Lent Transfiguration

The Gospel of the Transfiguration sets up an exciting scene. Jesus goes up the mountain with Peter, James and John. We can substitute our own names for theirs. The Transfiguration had the purpose of strengthening the faith of these apostles. St. Leo the Great reminds us that these same men who walked up Tabor would witness his arrest some weeks later. The three walked up Mount Tabor, but they did not walk up Calvary in the same way. They fell. They messed up. They did not correspond entirely to the grace of the Transfiguration that we commemorate in this Gospel. But later they would remember. They would go back to the beauty of the Transfiguration and overcome their shame at the ignominy of the Cross. What are your Tabor experiences? When have you felt close to the Lord? Sometimes, these experiences seem far off in the past, but they are still real. For me, it has often been to enjoy the presence of the Lord in Eucharistic adoration, though often my conscious focus is not the Eucharist. Honestly, I like speaking with Christ on the Cross. I feel like he “gets me.” So for me, the experiences of Tabor and Calvary are intimately united. What are your Calvary experiences? When have you experienced suffering in your life? Has doubt wracked your soul? Have you been overcome by anxiety or depression? Do you ever get the sense that God has abandoned you? Jesus was not a stranger to this type of feeling. We often focus on the physical sufferings of the Cross, which were present. However, we would be remiss if we overlooked the spiritual and emotional distress of Jesus on the Cross. We are called to follow Jesus always. We are to follow him in the glory of Tabor and in the darkness of the Cross. A Sunday in Lent is a great moment to pause in our daily activities and talk to our Lord about our experience of faith, of doubt, of life. He wants to pull us through.