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(16th March 2025) Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent

READ: (Gen 15: 5-12, 17-18; Phil 3: 17-4:1; Lk 9: 28-36)

REFLECT: Transfigure to configure in Christ…

My dear friends, we are in the second Sunday of Lent. We hear in St. .Paul’s letter to Second Corinthians, “therefore if anyone is in Christ. He is a new creation. The old has passed away and new has come,” (2 Cor 5:17). We all know the meaning ‘to configure’ is to set something up, arrange something in a particular way, or fix something up for a particular purpose. For example we use to configure a computer system, a monitor, and router, mobile or any electronic device to function it in a particular way for a particular purpose. Further, configuration management is a process for maintaining computer systems, servers, and software in a desired, consistent state. It's a way to make sure that a system performs as it's expected to as changes are made over time.

Similarly, transfiguration of Jesus calls us for a configuration, to a particularly way or for a particular purpose of living, i.e., to realize that we partake in the glory of Jesus Christ. The transfiguration of Jesus is the anticipated vision of his future glory with his heavenly father. The famous words of Peter after the transfiguration of Jesus are to make tents; a tent for Moses, a tent for Elijah and a tent for themselves. Therefore, the readings of the day invite us to transfigure ourselves to configure in Christ. So in what way we can transfigure to configure is what we shall see. In this regard three points of reflection I would like to share, reminding ourselves that we have to make three different tents to configure to Christ in our lives.

1.      Make a tent for God’s works:

Making a tent for God’s works would mean creating a space within oneself a place for God to dwell in heart or creating a thirst for God’s work, So that His work can be done through us. We create a dwelling place for God in heart, so as to create a thirst and longing for God and God’s work, thus reaching out to people God’s wondrous thing and bringing glory to God. That’s what we see in the first reading from the book of Genesis, the story of God’s promise of blessing to Abraham to make his descendents as many as stars in heaven.

The wondrous work of God in our lives brings innumerable blessings of God. His grace and blessings has no limit. It reaches us far beyond our expectations and wish. If we could really look into our lives we would find that God has enormously worked wonders in our lives, and his wondrous work is still on. God never tires of working wonders in our lives although we are tired of taking wondrous works to people near and far; although we fail to acknowledge God’s work personally and collectively. Therefore, what we require or need is to focus on God’s work and thus bring glory to the name of God. We need to make tent for God’s work and remind ourselves everyday what God wants of us and what God wants us to in our live for the propagation of the good news and be grateful to him always.

Let us remember Jesus, who was completely occupied with God’s works. That’s why Jesus could say without any hesitation or doubt, “my food is to do the will of the Father,” (Jn 4:34) and Jesus said to Mary and Joseph “why were you looking for me… did you not know that I must be busy with my fathers’ house or affairs” (Lk 2:49). First and foremost, Jesus believed in the work of God, acknowledged God’s work and made known the work of God in his life to people visibly. Something, similar we could conceive an idea about Abraham too. Abraham, the father in faith was promised to bless abundantly, because he believed in God’s works, he acknowledged God’s work and he made every attempt to please God. That’s why the gift of blessing and the gift of a child, even though he was advanced in age. It just conveys us a message that when we work for God’s glory, God works for us in every way to make our lives happy and satisfactory, provided we are open to him, confide in him and believe in God’s power and glory.

Pope Francis, while speaking of Abraham, as a model for trusting in God’s promises, he very appropriately says, “The call of Abraham was a call to faith, to a life of faith, of trust, in which he is invited to leave his country, to leave everything, and to follow God with an open heart and mind.” Yes, leaving everything to God with a open mind and heart to follow God will create desire in us to do God’s work more and work for his glory. Most of us face the difficulties with regard to attachments. We are attached to things, people and place but not God. The moment we attach ourselves with God, we get rid of the attachments to worldly attractions and glory. Let us create in us that thirst and longing in our hearts to work for God’s glory and experience innumerable blessings of God in life.

2.      Make tent for God:

Making a tent for God is an act of preparing a place for God in hearts. It is making God abide in us and we abide in God. I don’t mean to refer to a physical structure that looks so magnificent and attractive rather cultivating a heart that is open and ready for God’s presence and His purpose. We hear from the Gospel of John “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15: 5). Perhaps we could call it as a call to live in communion with God, to surrender our hearts to His Holy will, and to be an instrument of His love and grace in the world. Just as God makes His presence felt and known in the Tabernacles of the churches and chapels, He wants to make His presence felt and known in the tent of our hearts too, because each one of us are living temples of God as God lives in each one of us.

The first and primary act of us as Christians is to remain in God and allow God to remain in us for transfiguration or transformation of life. Genuine transformation is seen in us when we build a dwelling place for God in hearts. For such a dwelling place in heart, we need to aim or focus our citizenship in heaven. Earthly citizenship will vanish one day or the other but our heavenly citizenship will never vanish and no one could take away from us, because it is prepared by God for all to those who follow Christ ardently and genuinely. God offers to everyone the ways and wisdom to know and discern to be part of the heavenly place for all, but it is we who fail due to our selfishness and selfish love. Our tendency to give priority to selfish desires, ambitions, and interests become a hurdle to build tend for God in heart. When we focus too much on self, we end up building a tent based on ego, which shuns our ability to fully surrender to God’s will and make Him the center of our lives.

