“Listen to Him”

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent, Year B

St. Gerard Majella Parish

Baton Rouge, LA, USA

“Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart from themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.”

On Mount Tabor, two great figures of the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, appeared and started conversing with Jesus. We were not told what they talked about. But I assume their conversation was about the impending suffering, arrest and death of Jesus. Moses and Elijah may have encouraged him to go on and accomplish the plan of God the Father. Moses was the supreme law-giver of Israel. He was the one that received the Ten Commandments. Elijah was the greatest of the OT prophets. He was looked upon as the prophet who brought to his people the very voice of God. In Jesus they saw the consummation of all that they had hoped and longed for and looked forward to.

But one thing we know is that the transfiguration of Jesus made the mountaintop a wonderful place to be. Because shortly after that, Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let me make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” The gospel said that he did not know what he was talking about. Yes indeed! He wants to make three tents—one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. What about him, James and John? The man surely was carried away by the beauty of Jesus’ transfiguration and by the amazing presence of two of the greatest OT figures. Moses and Elijah confirmed that Jesus is the Messiah. But their confirmation wouldn’t have been enough without that of the Father who spoke from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” 

The Transfiguration reminds us in a powerful way that death is not the final word and not the end of life. If death is a complete annihilation of human life, then Elijah and Moses would not have appeared with Jesus. So, we can rightly say that the Transfiguration foreshadows the Resurrection. When this was taking place, the apostles did not understand the significance of it, but they did later, when Jesus had risen from the dead. 

As we celebrate the second week of Lent, each of us is asked to reflect on how we can be transformed through the preaching of the Word of God, the Eucharist and ultimately through the power of the risen Lord. The transfiguration also reminds us that our obedience or otherwise to the words of the Father: “Listen to him,” will determine the nature of our resurrection: whether it would be resurrection to life or to death. A Christian by definition is a follower of Jesus Christ.  She/he is someone who listens to Jesus because they cannot follow someone they are unwilling to listen to. 

To “Listen to him” includes paying attention to his words in Matthew 3: 2, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near.” Jesus loves us so much and desires what is good for us. It is love for us that drove him to cry out, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is near.” Now this call to repentance is a call to abandon sin because sin hurts. It takes away our peace and joy. Sin cuts us off from life and dries up within us the very source of our freedom and dignity. Let go of sin and let God in our life. To listen to Jesus is to be a true disciple, and to walk with him to Golgotha. As we walk with him, as we talk with him, as we listen to him, our human nature is being transformed into the likeness of divine nature. By listening to him, we become more and more like the person we listened to. By listening to Jesus, we too can be transformed and transfigured. Our face too will radiate the glory of the Lord.