Second Sunday of Lent

Year C

Readings: Genesis 15:5-12,17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28b-36

Today we are invited to reflect upon the Transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus takes Peter, James and John up the mountain to pray and when he was at prayer he is transfigured. The Gospel says his countenance was changed and his clothing became bright like lightening. It must have been an amazing, at the same time a frightening experience to his disciples. The Gospel again says, Peter, James and John were heavy with sleep but kept awake and saw the glory.

I was challenged by the last part of the Gospel today where it says, the disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen. The Gospel of Mark and Matthew has Jesus instructing Peter, James and John not to tell anyone what they had experienced during the transfiguration on the mountain. But the Gospel of Luke has the disciples taking a voluntary silence, at that time, not to tell anyone, what they had seen.

What made them do that? Why did they keep quiet even though Jesus, according to Luke, did not tell them to keep quiet? I was thinking about this as part of my reflection.
First of all as I had said before, it must have been a very frightening experience. You don’t get to see someone’s countenance change and clothes become dazzlingly bright everyday, do you? It is not something usual. I am sure, we too might be dumbfounded or blurt out some words, as Peter did initially, as a response to our shock. I think it was an appropriate response when they witnessed such an extraordinary event. Jesus did not look anything like they knew him, he was different!

We too might experience extraordinary events in our lives and we too, quite often, will be dumbfounded as to how to respond to them. I think it is a natural behaviour and nothing wrong with it. We are called to sit with the experience and ponder over it, before we begin to explain what that experience was. The phrase, and at that time told no one, makes a lot of sense. The disciples did share this experience later in their life, but at that time they sat with it.

When we encounter such deep and extraordinary experiences, let us too sit with them. Let us ponder over them before we begin to explain them to others. Let us reflect on the depth of those experiences before beginning to decipher them. May our Lord Jesus Christ help us on our life journey as we travel through this Season of Lent and help us to be in his transfigured presence.