Second Sunday of Lent, March 8, 2009 (Cycle B)

Scripture Readings
First Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
Second Rom 8:31b-34
Gospel Mk 9:2-10

Prepared by: Fr. Lawrence J. Donohoo, O.P.

1. Subject Matter
• First reading: Our father in faith, who already sacrificed his past at the Lord’s behest to journey to a
foreign land, now abandons his future to him as he journeys to Moriah. He receives back his
inheritance a thousand fold.
• Second reading: Our Father in heaven, who already sacrificed his Son at our behest, now frees us from
present guilt and gives us all things besides.
• Gospel: The experience of the Transfiguration is a lesson for the apostles and us that Christ’s earthly
life and ministry must always be silhouetted against the blazing light of glory.
2. Exegetical Notes
• “God tested Abraham: Only here in Gen, and only here in the Pentateuch with an individual as object;
elsewhere God tests the people Israel. . .The usual context of divine testing is Israel in the wilderness,
tried so that its true orientation becomes manifest.” (NJBC)
• “In Jewish thought the presence of God is regularly connected with the cloud. It was in the cloud that
Moses met God. It was in the cloud that God came to the Tabernacle. It was the cloud which filled the
Temple when it was dedicated after Solomon had built it. And it was the dream of the Jews that when
the Messiah came the cloud of God’s presence would return to the Temple.” (Barclay)
• “In offering to erect ‘three booths’ on this site, the apostles long to build shrines where this
supernatural encounter can be prolonged, protected, and savored. They seek to create a permanent
place that reflects the solace and shelter they have experienced. They will accomplish their desire in
establishing the Church, but the time for that is after the Resurrection which the Transfiguration
foreshadows—or, more accurately, fore-lights.” (Cameron)
• “The heavenly voice corrects [sic] Peter’s confession (see 8:29) and alludes to the identification of
Jesus at the baptism (see 1:11). The command to hear Jesus may point to his passion predictions (8:31;
9:31; 10:33-34). (NJBC)
3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
• 1819 Christian hope takes up and fulfills the hope of the chosen people which has its origin and model
in the hope of Abraham, who was blessed abundantly by the promises of God fulfilled in Isaac, and
who was purified by the test of the sacrifice. “Hoping against hope, he believed, and thus became the
father of many nations.”
• 2572 As a final stage in the purification of his faith, Abraham, “who had received the promises,” is
asked to sacrifice the son God had given him. Abraham’s faith does not weaken. . .for he “considered
that God was able to raise men even from the dead.” And so the father of believers is conformed to the
likeness of the Father who will not spare his own Son but will deliver him up for us all. Prayer restores
man to God’s likeness and enables him to share in the power of God’s love that saves the multitude.
• 706 Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of faith and of the
power of the Holy Spirit. In Abraham’s progeny all the nations of the earth will be blessed. This
progeny will be Christ himself, in whom the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will “gather into one the
children of God who are scattered abroad.” God commits himself by his own solemn oath to giving his
beloved Son and “the promised Holy Spirit . . . [who is] the guarantee of our inheritance until we
acquire possession of it.”
• 603 Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned. But in the redeeming love that
always united him to the Father, he assumed us in the state of our waywardness of sin, to the point that
he could say in our name from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Having
thus established him in solidarity with us sinners, God “did not spare his own Son but gave him up for
us all.” so that we might be “reconciled to God by the death of his Son.”
• 2634 Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor
with the Father on behalf of all men, especially sinners. He is “able for all time to save those who draw
near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” The Holy Spirit
“himself intercedes for us . . .and intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
• 554 From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master “began
to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. . .and be killed, and on the
third day be raised.” Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the others understand it any better than he. In
this context the mysterious episode of Jesus’ Transfiguration takes place.
• 555 For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter’s confession. He also reveals that
he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to “enter into his glory.” Moses and
Elijah had seen God’s glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets had announced the Messiah’s
sufferings. Christ’s Passion is the will of the Father: the Son acts as God’s servant; the cloud indicates
the presence of the Holy Spirit. “The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice; the Son in the
man; the Spirit in the shining cloud.”
• 556 On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the
Transfiguration. Jesus’ baptism proclaimed “the mystery of the first regeneration,” namely, our
Baptism; the Transfiguration “is the sacrament of the second regeneration”: our own Resurrection.
