The Light Has Come into the World: Reflections on the Readings for the Second Sunday of Lent, Cycle C

Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 9:28-36

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5) Sin is darkness and although not obvious, the issue of sin is a common thread in the readings today. Sin is exposed by the light of truth, which is a more obvious theme as we hear about salvation being connected to the light (responsorial).

The first reading is about the covenant God made between Himself and Abram. Note that Abram’s name hasn’t been changed yet, so this precedes the covenant whereby Abram becomes Abraham and the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and his descendants is circumcision. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) gives us some insight relevant to today’s readings: “God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants. By the covenant God formed his people and revealed his law to them through Moses. Through the prophets, he prepared them to accept the salvation destined for all humanity.” (CCC 72)

This is not the first covenant between God and man, nor will it be the last (e.g., God’s covenant with Noah, Genesis 9:12-13; Moses and the Ten Commandments recounted in Exodus). And, as God tells Jeremiah, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God and they shall be my people.” (Jer. 31:33) Keep this in mind as today WE are God’s people. His law is written in our hearts although too often we choose not to listen and obey. A sobering thought for our Lenten journey.

And, as it is Lent, our thoughts turn to salvation, as the responsorial psalm tells us. Lent is an important part of our path to salvation, which we can begin to obtain through discerning the light. “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” Last week’s psalm (91) also talked about God being our refuge and therefore not living in fear. Today the psalm also tells us to have courage in the Lord. The psalmist pleads for the Lord to answer him but recognizes the need to wait for the Lord’s answer and to be stouthearted (valiant and brave) while waiting. And as light pierces the darkness of sin, the Lord’s light will show the way to salvation.

Paul’s letter to the Philippians also tells us to stand firm in the Lord or, in other words, be brave and stouthearted. He, too, is talking about sin. Those who glory in earthly things are not following the way of Christ. In fact, they are making themselves enemies of the Cross. Paul sets the stage for tradition by telling the Philippians to “conduct themselves according to the model you have in us.” Tradition involves imitating those who went before us and Sacred Tradition (with a capital ‘T’) is the complement to Sacred Scripture. As Catholics our faith involves both and not Scripture alone.

Paul alludes to the change we will experience after our own resurrection to conform to Jesus’ Resurrection as He will transform our bodies to be glorified like His. Paul also reminds us that we are just sojourners here as “our citizenship is in heaven.”

We see elements of all of the readings in the gospel selection describing the Transfiguration of Jesus. First, the main figure is Jesus, the new and eternal covenant. Next we hear that “his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” In Matthew’s description Jesus’ face shone like the sun (17:2-8) and Mark mentions that “His clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.” (Mark 9:2-8)

In John’s gospel Jesus refers to Himself as the “Light of the World” several times (8:12, 9:15, 12:35-46). But this isn’t the first time He was addressed in that way. The righteous and devout man, Simeon, who took Jesus in his arms during the Presentation in the Temple noted that He was to be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” (Luke 2:32)

The Transfiguration gives the three main apostles, Peter, John, and James, a brief glimpse of Jesus’ glory. This isn’t the only time these three were singled out for special attention. Peter was to become the leader of the Church, James would be the first bishop of Jerusalem, and John was referred to as the “one Jesus loved.” At Gethsemane, Jesus also took these three with Him while He went to pray (Mark 14:33, Matthew 26:37) where they also fell asleep.

The change in Jesus’ appearance is also reminiscent of Moses going up on the mountain to speak with God and his face was so glowingly transfigured that the people asked him to cover his face with a veil (Exodus 34). As the Catechism explains: “But only on the mountain of the Transfiguration will Moses and Elijah behold the unveiled face of him whom they sought; "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God [shines] in the face of Christ," crucified and risen.” (CCC 2583)

Note that Jesus and the three went up the mountain to pray. As God was in heaven, the mountains were places to pray (consider Moses on Mt. Sinai, see Exodus) as that brought one closer to God. Luke tells us that Moses and Elijah joined Jesus, and they spoke of Jesus’ going to Jerusalem and His exodus, His departure. And the fact that the three are stunned (Peter did not know what he was saying) upon awakening is that they were being given an unexpected vision of heaven for which they were unprepared.

Bishop Barron in his little book, An Introduction to Prayer, explains the corollary between the two exodus discussions: “... the exodus that Moses led – a journey from slavery to freedom – and the exodus that Jesus would accomplish on the cross; a journey from sin and death to resurrection.” Jesus is the “new” Moses as foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15) and reiterated by Peter (Acts 3:22): “A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kindred; that is the one to whom you shall listen.” (emphasis added)

We also hear the voice of the Father again confirming the mission of His Beloved Son, along with the admonition, “Listen to Him.” Later Peter would recall this incident describing the apostles’ experience as eyewitnesses of Jesus’ majesty. “For He received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to Him from the majestic glory, ‘This is my Son, my beloved, with Whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with Him on the holy mountain.” (2 Peter 1 17-18)

The singularity of this incident is also evident in that even after the Resurrection, this bedazzling glorified appearance of Jesus is not observed, even though His five wounds are.

Jesus went up the mountain to commune with God and He also communed with Moses and Elijah, who we could consider saints. Thus Jesus again gives us by His actions one of the most important examples that we should emulate: prayer. Bishop Barron notes why we pray: “To commune with God, to commune with the saints, but finally, to become a vehicle of God’s grace.” God works through people. "There is nothing the devil fears so much, or so much tries to hinder, as prayer.” (St. Philip Neri) Let your prayer this Lent be a way that God can work through you to combat the evil in the world.

“And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.” (Jn 3:19)