A good Sunday to all.

For the second Sunday of Lent, every year, the liturgy makes us reflect on the transfiguration of Jesus. It is one of the most famous pages of the Gospels; we all know this story that tradition set about Mount Tabor. It is a magnificent mountain; it rises in the middle of the plain of Esdraelon; a sacred mountain from the most ancient times. Already the Canaanites—about 2000 - 3000 years before Christ— climbed this mountain to offer sacrifices to their divinities. The mountain is covered with oaks and terebinths.

The Christian tradition set the narrative of the transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor. Already in the third century, a chapel was built on this mountain, and then when the Byzantines arrived, three chapels were built in memory of the three tents that Peter wanted to build. The present Church, which is located at the top of this hill, the Church that Antonio Barluz built in 1924, has three chapels: the two side towers were built on the chapels of Moses and Elijah in the Byzantine tradition.

This account is often considered a kind of glimpse of paradise where Jesus would have privileged three of his disciples. But, if we interpret it this way, we may be a little envious of those three who were so lucky. We can also doubt if it wasn't a hallucination but that it doesn't have anything to say to us. Let's say it clearly: the text is not a narration of a material fact but a page of theology and catechesis written with images taken from the Bible. We will try to understand these images, decode them, to translate them into the message that speaks to our lives today.

Why is this narrative always offered on the second Sunday of Lent? It is very easy to understand the reason. The Church wants to prepare us to read the Easter narrative correctly. What will we hear in the coming days? The narrative of the passion and death of Jesus, a wise, good, generous man who ended badly. How to interpret his life, his failure? If he had remained quiet in Nazareth, no one would have bothered him. What happened? It happened that he wanted to change the world, and he inevitably met the detectors of power of the ancient world who wanted to perpetuate their dominance, and he lost. He was confronted with the power detectors in the religious institution and lost. He presented himself as a lamb amid wolves, in a society of competition, where they try to subjugate the weakest; he was a lamb, and he lost.

Who is admired, appreciated in this world? Not the one who loses, but the one who wins, the one who dominates, the one who makes himself served. And, in this world, the slave, the one who makes himself a servant is worthless, is nobody. That's how people think, and Jesus is a defeated one. Then, nobody is encouraged to follow him to be like him. This being the case, is the judgment of the people fair? We know well the difficulties that our brethren in the faith of the first generations had to understand the cross. They did not want it as a symbol. We know that the first Christians had as a symbol the anchor, the fish, the pelican, the peacock, but not the cross. Only in the fourth century began the cross to become a Christian symbol in the time of Constantine because the cross was the symbol of a defeat, a motive of mockery.

The Evangelist Luke wrote this passage in the time of Domitian. In the background, I have placed the very famous Palatine graffito. It was found in the excavations of the 'pedagogium,' which was a kind of school for the training of the imperial pages, young people coming from from the high class in Rome. What does this graffito represent, which is from the time of Domitian, just when Lucas writes his Gospel? There is a man on the cross, a man with the head of a donkey, then a devotee who worships him and an inscription in Greek: "Alexamenos cebete zeon' - which means: 'Alexamenos worships his god.' Certainly, Alexamenos was our brother. His colleagues made fun of him. They made this graffito, and they say: 'This is the God worshipped by Alexamenos. One with the head of a donkey nailed to the cross. The cross was a symbol of guilt.

Paul says in the letter to the Corinthians: 'Beware... it is not a defeat; it is not a cause of scandal as the Jews believe, and it is not foolishness as the pagans believe; it is the sign of wisdom which is not that of this world, where we evaluate who wins, who dominates. The wisdom of God is the opposite. Greatness is in the one who serves. To make the Christians of his community understand this and for us today, the evangelists did not put arguments. The Semites did not put reasonings but wrote stories. It is through a story that the Evangelist Luke invites us to read in a correct way what has happened to Jesus and not to be seduced by the criteria and judgments of the people.

