Sunday Gospel Reflection
Second Sunday of Lent
Matthew 17:1-9 | March 5, 2023
To Know and to Change: The Message of Lent
Carlo S. Dureza
Poring over the Gospel today, I was left mesmerized and fascinated with the picturesque scene of the narrative: Jesus atop a cool, pristine mountain with the prophets of old—Moses and Elijah. Jesus was aglow as His clothes turned dazzlingly white, then a bright cloud slowly hovers above Him as a gentle but compelling voice is heard, saying, “This is my Son, of whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.”
Transfiguration. The word itself says so much of its meaning, being one of the most significant messianic events in our salvation. One of my favorite topics in my English classes in high school many years back was the Etymology of Words. One could easily determine the meaning of words just by understanding their prefix. “Trans ” means to carry over or to move, or to travel like “Transport” and “Transfer”. Change in position or stature is apparent here.
In Jesus’ Transfiguration, we see Him carried over from or moved to a state of being different from His human nature. Yes, He appeared fully human but His divinity as God surfaced. He revealed Himself from an ordinary carpenter to God who would save humankind. He was transfigured.
In this season of Lent, we must take the responsibility to carry or “transfer” ourselves and our dispositions to a better state, to be more Christ-like. Now is a time to be transfigured the way Jesus was on the mountain. It is a time to change our old ways of living, to alter our former selves into dazzlingly “white” persons—new, pure of heart, and full of love for God.
Let us listen intently to God’s voice abounding around and within us, telling us to follow His Son Jesus, our Savior. We must recognize Him as God-sent, the One who is among us but Who comes from above!. He reveals Himself to us in all freshness that we may know Him and, after which, start our conversion or change of heart.
This process of change happened to me many, many years back as a teenager. I had just transferred schools in college. I was beset with upset emotions stemming from family miscommunication problems that affected my focus and drive in studying. I was demotivated. I blamed my home environment for my misery and pinned culpability of my woes on my family.
As I prayed in silence in the prayer room of my new school, a deep sensation of God’s presence and love stirred me. I felt that He illumined the darkness of my young life and told me to snap out of my anger, hatred, and self-pity because He loves me. It was at this time when my bitterness had begun to dissipate and I felt being ushered to a change of heart.
Tears in my eyes welled and flowed unabashedly as I began my process of conversion. It was then when I started to be transfigured into the child of God that I must be. I recognized that my Lord and Savior was calling me.
Many times, as I advanced in years, I have been transfigured in many consoling moments. Many times, God has revealed Himself as I scaled the mountains of my life. He has dented my heart to become a better person. This is the message of Lent: to know the Lord in all His glory and to change our ways by imitating Him.
The Transfiguration is calling us to do such that.
Happy Sunday! God bless! 💖🙏😃
