2nd Sunday of Lent (Year B) 25 February

A reflection on today's Gospel reading by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen:

"Peter on the mountain of the Transfiguration, [upon] seeing the face of Our Lord blazing as the sun and His garments white as snow as he spoke with Moses and Elias, cried out in the ecstasy of joy: 'Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us build three tabernacles: one for Thee, one for Moses and one for Elijah.' Peter felt that everything should be kept just as it was; that the present transient glory should be captured, and that the status quo should be preserved in its totality.

"But not so with the Saviour. While Peter was saying: 'Stay here on the Mount of the Transfiguration,' Our Lord was practically saying: 'Go to Mount Calvary.' While Peter was contemplating building tabernacles, Our Lord was talking to Moses and Elijah of His death. Peter was concerned only with saving: but the Saviour's interest was in regeneration.

"Peter did not understand that the vision of glory which he was bequeathed was in the future, not the present, and in order to attain it one had to take up a Cross.

"There were two beats in the Transfiguration: Withdrawal and return. Withdrawal from the present glory for a crucifixion and a return to a greater glory because of it.

"This momentary detachment from present glory of the Saviour's was not a truancy to duty; it was a withdrawal according to plan to seize the initiative at another time and in another way. His attitude was like that of a soldier chosen from the rank and file for a greater mission, and a greater glory through sacrifice. It was the spiritual confirmation of an old law, then as now forgotten, that greatest victories are won only by the same surrender of lesser glories.

"As the athlete withdraws himself from the legitimate pleasures of life, and disciplines his body in order to win greater glory the day of the meet, so too the Saviour suggested that Peter withdraw himself from the present, surrender the easy way out, go down to momentary defeat in order to purchase true glory later on, for unless there is a Good Friday in our lives there will never be an Easter Sunday; unless there is a crown of thorns there will never be the halo of light; unless there is the scourged body there will never be the glorified body."

(Baccalaureate Sermon Delivered at the 97th Annual Commencement Exercises at the University of Notre Dame, June 1, 1941)

The message of Christ to anyone wishing to be His disciple is, ‘Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.’

If eternal happiness in heaven is our aim, we must abandon our own self-love and unite our will completely to God’s. If we want to be exalted in heaven, we must humble ourselves on earth. If we want to reign with Christ, we must bear the cross with Him.

Learn to persevere in your penances, endure whatever suffering arises with complete surrender and trust in God. Take courage, for Jesus Christ is indeed with us. He promised to be with us always and He will give us the grace and strength we need if we but only ask for His help.

Jesus waits for you in the Sacrament of His love. It was no mere development of ritual practice when the Church began to reserve the Most Holy Body of Christ in the tabernacle. It was a glorious and long-awaited inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood is more than the perpetuation in time of His eternal sacrifice on the Cross. It is more than the nourishment by which He enters souls to unite them to Himself and to one another in a single Body.

It is also the pledge and expression of His divine friendship and the sign of His Heart’s desire and resolve to remain present until the end of the ages, for the sake of all who seek His friendship and would know the love of His Heart for them.

There are those who argue that such was not His intention on the night before He suffered, when he gave His apostles to eat and drink of His Body and Blood, yet in all truth it was the intention of His Heart, for He looked far into the ages to come and say that the hunger of the human heart would be for His divine friendship and for His companionship and presence in this earthly exile.

Christ, the glory of the sky. Christ, of earth the hope secure. Only Son of God most high. Offspring of a maiden pure.

Purest Light, within us dwell, never from our souls depart. Come, the shades of earth expel, fill and purify the heart.

Help us now Thy praise to sing. Praise for this returning day. Light and life let morning bring, clouds and darkness flee away.

Faith in Him, Whose name we bear, in our heart of hearts abound! Hope, thy brightest torch prepare, all with holy love be crowned.

Praise the Father, praise the Son, Spirit blest, to Thee be praise! To the Eternal Three in One, Glory be through endless days. Amen.