Shared in the diocesan e-newsletter, Thursday 26 February

In the Gospel reading for this Sunday, we will read the account of the Transfiguration. That moment where Jesus reveals his glory glowing, his clothes dazzling white in the presence of Moses, Elijah and his disciples, Peter, James and John.  

In the liturgical calendar, there is a feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (6th August). However, each year, we intentionally read this Gospel on the Second Sunday of Lent. 
 
The Church tells us why in the Preface of the Mass. There we read, Jesus revealed his glory on the holy mountain to show that ‘the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection.’  Not away from it, not around, but through it.  
 
When we hear this, we think first of Jesus’s own Passion and Resurrection and the events of Holy Week leading to Easter Sunday. But Jesus reveals this before the Passion, not after it, so that the disciples may not lose faith when they see him suffer. 
 
Spiritually, we too are being prepared for the liturgical events that are to come and be reminded that the Passion leads to the Resurrection.  This reminder can also be experienced at a deeper level in our own lives. The suffering we experience in this life, united to Christ, will lead to the glory of the resurrection. The account of Jesus’s Transfiguration invites us to faith and hope.  
 
Faith to trust in God who goes before us in suffering, death and resurrection.
 
Hope that in our own suffering, and even our death, will not be the end, but will lead to sharing in his resurrection.

Fr Michael Glover
St Mary's College, Oscott

The Sunday Gospels of Lent

Resources for Lent and Easter

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