Let's listen to how this narration begins:

"About eight days after he said this, he took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of the exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.”

 "About eight days after he said this." In general, in the Gospels, the episodes are placed side by side without indication of time. Here, there is a reference to what Jesus said eight days earlier. It is the Evangelist's invitation for us to go and see what Jesus has said to understand what he has said, what he will now tell. Jesus had announced clearly the end that awaited him. He had said: 'The Son of Man must suffer much, be rejected by the elders, by the chief priests and the scribes. They will kill me. But things will not end like that because my surrendered life will end in the glory of the resurrection.' And immediately he had added addressing all present: 'If anyone is interested in making the same life choices that I have made and that I propose to you, forget about yourselves.'

In making choices, you should not think of personal interest but the need, of the brother's life. We hear many proposals of life. Some say: 'Enjoy life... assert yourself, find a way to make yourself admired and be considered a god in this world.' And Jesus makes his proposal. What's the problem? It's that we can't verify concretely that Jesus is right. We don't have definitive proof... and the doubts arise... 'if I listen to him, won't I regret in the end not having enjoyed life as so many have done, for not having thought of myself, for not having done what pleases me?'

This is faith. There is no proof. Everything is based on faith, on trust in his word. 'In you I trust.' Luke wants to help the Christians of his community and us today understand the proposal that Jesus makes. What does he do to convince us? He narrates the spiritual journey that the disciples made. We know very well that when Jesus spoke of these things, they covered their ears, they closed their eyes, they did not want to see where Jesus was going; they wanted to continue cultivating their dreams. Peter would react and tell Jesus: 'This is not the way to speak... this was suggested to you by the evil one... you must be an overcomer.'

Which way did the disciples go? Not all of them, but a small group, began to understand before the others, the option that Jesus proposed was the true one. With which image does the Evangelist narrate this spiritual path that they made, and it is also what he suggests for us today? First, they followed Jesus to the mountain.

What mountain is it? It is not a material mountain; it is not Mount Tabor. It is the world of God. Jesus introduced a group of disciples who arrived before the others, to be penetrated by the light of heaven, by God's way of thinking. They went away from the plain and went up. What is this plain? It is the place where everybody lives, where everybody reacts according to the criteria, the judgments, the scale of values of this world. Concretely, the successful person in the plane is evaluated by his account in the bank, car, house, visibility on TV, newspapers, and social media where he is talked about.... What is Jesus' worth according to these criteria? He's a loser, a failure... he's homeless, he has no property. Jesus is nobody in the eyes of the world. As long as he stays on the plane, Jesus is judged that way, a good man but not worth following.

To see this person differently, it is necessary to go up the mountain. And what happens on the mountain? Prayer. We already heard from the beginning of the narrative that Jesus went up to pray. Only Luke tells the reason why Jesus went up the mountain, and it will be during prayer that even these three disciples will begin to see a change in the appearance of Jesus' face. "As he prayed, his face changed in appearance."

What is this change in Jesus' face that a group of disciples has begun to see? Departing from the way of thinking of the people, they began to understand that the disfigured face of the Master, that which he announced, changed, and shone. The face of the defeated became the face of the victor because they came to see that face with God's way of seeing. Everything changes on the mount. Judgments are turned around.

If we want to attune our thoughts with God's thoughts, it is necessary to cultivate these moments of prayer. It means intimacy with Christ in silence. It is impossible to be in tune with God's thoughts when one is bewildered by confusion, by the cell phone that rings continuously, with banalities, to exchange trivialities and talk about nonsense. If we allow ourselves to get involved in the vanity fair that this world proposes, by the social media, we will not be able to enter the way of judging life according to God.

It is about the invitation to approach Christ, as these three did, and take the Gospel in hand, to begin to reflect, to form a criterion of judgment, not according to the people that will lead us away from a successful choice of life. Then, one realizes that the faces of the people that do not resemble the face of Jesus of Nazareth are disfigured faces, and they are frightening because the face of the one who enters into competition, of the one who seeks to crush others, not to serve them, is not a human face; it is a fierce face that crushes the weakest. This is the life of the competition of our world, where what counts is to win. Jesus has made his proposal, and we will see this face in a different way only if we enter into God's view of the success of life.

