THE TWO MOUNTAINS

Second Sunday of Lent: Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18, Romans 8:31b-34, & Mark 9:2-10

We discover two mountain experiences in the liturgy of the Second Sunday of Lent: Abrham’s Mount of Moriah (first reading) and Jesus’ Mount of Transfiguration (gospel). Three elements common to these episodes teach us three valuable Lenten insights:   

1. Climbing Mountains: 

Mountains are places of retreat, detachment, solitude and prayer that inspire encounters with the divine. They are mystical places that seem to somehow freeze time and help us become aware of a presence that inhabits our being. To climb the mountain is to withdraw to a place of revelation (theophany), where God is revealed, encountered, and experienced. In the silence and interiority of our deeper selves, we discover something that exceeds our senses and experiences. Mountains enable us to lift and widen our vision from the immediate and the ordinary to the beauty of a vast horizon. They shape our gazes so we can lift and widen our vision from the immediate and the ordinary to the beauty of a vast horizon and the larger picture. The mountain episodes of today’s liturgy involve this geographical, symbolic and spiritual journey. Abraham leaves for the mountainous region of Moriah, while Jesus leads Peter, James, and John on a climb up a ‘high mountain’.

Abraham is asked to go to the land of Moriah, a mountainous region, of which it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided” (Genesis 22:14). Jesus leads Peter, James, and John on a climb up a ‘high mountain’ apart by themselves. The fruits of their climbing experience are evident: Abraham heard the Lord’s messenger calling him from heaven. The apostles were overcome by what they gazed upon: a brightness unlike anything they had ever seen, an indescribable and unparalleled beauty that left them transfixed and proclaiming, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here”. Transfiguration is not sufficient in itself. It is part of the ascent towards Jerusalem. Lent is a period that invites us to this unique climbing experience. In our prayers, acts of penance, mediations of the cross, adorations, and contemplation of the Word of God, we are guided to silence, interiority, and a gaze that helps us discover new wider horizons of unparalleled theophanies, where God continues to be revealed, encountered, and experienced. 

2. Faith Matters: 

The first reading unsettles us for many reasons. How could God ask for a human sacrifice? Is faith merely blind obedience? Is faith blind obedience? If he could argue with God to spare the city of Sodom (Genesis 18:16-33) four times, why does he obey God this time without question? Why doesn’t Isaac protest or resist the ‘holocaust’ attempt? Why does God need proof to know that Abraham fears him? The text does not answer these questions for that is not the focus of the episode. However, we have enough evidence from the law (Lev 18:21; Deut 12:31), the historical books (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6) and the prophets (Jer 7:31; Mic 6:7) to prove that God vehemently condemned and forbade the barbaric sacrifices that were at that time common in the Canaanite and Phoenician regions. The point of the episode is not the ethical or moral implications of the sacrifice, but the readiness of Abraham to give his best to God, to believe in the most difficult of situations, and to hope against hope.

The point of the whole event is faith. The ‘father of faith’ receives the three famous promises: land/nation, name/dynasty, and worldwide blessing. For Peter, James, and John, transfiguration was not about Jesus’ display of his power or glory. It was an invitation to faith, a call to recognise the splendour of God in the man who was walking the road with them. They are invited to realise that this itinerant teacher preaching the Kingdom of God, embracing lepers, healing the sick, dining with tax collectors and Pharisees alike, is ‘the beloved Son of God’, who deserved their attentive listening. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples discover the Being of God that they will proclaim to all nations as the ‘content’ of faith: what we have seen and heard we also declare to you (1 John 1:3). The season of lent is an opportunity for us to evaluate our faith, rediscover the trustworthiness of God’s promises, and the meaning of what we believe (creed), proclaim (life), and celebrate (liturgy).

3. God Provides: 

At the Mount of Transfiguration, God’s voice thunders, “This is my beloved son”. In Greek, the expression ‘Your son, the one you love’ is identical to the expression “beloved son” (uios agapetos). It occurs only once in the Old Testament and that is in today’s first reading, when Isaac, Abraham's “beloved son”, is asked to be offered as a sacrifice. When God stops the sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham discovers a substitute: a ram caught in a thicket by its horns, which he sacrifices as a burnt offering instead of his ‘beloved son’. Abraham was spared from the unimaginable pain of having to sacrifice his only ‘beloved son’. God, however, willingly accepts the agony that he would protect Abraham from. His only ‘beloved Son’ will offer himself as a sacrifice for the salvation of all creation. The true replacement for Isaac was not the ram but Jesus.

The expression ‘beloved son’ appears 3 times in Mark: baptism, transfiguration and the parable of the murderous tenants. In each of these passages, the memory of Jesus’ passion is evoked. At Baptism, the ‘beloved son’ takes the place of sinners. At the Mount of Transfiguration, the ‘beloved son’ reveals that he must go up to Jerusalem to suffer and die. In the parable, the tenants mistreat and kill the ‘beloved son’ of the owner of the vineyard. Lent is a period for us to discover that ‘God provides’ what we cannot pay for. God acquits us (second reading) of the rightful punishment that our sins deserve. Jesus makes himself the substitute, accepting the brunt of our culture of sin, death, and violence to help us discover justice, life, and peace.

Let us climb the mountain of God’s theophanies, rediscover faith, and receive the gift of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice.