The Glory behind the Cross
2nd Sunday of Lent Homily – March 8, 2020
By Rev. Fr. Erl Dylan Tabaco, SSC

There are many occasions in my missionary life where I had the privilege to visit and stay for a week in different far-flung communities for my exposures, as an integral part of my seminary formation. Most of those communities are situated where there is no electricity and even access to clinics or hospitals in case of an emergency when a family member gets severely sick, the locals could not do anything. Amidst the scarcity of health, transportation or any humanitarian services, the simplicity of the people whom I met amaze me. I never heard any word of complaints from them no matter how laborious the work is in tilling their farms under the scorching heat of the sun so they can provide food for their family. They are accustomed to what they have and for them, what matters most is that they stay together whatever circumstances that they go through in life.

As a newly ordained priest, one particular experience that deepened my vocation was my exposure-visit in the Andes Mountain during my First Missionary Experience in Peru. I still remember the challenges that I´ve been through just to reach a remote community 4800 meters above sea level where the locals rarely visited by a priest or a pastor. Mass is celebrated once a year. The weather at that time was freezing and I was catching up my breath because of the altitude. When we arrived at the chapel which looks like a shack, I was moved by the determination of the faithful who have walked for hours with huge baskets at their back containing the fruits of their labor. As they got closer to the chapel, they bowed down and started saying words of praise in their native tongue which was explained to me by one of the catechists as their gesture in showing their gratefulness to God. Despite the distance, I saw their eagerness to be united with the Lord in the most anticipated event in a year for them - the Eucharistic celebration. The whole celebration was like a foretaste of a heavenly banquet for me which I wish it won´t last. I felt something deep within me that I cannot put it into words. Every time I remember that event, I have goose bump and there is something that I am not tired of sharing that experience all over again. Once upon a time in the Andes Mountain where I encountered the abiding presence of God through the people who I met is seemingly a transfiguration moment that I witnessed.

God reveals Himself to us in many ways. He makes his love concretely present among us even before we ask for it. Our life’s stories speak to us about this reality. Every act of love, every act of mercy, every act of belief, every act of asking, every act of giving, every act of surrendering and every act of enduring the pain and life’s difficulties, God is always there. There are no events in our lives that God is not present even in those moments where we feel his absence in times when we no longer understand the turn of events on our journey and giving up seems to be our last option. No matter how dark and broken our experience could be, there is still that gives us flickers of hope and that is the power of God´s love that transforms all our Good Friday experience into Easter Sunday proclamation.

A transfiguration is a special event in Jesus’ life. It happened prior to his journey to Jerusalem where the ultimate act of self-giving took place. We just heard in our Gospel today that Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John and led them up to the mountain where he transfigured before them. In Jesus’ transfiguration, two great men in the history of Israel appeared with him, Moses and Elijah, which overwhelmed his apostles to the extent that they wanted to stay there and build three tents for them. That extraordinary experience opened the eyes of his apostles about Jesus’ divinity and at the same time gave them a profound understanding of his humanity where God’s mission has to be in flesh in the earthly life of Jesus from the womb to tomb. The tomb is not the end of everything because the power of Christ’s resurrection gives eternal life to those who believe in him. Transfiguration gives us a glimpse of God’s eternal glory expressed by Jesus’ love to the Father and the entire humanity. From that scene, we might be asking why God would choose a mountain from all the places where He wanted to make Himself known to his chosen people. Mountains are important in the Judeo-Christian scripture and tradition. It has an indispensable part of God´s salvific plan for his chosen people.

Our readings today expressed how God’s love story unfolds in the mountain where theophany happened at a specific period of time. It is often the place of encounter between God and humanity. It bridges the gap between heaven and earth. It is in Mt. Horeb where God reveals his steadfast love to the Israelites through Moses. It is in the mountain where Elijah saw the great vision of God. It is also in Mt. Tabor where the three apostles experienced the Transfiguration of the Lord.

