Lenten Reflection – 17 March – Transfiguration

Lenten Reflection – 17 March – The Second Sunday of Lent, Year C

The Readings
Genesis 15:5-12,17-18; Psalms 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14; Philippians 3:17 – 4:1 or Philippians 3:20 – 4:1; Luke 9:28B-36

And a voice came out of the cloud, saying,
“This is my Son, my Chosen,
listen to him!”
Luke 9:35

Transfiguration
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

They were talking to Him about resurrection,
about law, about the suffering ahead.
They were talking as if to remind Him who He was and
who they were. He was not

Like his three friends watching a little way off,
not like the crowd At the foot of the hill.
A grey-green thunderhead massed
from the sea

And God spoke from it and said He was His.
They were talking about how the body, broken or
burned,
could live again, remade.

Only the fiery text of the thunderhead could explain it.
And they were talking
About pain and the need for judgement
and how He would make Himself

A law of pain, both its spirit and its letter in His own
flesh,
and then break it,
That is, transcend it.
His clothes flared like magnesium

Daily Meditation:
Listen to Him.

It is wonderful to begin this week
acknowledging that we need God’s help in listening and hearing.
It is so powerful to ask for the “gift of integrity” –
to express our desire for wholeness.
And, we humbly ask for light in the midst of whatever
might “shadow our vision.”
This is the God who allows Jesus
to be transfigured before His disciples,
to prepare them for what they were about to face.
This is our God, who can give each of us
the change of heart we ask for.

Wait for the Lord,
be strong
and let your heart take courage,
yea, wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27:14

Closing Prayer:

Loving God,
there is so much darkness in my life
and I hide from You.
Take my hand
and lead me out of the shadows of my fear.
Help me to change my heart.
Bring me to your truth
and help me to respond to Your generous love.
Let me recognise the fullness of Your love
which will fill my life.
Free me from the darkness in my heart.

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen