Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR C SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT - 7.3.04 Gn 15,5-23.17-18; Phil 3,17-4,1; Lk 9,28b-36 Mt Tabor, God’s Mountain I
will go to the mountain of God.
Today we celebrate the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mt Tabor. Religious
sentiment has always felt a strong pull towards all mountain peaks. They are
seen as the visible abode of our invisible God. Because these peaks appear &
disappear in the clouds, they give an awareness of concealing & revealing
God’s majesty. In history, the literature of all religions, presents Sacred
Mountains as energy-charged places, from where radiates the wonder of
creation and its Creator. Naturally, our soul longs to look up to mountains for
inspiration & contemplation; indeed, some people risk tiring & hazardous
climbs, in order to experience at close ranks the energy and majesty hidden in
those lofty peaks. Our Judeo-Christian religion is steeped in mountain theology
and to appreciate today’s feast, we need to tap in this theology. The Bible
gives special names to mountains: ‘God provides’ is called the mountain
where Isaac was to be killed. Mt Sion is called the site of Jerusalem &
heavenly Jerusalem. Mt Sinai is linked with Moses & Mt Horeb with Elijah. As
for Jesus, we have: Mt of beatitudes, Mt Tabor, Mt of olives, Mt Calvary, Mt of
the Ascension. Today, feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration on Mt Tabor, we are
inspired by Psalms 121 & 42: ‘I lift up my eyes to the mountain,
from where else will my help come?. O send forth your light & your truth,
let these be my guide, let them bring me to your holy mountain, the place
where your glory abides’. A mountain-peak is also lifeless as the ‘Desert’ (Gr. eremos =
hermitage) & in this sense, it is charged with incredible energy: it is an
ideal place for isolation and for seeking God in sanctity (‘sanctity’ from
sancire = to live sanctioned, cut off from our troubled society) Like the
desert, the mountain-peak is lofty, lifeless, inaccessible; it’s a place for
combat & temptation, for prayer in the midst of discontent, for inner
scrutiny & soul-searching. What
are Moses & Elijah doing on Mt Tabor? They, more that anyone in the Bible embody the
powerful call to, and return from, the mountain. On it, both experienced the
presence of God (shekinah) - went for 40 days & 40 nights without food -
were taken up into God’s cloud - brought God’s word and were appalled
by the stubborn disobedience of the people. Indeed Luke has structured his story
on Tabor in a parallel form to the story of Moses on Sinai (Ex. 24): both select
3 disciples; ascend the mountain and there God’s glory covers the mountain
with a cloud; from the cloud, both are called and enter God’s glory; for both
the faces become radiantly shining, their clothes dazzlingly white. Luke is out
there to convince us that it was always God’s loving plan
that God’s Son would give his life for us on Mt Calvary; this plan had
been already predestined in the life of Moses and Elijah; and Jesus was now
fulfilling God’s plan. On Mt Tabor, God’s voice was heard as a whisper in
the stillness of God’s presence: This is my beloved Son, listen to him.
Believe it or not, Jesus has fulfilled his saving mission, as it had been
ordained in the Scriptures, and as the very lives of Moses and Elijah had
foretold. Lesson: These days, as many are shocked by Mel Gibson’s gruesome account of
“Passion of the Christ”, there is an invitation for each of us -just as we
participate at this Liturgy- to listen and understand that the Lord did suffer
such a shameful death, but it was meant to be like that. Indeed God loved us to
that excess. Yes! Jesus is God’s Son & our saving Lord. Tragically, people
rebelled against Moses and Elijah. Let’s not be like them. Let us recognise
the horrendous signs & believe that Jesus is our only way to God: our
Saviour. ______________________________________ |