"And his garment shone with whiteness." Clothes in biblical symbolism indicate all we see in a person, i.e., his actions. And it is a splendid white robe; it is the symbol of light; it is the light of God; it is the light of love that arose in fullness in the person of Jesus, and it is that light to which we must bear witness. If we welcome it, it is the light of the life of the Spirit that must shine in us. Jesus says: "You are the light of the world." This light must shine before people 'that they may see his good works.' What was the garment in which Jesus was clothed on the plain? It was not a highly prized garment; it was the slave's loincloth. In Greco-Roman society, the slave was despised, certainly, it was not the ideal of man. This loincloth is different; it is the royal garment according to God and according to his judgments.

And two men appear, Moses and Elijah. Who are these two characters? We remember them; in the Old Testament they are the two who went up the mountain to see the glory of God. Moses wanted to see the face of God, and God told him, 'you cannot see my face; go into the cave and put your hand over your eyes; after you pass over, you will not see my face but my shoulders.' Man can see the face of God, but he sees where God has passed by. Then he sees his glory because he leaves signs of his love where God passes by.

Elijah also had gone up into the mountain to see the face of God; he imagined him as the God who reveals himself in the terrifying forces, in the earthquake, the impetuous wind. The glory of God was revealed in the voice of a gentle breeze. They had not seen the true face of God. They saw it when they were both lifted up to heaven. We remember the story of Elijah when he was caught up in the chariot of fire. Moses was also caught up. The Bible does not tell us this, but it was in the tradition referred to by Josephus Flavius. They also saw the face of God after they were caught up to heaven.

And now they are on the mountain because they must bear witness that the true man according to God has triumphed. Moses had said: "The Lord will one day send you a prophet, like me. And whoever will not listen to him will be cut off from the people." Elijah had to return to announce that the Messiah was present; he had to precede this coming of the Messiah. Here are now the two who testify that the Messiah of God is Jesus of Nazareth. The two also represent all the holy books of Israel, Moses the Torah, the five books of the law. Elijah all the writings of the prophets which represent the revelation of the Lord, testify that Jesus is the man according to God, the true Son of the Lord. And what were they talking about? Of his exodus, the exodus that Jesus was going to complete in Jerusalem. What does it mean? It means the Scriptures, Moses and the prophets, Moses and Elijah confirm what Jesus has just announced, that he will have to suffer much, they would kill him, but the exodus will not end in the grave but in glory, in the fullness of life.

Jesus also received the light, which revealed the mission that his Father wanted him to carry out. Jesus also, reading the Scriptures and in prayer, understood the exodus he had to undertake. Let us now see the disciples' reaction to this new revelation of the Master's face: what was it?

Let's listen to what Luke tells us:

"Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, 'Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' But he did not know what he was saying."

Now we have indeed understood what the Evangelist Luke wants to tell us when he relates the spiritual experience of these three disciples of Jesus. He wants to tell us that if you don't personally have the same experience as they did of the transfiguration of Jesus, if you do not personally experience the transfiguration, you cannot be his disciple; if you cannot see the glorious face of Christ in the face of the crucified one who gives his life for love, you do not give him your adherence.

It is impossible to choose to wear the servant's garment if you have not seen that garment transformed into a royal garment, glorious, shining with divine light. What happens now? The spiritual experience of these three disciples continues. Luke tells us about it. They are caught in the dream; what kind of a dream is this? Sleep is when your eyes become heavy and slowly close, and you can't see anything anymore.

