The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate how our relationship with Transcendent and Immanent God achieves our transformation and inspiration by the Spirit.
Luminous experience
The reading from the Book of Genesis is the vision of the Covenant with Abram.
* [15:9–17] Cutting up animals was a well-attested way of making a treaty in antiquity. Jer 34:17–20 shows the rite is a form of self-imprecation in which violators invoke the fate of the animals upon themselves. The eighth-century B.C. Sefire treaty from Syria reads, “As this calf is cut up, thus Matti’el shall be cut up.” The smoking fire pot and the flaming torch (v. 17), which represent God, pass between the pieces, making God a signatory to the covenant.1
Psalm 27 is a triumphant Song of Confidence.
* [Psalm 27] Tradition has handed down the two sections of the Psalm (Ps 27:1–6; 7–14) as one Psalm, though each part could be understood as complete in itself. Asserting boundless hope that God will bring rescue (Ps 27:1–3), the psalmist longs for the presence of God in the Temple, protection from all enemies (Ps 27:4–6). In part B there is a clear shift in tone (Ps 27:7–12); the climax of the poem comes with “I believe” (Ps 27:13), echoing “I trust” (Ps 27:3).2
The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians contrasts wrong conduct and our goal.
* [3:20] Citizenship: Christians constitute a colony of heaven, as Philippi was a colonia of Rome (Acts 16:12). The hope Paul expresses involves the final coming of Christ, not a status already attained, such as the opponents claim.3
The Gospel of Luke describes the Transfiguration.
* [9:28–36] Situated shortly after the first announcement of the passion, death, and resurrection, this scene of Jesus’ transfiguration provides the heavenly confirmation to Jesus’ declaration that his suffering will end in glory (Lk 9:32); see also notes on Mt 17:1–8 and Mk 9:2–8. * [9:28] Up the mountain to pray: the “mountain” is the regular place of prayer in Luke (see Lk 6:12; 22:39–41). * [9:30] Moses and Elijah: the two figures represent the Old Testament law and the prophets. At the end of this episode, the heavenly voice will identify Jesus as the one to be listened to now (Lk 9:35). See also note on Mk 9:5.4
George Butterfield comments that all of the readings for this Second Sunday of Lent envision seeing God.
In Jesus, we see God and don’t die. No longer does God hide behind a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch. No longer does our glance seek to see God, to no avail. Now we await from heaven the return of the one we have seen, the God who came in the flesh, who has destroyed death, and promises us that the power of his resurrection will not only empower us to live for him now but will one day make us immortal and give us eyes that truly see.5
Don Schwager quotes “The transfiguration of Jesus,” by Jerome (347-420 AD).
"Do you wish to see the transfiguration of Jesus? Behold with me the Jesus of the Gospels. Let him be simply apprehended. There he is beheld both 'according to the flesh' and at the same time in his true divinity. He is beheld in the form of God according to our capacity for knowledge. This is how he was beheld by those who went up upon the lofty mountain to be apart with him. Meanwhile those who do not go up the mountain can still behold his works and hear his words, which are uplifting. It is before those who go up that Jesus is transfigured, and not to those below. When he is transfigured, his face shines as the sun, that he may be manifested to the children of light, who have put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12). They are no longer the children of darkness or night but have become the children of day. They walk honestly as in the day. Being manifested, he will shine to them not simply as the sun but as he is demonstrated to be, the sun of righteousness." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 12.37.10)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 9:28-36 comments that we also need faith, not only to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but that he is actually present with us. Because he is, in the mystery of the Eucharist, every time and in every place where Mass is celebrated. To all appearances, the Eucharist looks like ordinary bread and wine. But in reality, the consecrated Host and the Precious Blood is truly Jesus. He is with us in every way—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
On Mount Tabor that day, Peter, John, and James got a rare glimpse of Jesus in all his glory. Today, let him show you his glory. As the priest lifts up the Host on the altar, imagine Jesus as he was at the Transfiguration, his face radiant and his clothes dazzling white. Then kneel down in awe and worship him. “Jesus, help me to see you as you truly are, in all your glory!”7
Friar Jude Winkler notes in the Elohist account of the Covenant that Abram is in a trance for the “cutting” of a Covenant of blessings and curses that resonate with Jesus “torn asunder” on the Cross. The Letter to the Philippians recognizes our status as citizens of heaven who give witness to Christ in our actions. Friar Jude reminds us of our luminous experiences that strengthen our faith as we continue our journey.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes Mary as a feminine symbol for the divine presence. Although Jesus was a man, the Christ is beyond gender, so it should be expected that the Big Tradition would have found feminine ways, consciously or unconsciously, to symbolize the full Divine Incarnation and to give God a more feminine character—as the Bible itself often does. We are clearly dealing not just with a single woman here but a foundational symbol—or, to borrow the language of Carl Jung (1875–1961), an “archetype”—an image that constellates a whole host of meanings that cannot be communicated logically but is grounded in our collective unconscious.
Jung believed that humans produce in art the inner images the soul needs in order to see itself and to allow its own transformation. Try to count how many paintings in art museums, churches, and homes show a wonderfully dressed woman offering for your admiration—and hers—an often naked baby boy. What is the very ubiquity of this image saying on the soul level? I think it looks something like this: The first Incarnation (creation) is symbolized by Sophia-Incarnate, a beautiful, feminine, multicolored, graceful Mary. She is invariably offering us Jesus, God incarnated into vulnerability and nakedness. Mary became the symbol of the First Universal Incarnation. She then hands the Second Incarnation on to us, while remaining in the background; the focus is always on the child. Earth Mother presenting Spiritual Son, the two first stages of the Incarnation. Feminine Receptivity, handing on the fruit of her yes. And inviting us to offer our own yes.8
The mystery of the intimacy with God we experience on our journey affirms our trust in the prompting of the Spirit to follow the Way of Jesus.
References
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