We invite you to pause and ponder on your journey through Lent with Maureen tonight. Let us ponder the voice that speaks to us from the cloud on the holy mountain: “This is my Son; listen to him.” Blessings
In this second week of Lent, we continue our pilgrim journey with Jesus as he invites us to join him on the holy mountain along with his first and dearest disciples, Peter and James and John. It is no coincidence that, like Mark and Matthew, Luke recounts the story of the Transfiguration just after Jesus has begun to speak to his disciples about the Passion that lies ahead of him.
Now, in vision on the mountain, Moses and Elijah speak of the same subject. Nor is it a coincidence that the liturgy assigns the Transfiguration gospel to the Second Sunday of Lent each year. As pilgrims on Lough Derg, the hope of glory ‘on the third day’ helps to carry us through the expected difficulties of feet and fast and vigil. So this gospel glimpse of glory in the transfigured Christ offers us encouragement for the journey ahead of us between now and Easter.
Like Lough Derg pilgrims, the disciples on the mountain were ‘heavy with sleep, but they kept awake.’ There is a reassuring realism in this text. If we take our Lenten pilgrimage seriously, there will be times of trial and struggle for us too. But – as on Lough Derg – the prize that awaits us is not achieved by our poor efforts but it is surely the gift of Christ and the work of his Spirit within us. Let us ponder the voice that speaks to us from the cloud on the holy mountain: “This is my Son; listen to him.”
Watch Fr La’s video for Week One of Lent here
Keep up to date regularly with Lough Derg here