Second Sunday of Lent

On this second Sunday of Lent, our Gospel spoke about the Transfiguration of the Lord. Jesus was transfigured, not transformed. In the Transfiguration, the true divine nature of Jesus was revealed, and for a moment, it manifested over His human nature. There was nothing earthly placed upon Him to make Him radiate with divine glory. The voice from the cloud affirmed the true identity of Jesus as the Son of God and also commanded us to listen to Him.
Jesus is divine, yet He took on human nature with its weaknesses, and He even went on to suffer and die on the Cross to save us. In saving us, Jesus restored our true human nature, showing that we are created in the image of God. In our true human nature, we manifest and express the image of God and His holiness. However, sin has disfigured and deformed our human nature, and so instead of radiating the holiness of God, we reflect the ugliness of sin and evil.
Instead of being loving, kind, and gentle, we give in to selfishness, anger, and even cruelty. Instead of being heart-warming, we become nerve-chilling to others. Instead of being charitable, we choose to be irritable and irritating to others as well. But in His Transfiguration, Jesus showed us who He is, and we are also reminded of who we are: that we are created in the image of God and that we are His children. We have listened to the voice of the world and followed its ways, often attracted to the lights of glamorous appearances.
But let us listen to the voice of Jesus and ascend with Him to the mountain of prayer so that we can see who we truly are. Therefore, may we be healed of our sinfulness and restored to the image of God in which we are created. May we also radiate the holiness of God and help others rise from the lights of the earth and journey toward the eternal light above.
Fr. Aegidius Warsito, SCJ