2nd Sunday of LENT, Year C

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Mis à jour le mercredi 27 février 2013 11:13

Publié le mercredi 20 février 2013 05:54

Écrit par Myriam Balian

“The Lord will transfigure these bodies of ours.”

Gn.15:5-12,17-18    R.Ps.27   Ph.3:20­_4:1 short form   Lk.9:28-36

Jane was a lovely 3-year old girl. But one day, an electrical fault set fire to the house. A fireman managed to take her out but she was terribly burned. The doctor and nurses of the local hospital with patient care saved her life but she re-mained with deep scars all over her face. Her arms had shrunk. She was referred to a hospital specialised in burns. She had to undergo repeated surgery but after many months she was transformed: her arms and her skin were like new.

Today’s readings also speak of people being changed. In the gospel, we see Jesus transfigured: “As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning.” He looked so different as if he had taken on a new way of being. The ‘ordinary’ Jesus has given place to a Jesus with special beauty and glory. As they look on him, his friends can see it is the same Jesus yet he is not as before. We call this happening the Transfiguration of Jesus.

Those who study the Bible speak of different reasons why Jesus showed himself in this way to Peter, John and James. Most scholars say that Jesus wanted to comfort them. Some time before he had told them he was going to be arrested and would suffer much. They may have been ready to lose heart, so Jesus shows them what will happen after his suffer-ing and death. They see something of the glory awaiting him.

The glory waiting for him and... for us. This is what Paul tells us, as well as the Philippians in the 2^nd reading: “The Lord Jesus Christ will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body.”What does it mean to trans-figure? This word, made of 2 parts, comes from a foreign language. TRANS means going from one side/situation to another and FIGURE means shape, or form, or look. Our bodies will pass from one way of being to another.

Some of you may be surprised at hearing this and yet... every Sunday, after the homily, do we not say the Creed? Do we not say that ‘we believe in the resurrection of the body’? This is something really wonderful. After our death our body will not be completely destroyed but it will be transformed. It will be given a new form, a new beauty. We will share in the glory of Jesus’ own body. It is not I but St Paul who assures us of this.

Each one of us can find some reason not to be completely happy with his/her body. Our body may be sick, it may be weak. One is limping, another one is paralysed. Some are blind or deaf. We would all like our bodies to be perfect in shape and beauty. One day, our bodies will be freed from their defects and limitations. This is God’s promise and it has already been fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus, who is God, loves our human body enough to keep his for eternity and enough to give us back our own by raising them to a new life. You ask: ‘How will this happen?’ The ‘how’ is God’s secret but we believe it will be so. Seeing Jesus transfigured, Peter said: “It is wonderful to be here.” ‘Here’ means close to Jesus. This is what will transform us. The way to become like him is to live close to him. Like him, we may have to go through suffering and death but we are not alone, He remains with us.

Nicole Grégoire, s.a. & Michael Mc Grath, s.m.a