Mk: 9:2-10
There is a custom of screening a movie on Wednesdays in our community. A brother is appointed to select a movie. He used to spend quite a bit of time to choose a movie. It is not an easy task to choose a movie that satisfies the taste of all. Therefore, he selects rather fast movies, mostly action movies. However, once we were sitting together in our browsing room, I saw him watching a rather slow movie. I was surprised watching him such a slow movie. When I approached him, he told me that I must watch this movie. Then we together watched this movie titled ‘Unbroken.’ This movie was based on Mr Louis Zamperini’s true story, a veteran of the Second World War. During the war, he crashed his plane into the ocean. He was floating on a raft for forty days, fighting off shark, starvation and dehydration. In the end, Louis and his companion were rescued by the Japanese Army and thrown into the prison for the war captives. There he underwent inhuman tortures until the war was over. When he was on the sea, fighting for life, he made a promise to the Lord that if he survived, he would serve Him rest of his life. At the end of the war, they were released, and he went back to the homeland as a hero. The movie ends here. I had a little curiosity to know his post-war life. I was fascinated by this second phase of his life.
After the war, he married his beloved Mrs Cynthia Applewhite. However, the war was not over in his life. He was continually tortured by the images that he witnessed during the war and the bitter memories of persecution that he underwent in the Japanese camp. He turned to alcohol to escape from these horrifying memories. Along with this, he developed unreasonable anger. One night he was in a dream state found himself on top of his wife, strangling her, thinking that he was killing his cruel captor. That moment he realized that he was no more in control of himself and had to come out of this traumatic experiences that enslaved him. He started to attend the prayer and healing sessions of a renewal movement. Slowly he started to experience the healing touch of Jesus and recovery from those haunting memories. He underwent a total transformation and renewed his life in the Holy Spirit. As he promised to the Lord, he dedicated his life to Christ. He went back to Japan. He met all his captors and reconciled with them, preached the Good News of Christ, and died recently at 97.
The Second Sunday of Lent invites us to reflect on the transfiguration moments of Jesus. It is good to reflect that why do we need to reflect on the transfiguration moments of Jesus in this season of lent wherein we are called to meditate on the Lord’s passion? The moment of transfiguration was a divine revelation of the glory of Jesus. At that moment, we see heaven on earth. We also encounter the communion of saints through the presence of Moses and Elijah. This transfiguration moment teaches us that our life is a journey that originated from our Abba Father and destined to culminate in him through our free choice of Him. How is it possible to have these experiences of transformation and transfiguration in our lives?
We need to understand this transfiguration account in the light of the redemptive mission of Christ on Calvary. The disciples James, John and Peter, were mesmerized by this heavenly vision. It is quite natural to feel to remain in that divine ecstasy because all of us are created to enjoy this eternal happiness forever. However, the priority of Jesus was not the divine ecstasy; rather, he wants to seek Abba Father’s will and fulfil it in his life. We encounter various forms of difficulties in our life journey, such as the moments of our physical, mental suffering, the experience of being rejected, the experience of brokenness, etc. In those moments, we need to keep this transfiguration moment of Jesus before our eyes. We need to understand the fact that these difficult moments will pass away. It will cleanse us to be with our Heavenly Father. Similarly, when we encounter extreme joyful moments here, we should not forget the Lord. We need to keep in mind that our sojourn is a mixture of joys and sorrows. We need to take up our daily crosses willingly in the hope of transfiguration that awaits all of us.
At the same time, let us inculcate in us a passionate desire for the presence of the Lord in our life like Peter, John and James. It is his presence that transforms our lives and transfigures us into his own person. We see this inner circle of three apostles being with him always. They were the ones privileged to witness the heavenly glory of Jesus here on earth and his struggle between life and death in Gethsemane. When they witness the divine glory, they say: “It is good that we are here…” dear friends, all our penances, mortifications that we undertake during this season of lent should help us to inculcate this passionate desire for being in the presence of Jesus. We need to construct a tent for him in our hearts so that we may experience this experience of transformation at every moment of our lives and growing in our transfiguration to the person of Jesus, becoming a beloved son/ daughter of God like Jesus by listening to his voice and fulfilling his will in our life. The same transformation we witness in Louis Zamperini’s life, when he heard the Lord’s voice in the midst of his difficulties with his heart, the transformation began. His constant company with Jesus transformed him into a new person and transfigured himself to the person of Christ by being a messenger of Good News to his own persecutors. As we continue our Lenten journey, let this be our experience too. Let us attune our hearts to the voice of our Abba Father and try to spend time in the presence of Jesus to experience His transfiguration in our lives.