Homily for 2d Sunday of Lent

Homily for the
2d Sunday of Lent

March 13, 2022
Luke 9: 28-36
St. Joseph, New Rochelle, N.Y.
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

(by Carl Bloch)

“Moses and Elijah appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem” (Luke 9: 30-31).

Jesus has gone up a mountain to pray.  In prayer he becomes so absorbed in God that his person reflects God’s presence; the divinity hidden under his human nature shines forth.  We say that his humanity’s transfigured.  The glory of God transforms him.

He’s joined by 2 other figures.  Moses and Elijah summarize all the history of Israel, all of Israel’s experience with God.  Thru Moses God established a covenant with Israel and made them a united people to whom God gave the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey.  Elijah was the 1st of the great prophets thru whom God continually called Israel to be faithful to the covenant.

Both Moses and Elijah “appear in glory.”  They’re in heaven with God and reflect divine light.  A powerful aura is around them, more than the halo we imagine around the heads of the saints.  They speak with Jesus about “his exodus in Jerusalem.”

We associate Moses with the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt, their liberation from slavery by the power of God, their crossing of the Red Sea, and their wandering in the desert on their journey to the Promised Land.  An exodus is literally a “road out,” a going forth.  Moses has reached the glory of heaven by leading Israel on their exodus, their journey from slavery to the Promised Land.

Elijah also had an exodus in the 1st half of the 9th century B.C.—not as dramatic as Moses’.  When he had to flee from the wrath of pagan Queen Jezebel, he walked for 40 days from Israel to Mt. Horeb, which is another name for Mt. Sinai.  That was his “road out,” his journey from danger to the presence of God.  And God confirmed him in his role as a prophet.

So Moses and Elijah have experienced each an exodus.  Now they talk with Jesus, you could say as his coaches, about the journey he’s “going to accomplish in Jerusalem.”  His journey isn’t to Jerusalem but in Jerusalem.  It’s not something that he’ll merely endure but something that he’ll “accomplish.”

As we know, Jesus will journey in Jerusalem following the road of his trials before the Jewish leaders and Pontius Pilate to Mt. Calvary to a tomb to resurrection.  His exodus will be his passion.  We call his exodus the “paschal mystery,” linking it to the Hebrews’ pasch or Passover in Egypt and to their sacrifice of the paschal lamb whose blood saved them when the angel of death passed over Egypt smiting every 1st-born of the Egyptians.  By accomplishing his exodus, Jesus will reach heavenly glory as Moses and Elijah did.  That is, Jesus, fully human in a body like ours, will be glorified thru his death and resurrection.  The temporary glory that the 3 chosen apostles witness on the mountain will become the unending glory of Jesus Christ, God the Father’s “chosen Son” (9:35).

The 3 apostles are commanded to “listen to” this chosen Son (9:35).  When they listen to Jesus—when we, disciples of Jesus, listen to him—they and we will travel our own exodus, our own journey out of the earthly realm that’s under the power of the Devil (as we heard in Jesus’ temptations last week [Luke 4:6]) into the reign of God.  If you have any doubt about who rules the world, consider the wars going on—not only in Ukraine; and abortion, the drug trade, sex trafficking, corporate greed.  We have a life’s journey—a pilgrimage, in the traditional language of Christian faith—to accomplish.  Our journey, like the journeys of Moses, Elijah, and our master Jesus, is a long one, a hard one, one that sometimes involves deprivation and suffering.

Many of our brother and sister disciples of Jesus suffer persecution today because they follow Jesus.  In sub-Saharan Africa, Muslim terrorists attack them.  In Mexico, priests and catechists who speak against drug trafficking are killed.  Christians are harassed and driven from their homes in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East.  Christians, including nuns and priests, are assaulted and prosecuted in Pakistan and parts of India.  Churches are knocked down in China and Christians coerced into obeying the government’s religious rules.

In Western countries—in Europe, North America, and Australia—Christians are taken to court for refusing to approve of homosexuality and transgenderism, and hospitals and medical personnel are pressured to perform abortions and medically unnecessary surgery, and pharmacists pressured to prescribe contraceptives.  If one preaches what the Scriptures (or biology, for that matter), say about human sexuality like a Lutheran bishop in Finland at this time, one can be charged with the crime of hate speech, creating a hostile environment, fomenting violence against gay or trans people.

This isn’t to mention your day-to-day challenges, or mine, of living as a faithful disciple of Jesus—to keep the commandments, to be faithful spouses, to be forgiving, to be patient, to be gentle, to be diligent workers, to respect the reputation of our neighbor, to welcome strangers and refugees, to defend people who are in danger (like the people of Ukraine).

Our exodus with Jesus will lead to glory with him.  We believe this.  We profess it every time we say the Creed at Mass or as part of the Rosary.  The 4th stanza of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” sings, in part:  “In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in His bosom That transfigures you and me; … He died to make men holy….”  The transfigured glory of Jesus was an encouragement to Peter, John, and James on the mountain, and it’s a promise to us.  The glory of Jesus attained thru his exodus in Jerusalem transfigures us into holy men and women, into saints.