What is Luke trying to say? It means that it is not easy to observe a glorious face when you have in front of you a face full of stupa and crowned with thorns. The three disciples caught a glimpse of the divine glory, but then their eyes darkened again, and they began to see things as those who have not been on the mountain see them. The dream indicates the difficulty of assimilating God's criteria and judgments. It is easy to consider greatness again what is swollen dropsy, to consider beauty as a deceptive appearance. Paul writes to the Romans: 'It is time to awake from sleep,' to shake off spiritual lethargy because it is so easy to get wrapped up again in the darkness of the world.

Now Moses and Elijah separate from Jesus, and as they separate, Peter makes a rather strange proposal, that of building three tents. The meaning of this image is not easy to determine, but undoubtedly it refers to the exodus experience because we are talking about the exodus of Jesus, and the exodus proposed to the disciples is to follow him. To build tents... whoever makes a tent means he wants to stop; you don't build a tent and then leave.

Why does Peter want to stay? He understood what Jesus proposes, that is, to follow him, but he is tempted to stop. Our spiritual experience helps us to understand. As we are well made, when we hear the Gospel, we immediately hear a voice that says, 'It's like this... do what Jesus tells you, lay down your life.' But we would like to stop when we have understood. It's not enough; we need to move, we need to translate this spiritual experience into the reality of life; we need to actualize it. We don't go back willingly to daily life because of the problems, the social conflicts, the family dramas that we must face instilling fear in us. However, our life does not end with the hearing of the word.

A healthy relationship with the Lord does not lead us to withdraw into ourselves, does not enclose us in a sterile spiritual intimacy but pushes us to encounter our brothers and sisters. Jesus takes us to the mountain so that we may return transformed amid our brothers and sisters. The story's conclusion is with the voice from heaven suggesting to the three disciples and us what we should do.

Let us listen:

"No sooner had he said this than a cloud came and overshadowed them. As they entered the cloud, they were frightened. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, 'This is my chosen Son; listen to him.' They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen."

Luke now introduces a new biblical image into his account. The image of the cloud is repeated frequently especially in the book of Exodus; it is the image of God's presence. God is rarely presented as the sun, but very often as the shadow, as a cloud. We understand why the people of Israel felt the presence, the protection of their God in the image of the shadow, of the cloud. They walked in the wilderness and the sun bothered them very much, and they felt protected by the shadow and the cloud.

An image that we can see in the Bible. When Moses went up the mountain, the top of the mountain was covered by the cloud because God is present there and will speak with Moses. And when the tent of meeting is built for Moses with the Lord, this tent was covered by the cloud. Wherever this cloud was, it is a sign the presence of God envelops that one, and this is what happened to these disciples. They were introduced to this spiritual experience and understood what an exodus their Master would make. And out of this cloud comes a voice.

The disciples are frightened when they realize the path Jesus was proposing to them. And out of this cloud comes a voice: "This is my chosen Son. Listen to him." It is the same voice that was heard the day of the baptism, but here is an addition: "Listen to him." There the voice only referred to him as the Son, the chosen one, the one who perfectly reproduces the face of the Father. Here is the addition: 'Follow him, listen to him.' It is God's interpretation of all that Jesus is going to go through. To people, he will be a loser, but to the heavenly Father he is the true Son, the chosen one, the faithful servant with whom He is well pleased, listen to him even when he seems to propose too difficult ways, narrow ways, paradoxical choices; listen to him.

To conclude, a reference again to those eight days. The Evangelist Mark, in the parallel quote, speaks of 'six days later' but Luke mentions' eight days.' For Christians, the number 8 has an exact meaning; it is the day of the Passover, the day when the community gathers to hear the word of the Lord and for the breaking of bread.

This, then, is what Luke means by 'eight days.' He says that every Sunday, the disciples that gather to celebrate the Eucharist, go up to the mountain, and on the mountain, they see the face of the Lord transfigured, the one who became bread, who gave his whole life, and they have this proposal that he makes to them: 'Unite your life to mine.' It is the voice from heaven that tells us: 'If you want to secure your life, if you want to be children of the Father in heaven, listen to him.'

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.