This is all God wants of you at the End of Lent – To Be Born-Again! Genesis 4:1-4a; 2 Timothy 1:8b-10; Matthew 17:1-9
Two indispensable elements to every journey are start and end points, two terminals that co-exist. A time to be born and a time to die; a beginning to a visible and mortal existence and a time for immortal life; a time to care for the body and a time to nourish the soul; a time of exile from God and a time to reunite with God; a time to transcend the physical in order to reveal the metaphysical; a time and period we call LENT – the prioritization of the soul!
The call of Abraham to leave his homeland and family and friends ushers in a period and start of a journey, a journey that will last a life-time, not just 40 days. The journey of Abraham to a Land of Promise necessitated trials, faith and battles, because they were unfamiliar territories. Abraham battled barrenness and sterility, childlessness and humiliation. Abraham’s weapon against his trials and battles was his faith: when his wife was taken by the king of Egypt (Genesis12:10-20), God fought to bring her back to him; when Abraham’s nephew, Lot, was captured, he fought a battle for his release, and the Lord granted victory to Abraham (Genesis 14); when old-age assured him that his heir was going to be a foreigner, a covenant reassured him of God’s presence with the eventual pregnancy of Sarah, after a visit from mysterious travelers (Genesis 17). In Abraham, the Divine and human were always at work: Faith made what was impossible possible. Abraham’s faith was his first and only “yes” response to God, and God played the rest of the script of Abraham’s life for him. Indeed, Abraham is our Father in Faith.
The ability to say “yes” to God is all it takes to start a life-journey. For instance, when a couple is open to conception, God gives a gift of life; a refusal to conceive is a “no” answer, a decision not to embark on a “journey” of life – a human being is born! Even a couple that refuses to be open to God’s gift of life are themselves on a journey of life because their own parents welcomed God’s gift of life by giving birth to them. Their journey of life is characterized by a “no” instead of a “yes;” their life precludes “yes” which makes God a companion on life’s journey; what a disaster to build on selfishness and egoism!
Abraham’s “yes” to God was the beginning of his journey with God. The fact that he left his homeland, siblings and familiar territories gave him a new identity, made him a born-again, born-again by faith. Abraham abandoned his identity markers – land, family and dreams, in order to earn a new identity, a man-of-faith. His journey was not guided by physical eyes, and he was not depended on physical means for his sustenance during his journey – he counted on God’s fidelity to his word and promise. To be born-again is to say “yes” to God. Being born-again is the courage to start the journey of life, no matter how uncertain that journey promises to be; to be born-again is not to repose confidence in the physical and mundane, but to trust in an invisible yet powerful God.
After the call to discipleship, according to today’s gospel, Jesus’ followers started their journey of faith with him because they accepted to “leave everything to follow him.” The temptation to cling to material and physical supports was an impediment that had to be dealt with. Jesus’ sufferings and death were scandals that the disciples of Jesus were not ready for. They wanted to remain within a familiar territory, within their comfort zones. Today, according to the gospel reading, Jesus takes them out of their comfort zones to an elevated place, the top of a mountain. Mountain climbing needs both technic and strength. Not necessarily the mountain of the Ten Commandments, a sign of the toughness of keeping the commandments or the role of Moses as one who gave the commandments on behalf of God, but an opportunity to make the disciples to realize the need for a new identity that God was offering them – immortality. Peter was still held back by materialism – “let us make three tents”; he wanted a human tent to remain material, but God was offering him and others something greater that all that is physical: Moses, Elijah and Jesus were shown in glory, not in mundaneness. In other words, to say “yes” to God is to begin a journey towards immortality, a journey from mortality and materialism to immortality and semblance with God. Just as Jesus’ mortality was able to give way to the revelation of his glory and immortality, so does the life of a person born-again is luminously transformed into the life and vision of God.
This is all God wants of us at the end of Lent – to be Born-Again! We have all been born physically and have been given earthly citizenship. The challenge of Lent is to sustain our journey to immortality, and the acquisition of a new identity in Jesus Christ. St. Paul summarizes this new identity, in Christ, in these words: “and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). According to Paul, Jesus brought the gospel of ” immortality.” The consequence of the gospel of immortality is the reminder to human beings that they are not just flesh and blood, but body and soul as well. In fact, the journey of life is a choice made in favour of the soul and immortality. The practice of prayer, almsgiving and fasting all point to the supra-mundane, the realization that there is God, and that we need to reunite with him.
The Jesus whom his disciples saw as human, shows his disciple his real identity – a heavenly being. The Transfiguration of Jesus invites Christians to go beyond appearances in order to locate God, even in the least of places we anticipate to meet God. Through faith, the human person can begin to experience, here and now, indices of immortality and supernatural presence of God. The appearance of Moses and Elijah alongside Jesus depicts that immortality is only possible when we live in the company of Jesus. Moses and Elijah came to life, thanks to Jesus Christ, who revealed that immortality is God’s gift to his human creatures.
The Israelites remembered the cucumbers and melons of Egypt as they became discouraged during their forty days and nights of journey to the Promised Land, a stark reminder to you and me that the sins we seek to leave behind will continue to hunt us during Lent. In their despair, the Israelites made a golden calf to have a visible God who journeyed with them to the Promised Land, a challenge that you and I will face as we struggle to give up gluttony, meat, alcohol, quarreling, envy and sloth; in fact, there may even be a total collapse and fall, but Shekinah – the cloud by day and column of fire by night or the stars and the moon that shine every night, remind us to keep hope alive because they symbolize the presence of the God of all the ages, including ours!
Assignment for the Week:
Take stock of your promises this Lent, and see where you have lapsed and recalibrate yourself!