Readings
First reading: Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Psalm: 26 (27)m 1, 7-8, 9abcd, 13-14
Second reading: Philippians 3:17- 4:1
Gospel: Luke 9:28b-36
Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” – Luke 9:35
Walking in the footsteps of Jesus
By Pascal André Charlebois, animator for Eastern Quebec; Nicolas Kalgora, animator for the Maritimes; and Richard Rudashama, Animator for Western and Northern Quebec
The Gospel for the second Sunday of Lent offers us the opportunity to meditate on the Transfiguration of Jesus as related by the evangelist Luke. It is a key episode of the New Testament that is proclaimed and celebrated in the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions.
Having revealed to His disciples a few days earlier that He would go to Jerusalem to be condemned, suffer and die, Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him to pray on a mountain. While He was praying, Jesus was transfigured before His disciples. His face took on a glorious form. His clothing became dazzlingly white. Peter, James and John saw Moses and Elijah, two great biblical figures, talking with Jesus about how He was going to accomplish His mission by dying in Jerusalem. A cloud cast its shadow upon them. When Moses and Elijah disappeared, leaving Jesus alone with the frightened disciples, the voice of God was heard from the cloud: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” At Jesus’s request, Peter, James and John, who had witnessed His glory, told no one what they had seen. They only bore witness to the Transfiguration of Jesus after His resurrection.
The episode of the Transfiguration of Jesus has several important significations:
- As the confirmation that Jesus fulfills the Scriptures, it allows us to understand the full scope of His mission and passion, and the will of God, His Father.
- It is the revelation by God the Father of the divine nature of Jesus. “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” Until then, it was Moses, the bearer of the Law, and the prophets, represented here by Elijah, who were listened to. In the future, it is through the implementation of the word and teachings of Jesus that the Kingdom of God will come.
- It prepares the disciples for the passion, crucifixion and death of Jesus, by which mankind will be redeemed.
- It prefigures the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the joy of Easter and the promise of eternal life in the presence of God.
A concrete gesture to walk in the footsteps of Jesus
Many narratives of the evangelists Matthew, Mark, John and Luke bear witness to how Jesus, in exercising His ministry on Earth, contributed to the transfiguration of many people, i.e., to the transformation of their lives, by giving them a feeling of fulfillment. These include stories of the Samaritan woman, the blind man, the adulterous woman condemned to stoning and the thief on the cross.
On this second Sunday of Lent, a time of spiritual renewal, how can we reflect the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ? In this Jubilee year when we are called to be Pilgrims of Hope, what concrete gesture of hope and solidarity can we make towards our sisters and brothers in the poorest countries?
An opportunity for this is presented by the invitation from the bishops of Canada to respond to Pope Francis’s call to sign the global Turn Debt into Hope petition. This call is in the tradition of the biblical jubilee year, during which debts were cancelled, slaves were set free and the land was left fallow.
Pope Francis writes that addressing the causes of injustice, feeding the hungry and settling unjust debts are necessary for peace to reign in the world. He asks the richest nations to recognize the gravity of many of the decisions that have taken and to forgive the debts of countries that will never be able to repay them. He emphasizes that it is not a question of generosity, but of justice.
Let us join our voices to those of Pope Francis, our bishops, the great Caritas Internationalis family and many other organizations around the world, so that our sisters and brothers may live in dignity, freed from the burden of unjust foreign debt. Sign the global Turn Debt into Hope petition in Church or on the Development and Peace — Caritas Canada website (at devp.org/debt). Let signing this petition be one of our gestures of solidarity and justice in this Jubilee year!
Please also take the time to discover Development and Peace — Caritas Canada’s 2025 Share Lent campaign, Turn Debt into Hope.