From now on we share in the Lord’s Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the
Body of Christ. The Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ’s glorious coming, when he “will
change our lowly body to be like his glorious body.” But it also recalls that “it is through many
persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God”: “For now, Jesus says: “Go down to toil on
earth, to serve on earth, to be scorned and crucified on earth. Life goes down to be killed; Bread goes
down to suffer hunger; the Way goes down to be exhausted on his journey; the Spring goes down to
suffer thirst; and you refuse to suffer?” [St. Augustine]
• 459 The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from
me.” “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” On the
mountain of the Transfiguration, the Father commands: “Listen to him!” Jesus is the model for the
Beatitudes and the norm of the new law: “Love one another as I have loved you.” This love implies an
effective offering of oneself, after his example.
• 151 For a Christian, believing in God cannot be separated from believing in the One he sent, his
“beloved Son,” in whom the Father is “well pleased”; God tells us to listen to him. The Lord himself
said to his disciples: “Believe in God, believe also in me.” We can believe in Jesus Christ because he
is himself God, the Word made flesh: “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom
of the Father, he has made him known.” Because he “has seen the Father,” Jesus Christ is the only one
who knows him and can reveal him.
4. Patristic Commentary
• St. Augustine: “Through God Abraham himself came to know how much strength of heart he
possessed for obeying God.”
• Pseudo-Chrysostom: “Jesus does not show his glory in a house, but he takes them up onto a high
mountain, for the loftiness of the mountain was adapted to showing forth the loftiness of his glory.”
• Theophylactus: “It is not therefore fitting that in the kingdom of God any change of feature should
take place, either in the Savior Himself or in those who are to be made like him, but only an addition
of brightness.”
• St. John Chrysostom: “He brings Moses and Elijah before them in the first place because the
multitudes said that Christ was Elijah and one of the prophets. He shows himself to the apostles in
their company that they might see the difference between the Lord and his servants. Further, since the
Jews accused Christ of transgressing the law and thought him a blasphemer, as one who arrogated to
himself the glory of His Father, he brought before them those who shone forth conspicuous in both
ways. For Moses gave the Law, and Elias was zealous for the glory of God, for which reasons neither
would have stood near Him had he been opposed to God and to his law.”
• St. John Chrysostom: “Although Peter in the stupor of human frailty did not know not what to say,
still he gives evidence of the feelings within him.”
• St. Bede the Venerable: “We must observe that just as when the Lord was baptized in Jordan, so on
the mountain covered with brightness the whole mystery of the Holy Trinity is declared. For we shall
see in the resurrection that glory of the Trinity which we believers confess in baptism, and shall praise
it in unison. Nor is it without reason that the Holy Spirit appeared here in a bright cloud, there in the
form of a dove. For he who now with a simple heart keeps the faith which he has embraced shall later
contemplate what he had believed with the brightness of open vision.”
5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars
• Abraham’s experience of sacrificing his son Isaac invites consideration of the many martyrs
throughout history whose witness for the sake of the Gospel required an earthly separation from their
children whom they had to leave behind.
• The mystery of the Transfiguration invites reflection on the many seers throughout Church history
who, like the three apostles, were entrusted with an experience that was intended for them alone but
also with a message about it that was intended for others.
6. Quotations from Pope Benedict XVI
• “Knowing how to wait, while patiently enduring trials, is necessary for the believer to be able to
‘receive what is promised’ (Hb 10:36). In the religious context of ancient Judaism, this word was used
expressly for the expectation of God which was characteristic of Israel, for their persevering
faithfulness to God on the basis of the certainty of the Covenant in a world which contradicts God.”
• “[O]n the one hand, our actions engender hope for us and for others; but at the same time, it is the
great hope based upon God’s promises that gives us courage and directs our action in good times and
bad.”
• “So we cry to her: Holy Mary, you belonged to the humble and great souls of Israel who, like Simeon,
were ‘looking for the consolation of Israel’ (Lk 2:25) and hoping, like Anna, ‘for the redemption of
Jerusalem’ (Lk 2:38). Your life was thoroughly imbued with the sacred scriptures of Israel which
spoke of hope, of the promise made to Abraham and his descendants (cf. Lk 1:55).”
