Father and Son

Listening to the Spirit

Transfiguration prayer

On the mountain you were transfigured, O Christ God,
And your disciples beheld your glory as far as they were able
So that when they would behold You crucified,
They would understand that Your suffering was voluntary,
And would proclaim to the world,
That You are truly the radiance of the Father.

(Kontakion of the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ)

Listening to the Word

Mk 9:2–10

Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.

Reflection

The second Sunday of Lent's readings helps us reflect on the relationship between the son and father portrayed by Abrahan-Isaac, and Jesus-God the Father.

Abraham's story seems brutal because he decided to sacrifice his beloved son. How is it possible for a father to kill his son as an offering to God? Abraham waited for a long time to beget his son, but God commanded to be offered to him as a sacrifice. Why is God so cruel to demand the life of Isaac? It's hard to understand human sacrifice in our contemporary times; however, it was the custom of the peoples of ancient Palestine to sacrifice their children as a means of submitting themselves to their gods. In this context and surrounded by that world, Abraham feels a demand to reach his limit brutally. He also thinks that he is willing to obey to the extreme.

The sacrifice methods were horrifying to the utmost degree, including, for example, burning them alive as it happened with Jephthah who sacrificed his daughter (Jud 11:30-40) or that of Ahaz who burned his son (2 Kings 16:3), the same as the dreadful Manasseh (2 Kings 21:6). This explains why there appear so many times the prohibition in the Bible to sacrifice children. One can read, for example, in Deuteronomy 18:9-10, "When you come into the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering." We may think it doesn't happen anymore. Yet, human sacrifice exists in other forms, such as unborn children through abortion, abandoned children by their parents, child trafficking, abuse, and pornography.

On the other hand, the Gospel presents the theme of father and son in another way. This time is the unusual father and the outstanding son. For the first time, Jesus spoke to his disciples about His passion and resurrection (Mk 8:31). They were confused and afraid, but during the transfiguration, they were comforted by the voice coming from the clouds: "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."

The transfiguration allows us to glimpse Jesus' mystery in whom the gift of love made by His Father shines and the mystery of love made by his Son. And in that mystery, our salvation is initiated. The word "Father" is the word that seals the work of redemption. God is no longer a rival or a hindrance; He is no longer a general idea or memory of another culture. God is the real presence of a loving relationship that is shared with us.

This is why Saint Paul also tells us: "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?" (Rom 8:31-32). With this certainty, let us trust in our loving Father and fill our hearts with hope to overcome our lives' difficulties.