Brighter than a Thousand Suns

Second Sunday of Lent A
March 20, 2011

Reading I: Genesis 12:1-4a
Responsorial Psalm: 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
Reading II: 2 Timothy 1:8b-10
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9


The journey of Lent is a serious affair. It ought not be reduced to trifling resolutions about
going without this or that. We walk with Jesus towards Jerusalem. We need to make every
step a winner in the life-long task of radical conversion.

The Sunday Readings are chosen deliberately to mark the steps. Last week we saw Jesus on a long solitary fast in a stony desert, working through his options, choosing to reject the ways of
success in the world, and to put himself on the line. With no fake persuasion or manipulation
he would declare the truth and live it. It is no surprise that this would bring him to the
attention of the people who control things, and he would get wiped out.

The image we are confronted with on this second step of our journey is in sharp contrast to
that. It is a vision of Jesus standing between Moses and Elijah, foundation figures of God’s
chosen people, Israel. This vision of Jesus with radiant face and clothes of dazzling white is
unique in the gospels.

Probably this story is read in our assembly on this second Sunday of Lent as a flash-forward
to the glory to come when he is risen from the dead. It is intended as an encouragement to show the goal we all work for. We could be short-changed if we settle for that.

We need to wonder about the meaning of the vision. Jesus is standing between Moses and
Elijah. This means he is greater than them. They gave the Law and its inspiration. He is
giving a new ‘law’ with a new insight into spirituality. For the first christian converts learning
of this gospel teaching, the idea that someone could be greater than Moses must have been
shocking and unacceptable. We should not allow ourselves to take it for granted. It is an
earth-shattering claim.

It’s not easy to sit on the fence once we acknowledge that God has actually intervened in human affairs in the experiences of Abraham, Moses, the seers (“prophets”), and finally in Jesus of Nazareth. We have to stand up and take notice. We have to make decisions.

The words coming from the cloud were also heard when John baptised him in the Jordan.
They are demanding a response from us: “This is my son... Listen to him.”

The one important thing to do in this six-week long journey is to get our head around the
key idea of this new ‘law’, this new way of living in the Spirit, in communion with one
another, as children loved of the Father, as friends - even brothers - to Jesus the Christ. The aim is to go into the Passover Celebration with real integrity, real commitment to the truth.

"Brighter than a Thousand Suns": The title of that 1956 book by Robert Jungk on the history of the development of the atomic bomb echoes in our memories as we wonder what will be the outcome of the events unfolding in Japan. It could be a nuclear disaster. It could be a turning point in the history of the world. It could be a moment of insight. It is certainly a challenge to faith, as it is to our compassion.