. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that since that time, people’s participation in the faith has decreased greatly. Our world is darker because it is not illuminated by as many men and women striving for holiness, striving to let the light of the Lord shine through them. And even some of those who do attend Mass do not have their hearts set on the Lord, but are living a double life where greed and power and lust are the happy focus of their life for six and a half days of the week, and the Lord is the focus for one hour on Sunday. The light will not shine through those people, either. Instead, by the grace of God, we need to allow God to change us, to forgive us through the Sacrament of Penance when we fall, and to transfigure us with His light.
Our identity is not in our base desires. Perhaps you’re still discovering the “superhero” that God is calling you to be. Be that superhero of the faith. Be that saint, even in your daily life. Let God transfigure you to let His light shine through you.
