The WORD in other words (2022) by Fr. Samuel Agcaracar, SVD — Divine Word Seminary, Tagaytay City
2nd Sunday of Lent – C
Throughout His ministry, Jesus made innumerable impressive claims. He spoke of the coming of the Kingdom, His passion, death, and resurrection. He spoke of His rule and authority as the Son of God. His followers witnessed the effects of His extraordinary ministry: the sick recovered, evil spirits fled, the dead raised to life. Yet, they never actually saw the Kingdom Jesus has been preaching about all along until the Transfiguration event in today’s Gospel.
Rather than focusing only on the Transfiguration event, I would like to consider all the readings today. These readings reflect three prevailing themes—a call, a response in faith, a corresponding reward.
The first reading narrates the Lord God, who took Abram outside and showed him the sky and asked him to count the stars as he could. Abram responded in faith. Submitting himself to the ritual the Lord prescribed, he would eventually be bestowed the promise of inheritance and descendants.
In the second reading, Paul exhorts the Philippians to imitate him by using himself as a negative example of putting stock in one’s accomplishments before God. He now regards these as rubbish for the sake of knowing Christ. He urges the Philippians not to imitate false teachers who valued external ritual practices. Instead, he encourages them to respond in faith by throwing off all external markers for the pursuit of sharing in Christ’s suffering and his resurrection. Such a faith response guarantees them of their citizenship in heaven. The general longing for the impending return of Christ must have been a much-desired reward for every follower of Christ during that period.
The story of Jesus’ transfiguration is also the story of a covenant being established in Jesus Christ. Thus, there is an interplay of the call, faith, and reward components. The reward is accorded to Peter, James, and John, who experienced the glimpse of Jesus’ heavenly throne, although fleeting as it might seem to be. Their experience of the transfiguration event must have strengthened them to follow Jesus up to Calvary. This event was to help these disciples live and strengthen their faith.
What about us? What reward do we expect from the Lord for our response to the call of missionary discipleship? In Paul’s words, it is our inheritance as citizens of heaven. In Abraham’s case, it is his inheritance of the land and countless generations.
Instead of asking what reward we get, we should ask ourselves: How do we live up our faith in light of our calling to follow and serve Him? After all, every reward is a consequence of an authentic faith response.