For my reflection, I would like to stress three movements in relation to one´s journey toward the mountain whether literal or symbolic, which has a significant impact on our faith life. First is ascent, our going up to the mountain. It takes courage and determination to climb up whatever mountains that we wish to venture out. As we take every step along the way with all its challenges and stumbling blocks, we acknowledge our need for God. As we are convinced that in the mountain we are anticipating an intimate encounter with God, the journey would be worthwhile. Metaphorically speaking, we too are also in a journey to the mountains deep within us especially in times when we want to be in solitude as we keep discovering our identity as who we really are and the mission that God has entrusted to us. In our busy life with all its demands, we need space for ourselves. We need to go away in order to break the schema from the usual things that we do. We need to spend time with ourselves and look back at what life has been to us with all its joys, pains, successes, failures, laughter and tears. At times, it is difficult for us to get in touch with ourselves, to climb up the possible mountains that we want to reach because there are some areas of our lives that are broken and need to be healed. It is our determination that energizes us to keep on moving amidst all the possible challenges that we will encounter along our way.

As we moved at the top of the mountain, we encounter the abiding presence of our God who longs to save us, liberate us and transforms us. In the inner recesses of our hearts, there we will have an intimate encounter of the Only One who can fill all our emptiness. Staying at the top of the mountain, which is my second point, gives us a sense of wonder about how God works in our lives. Entering into this sacred space of our hearts where we feel the love of God despite our darkness brought by our selfishness and our inability to love genuinely. It is at the peak of the mountain where love made manifest and active in the form of burning bush experience of Moses that awaits the liberation of the Israelites; in the form of pillar of clouds that Elijah had seen the beatific vision of heaven and in the form of clouds being opened with a voice that comes from above saying “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”, as experienced by the three apostles. On the mountain, God and humans become one. The mountain became the meeting place of human and divine. It´s like heaven and earth kissed, an eternal bliss that all of us wish to experience. How blessed are the three apostles who have witnessed the divinity of Jesus whom they were animated to build three tents so they can stay there forever? It is natural for any human being to crave for glorious state and shun whatever pains and sufferings in life. Thus, Jesus did not concede to Peter´s whims because God´s glory is only understood within the context of Jesus ‘mission wherein his passion, death and resurrection are intrinsically part of the whole process of life´s meaning. The God of love reached out to us and lived among us so we all experienced the fullness of life which was manifested in the transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. The transfiguration scene allows us to reflect on the meaning of what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus. Like the three disciples who have witnessed this remarkable event of the Lord, we need not stay on the mountain and won´t face the challenge of embracing our crosses in Calvary.

Our encounter with the Lord should not remain at the mountain alone. Inspired by the consoling words of God to Moses, “Do not be afraid”, I will be speaking to pharaoh through you to let my people go. “Do not be afraid” as Jesus commanded Peter, James, and John in preparation for their mission, reminding them that there could be no true glory without the cross. What was experienced in the mountain became the content of their proclamation? Their intimate encounter with Jesus’ divinity and humanity became their inspiration to go down the mountain where their hearts are burning as they keep on proclaiming the good news that God’s greatest power is love. Love that is so powerful that even sin and death cannot separate us from God. Love is so deep that even the spear of the soldier that pierced at the side of Jesus cannot consume the blood of his divine mercy. Love is so inspiring that even those who persecuted him are forgiven. Love is so metamorphic that even a life-less body is glorified. God out of sheer love, He makes all things possible so we can be sharers of His divine life. Through Jesus, with Jesus, and in Jesus, we are transfigured by his ultimate love on the cross. He gives Himself totally in Jesus Christ, God-made-man, our only way to have a glimpse of our common destiny that awaits us which will be fulfilled at the end of time when we see God face to face in the heavenly banquet.

As we are gathered together every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we are experiencing as well our own transfiguration. In our ascent to the holy altar by contemplating the body and blood of Jesus Christ, we are reminded of what had happened in Mt. Calvary, the greatest love story of all time. Sharing his body in the form of bread during Holy Communion allows us to experience an intimate encounter with Jesus who nourishes and inspires us to share his love with the rest of our brethren especially those who are considered as the lost, the least and the last in our society. Receiving his Body and Blood, Jesus remains with us forever.

Now, he dispels the darkness of sin and the power of evil forces that imprisons us. And this is the Good News to all of us. I and God are one. All of us are one. Our descent from the altar begins our mission. Now is the time to share this great experience of being loved as we go to the peripheries to meet our brothers and sisters weighed down by sickness, injustice, violence, intolerance, contempt, and brokenness. We will not remain in the four walls of the structure of the church without sharing the goodness of God’s great love for all of us. Like the faithful whom I encountered in the Andes, their witnessing has touched my life and that similar transfiguration event becomes a story of God´s unfathomable love that I wish to share wherever I go. Join me as we go out and show how this love gives way to other’s transfiguration. Amen!

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