The second reading from St. Paul’s letter to Philippians very clearly spells out that our citizenship is in heaven. Jesus will change our lowly bodies into glorified body by the power that enables him. Yes, our lowly bodies could be elevated to the state of glorified bodies by the power of Christ. We cannot be raised on high with our weak and feeble spirit rather by the power of God’s grace and presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit in us; we will certainly be raised on high. We need to realize today, that this transition or change from lowly bodies to glorified bodies is not something that we can achieve on our own through human strength and effort but through the power of Christ and the grace of God. Thus, if we want our citizenship in heaven then we need to make a tent for God and abide in God.

Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) very beautifully mentions, “We are not sufficient for this great task. We are fragile vessels, easily distracted, and prone to sin. But God’s grace, poured out through the Holy Spirit, allows us to face the challenges of the present moment, and to offer our lives to Him as instruments of salvation.” Yes, without God nothing is possible and with God everything is possible. Let us realize that our destination may be far but our destiny can be changed, when our focus and perspectives are right in God. If we build a tent for God and believe that our destination is in Christ and in heaven, we shall reach the right spot. Let us prepare this base that centers in and around God and rest of the additional structures or additional features or behavior or attitudes of human life be founded on a solid rock, God.

3.      Make tent for God’s Word:

Making a tent for God’s word is an aptitude of preparing our hearts for sowing the word of God in us and making the word of God part of life and spread of God far and near. Making a tent for God’s work I mean to make our hearts dwelling place God’s commandments, teachings, values and his holy words in the Bible. We all know that in Old Testament, the Israelites carried the Tabernacle in the wilderness in order to signify God’s dwelling presence, God’s accompaniment during their journey. Similarly we need to dwell or immerse in God’s word in the journey of life that God has entrusted with. The process of making tent for God’s word involves listening, reading, reflecting and responding to God’s word, allowing it to touch the core realities of life in deed.

That’s what we hear in the Gospel reading of the day, the heavenly voice from the Father declaring and certifying about Jesus, “this is my beloved son listen to Him. Listening to God, listening to Jesus, his words and his voice will make us as well the children of God.” The divine declaration from God, the Father reveals Jesus' identity as the Son of God and all the more our disposition to listening to Jesus and his words.  That’s what the divine declaration from heaven too states, ‘listen to Him.’ Thus, it is our task and responsibility to attune our heart to the voice of God through Jesus the Son of God. The reason why need to listen to Jesus and his words are because Jesus is the manifestation of God’s visible face and the reflection of God the Father. It is through Jesus that God had manifested to the world the love in abundance, beyond human comprehension and measures.

So what we need to do today is open our ears to listen to God’s inner voice that speaks to us in various ways.  God chooses to speak and reveal to us through various events and situations, peoples and time. We need to have open mind and open ears to listen to God. Let us remember that when we listen we become the children of God; when we listen to God’s word we become obedient children o f God; when we listen to God’s word, it transforms and enables us to travel on the right track and destination; when we listed to God, we become completely what God wants of us; when we listed to God’s word, the word of God becomes normative for life; when we listen to God’s word, God abides in us. That’s what we hear in the gospel of John, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you” (Jn 15:7). Yes, we need to abide in God for God’s word to abide in us and what we ask would be granted to us as we abide in God. This abiding in God is possible, when we listen to God with an undivided heart and mind.

That’s what Pope Francis would very aptly point out, “The Word of God is not only something to be studied or admired, but it is meant to be lived. It is a word that must be listened to in prayer, in humility, and in silence. When we listen to God’s Word, we are called to respond with faith and obedience. Through listening to God, we open ourselves to the transforming grace of the Holy Spirit, which allows us to live according to the will of the Father and to be true children of God.” Yes, let us listen to God’s word and live the word of God in our lives, so that, we become the children of God, completely configured to Christ. The reason perhaps, why we are not able listen to God’s voice or words is because we have not surrendered ourselves to God in prayer and intimacy; we don’t discern the voice of God to the voice of the evil one’s. We easily get carried away by the words of shallow praise and appreciation for temporary gains and not true words of God that give us happiness and satisfaction for eternity.

Today we are called to transfigure and configure our lives to Christ.  Jesus was able to do it because he pitched tent for God, for God’s  word and for God’s works but we are stumbling and struggling because we have not pitched tent for God, his word and his works. If we want to configure to Christ then we have to come out of comfort zones of life; Our comfort zone levels could be our selfish motivation, luxurious life, individualism, power-orientedness, partiality, insincerity, etc. Today let us pray that the transfiguration of Jesus is an invitation for all of us to configure in Christ. So let us deeply be rooted in God, his word and his work. This will enable us to figure out a way for configuration of our life in Christ.

RESPOND:

Do we make tent for God’s work or build our own works which arises out of selfish gains for selfish motives?

Do we make tent for God within us for God to dwell in us and be completely united in God?

Do we make tent for God’s word in our hearts to listen to him and becomes sons and daughters of God?

Let us make tent for God, his work and his word, transfiguring ourselves to configure our lives in Christ, our Lord. Amen.

God bless us all! Live Jesus!