• “‘The mountain’ is always the realm of prayer, of being with the Father. . .The Transfiguration only
renders visible what is actually taking place in Jesus’ prayer: he is sharing in God’s radiance and hence
in the manner in which the true meaning of the Old Testament—and of all history—is being made
visible, i.e., revelation. Jesus’ proclamation proceeds from this participation in God’s radiance, God’s
glory, which also involves a seeing with the eyes of God—and therefore the unfolding of what was
hidden.”
• When one has the grace to sense a strong experience of God, it is as though seeing something similar
to what the disciples experienced during the Transfiguration: for a moment they experienced ahead of
time something that will constitute the happiness of paradise. In general, it is brief experiences that
God grants on occasions, especially in anticipation of harsh trials.”
• “[N]o one lives ‘on Tabor’ while on earth. Human existence is a journey of faith and, as such, goes
forward more in darkness than in full light, with moments of obscurity and even profound darkness.
While we are here, our relationship with God develops more with listening than with seeing; and even
contemplation takes place, so to speak, with closed eyes, thanks to the interior light lit in us by the
word of God. . .This is the gift and commitment for each one of us in the Lenten season.”

7. Other Considerations
• As is always the case with divine tests, it is the human being, not God, who “now knows” something
about himself that he did not know before. Through the suffering of sacrifice, it is we who come to
new knowledge.
• Abraham sacrifices his son and his progeny for love of God, but at the decisive moment the Lord
sacrifices his command for love of Abraham. In turn Abraham sacrifices a ram caught in the thicket at
the decisive moment. By slaying his will, Abraham saves his son; by slaying his directive, the Lord
saves his friend.
• The vicarious structure of Abraham’s offering is repeated in Egypt, in the Passover celebration, at the
Presentation of the Temple—but abandoned on Calvary. Proleptically, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross
makes possible all the other exchanges.
• 1Why Moses and Elijah? Because they represent, of course, the Law and the Prophets. But they also,
like Jesus, had solitary mountain journeys to make. At Sinai, Moses had to leave the people behind. At
Mt. Nebo he was left behind. Elijah was alone in combating the prophets of Baal and fled alone before
the wrath of Jezebel to Mt. Horeb. There God assured him that he would not be left behind.
• 1Unlike Luke, Mark (and Matthew) does not encourage the assumption that Elijah and Moses were
also dazzling white. Note that Peter was able to recognize both Elijah and Moses, something that
would have been more difficult had they been radiant. This is important in light of the 1Father’s
 words. We usually place the accent on “listen,” but perhaps we should accent “him” instead. Here
stand the great representatives of the Law and the Prophets. Jesus stands among the greatest, but the
Father singles out his Son. Listen to him, not Moses or Elijah, because here there is something new.
And what is new is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets in the form of the cross. When the
apostles looked around, “they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.” It is he and his
message that remain. The others have passed into history and heaven.
• 1The common interpretation is that the Transfiguration is principally meant to console the disciples.
But Jesus was speaking with Moses and Elijah, which suggests a dimension to the Transfiguration
which escapes them and has rather to do with Jesus. Further, only three apostles were privy to an event
that they were not to communicate even to the other apostles. Could it be that the principle reason for
the Transfiguration was for Christ’s own consolation? An obvious interpretation if we give due weight
to his humanity, as Chalcedon requires of us.
• The apostles truly “see” the Lord on the Mount of the Transfiguration, but do not hear him there;
below in the valley of life they hear his words, but do not “see” him. The life of glory, although our
future, can only be our present in the form of fleeting glances.
• The event of Mt. Tabor teaches us to see. 1The word from Mt. Tabor is basically one of silence. The
conversation between the three is not even overheard, only observed. The word of Peter is pointless.
The word of the Father points away from himself. Mt. Tabor confirms that we first must learn to look
and listen.
Recommended Resources
Barclay, William. The Gospel of Mark. Rev’d Ed. The Daily Study Bible Series. Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1975.
Benedict XVI. Benedictus: Day by Day with Pope Benedict XVI. Edited by Peter John Cameron. Yonkers:
Magnificat, 2006.
___________. Spe Salvi.
Brown, Raymond A., Joseph A. Fitzmyer and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical
Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: 1990.
Cameron, Peter John. To Praise, To Bless, To Preach - Cycle C. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 2000.
Thomas Aquinas, St. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels. Works of the Fathers. Vol. 2.
London, 1843. Reprinted by The St. Austin Press, 1997.