Genesis 12:1-4a/ Ps. 33:4-5,18-19,20-22/2Tim.1:18b-10/Matthew 17:1-9
Desert and Mountain
Last Sunday we reflected on Lent as a desert moment – a place where Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. The desert strips us of illusions and comforts. It reveals what we truly hunger for. Many of us know this desert experience: struggles in the family, financial worries, disappointments, hidden sins, or silent loneliness. Lent invites us not to run away from these deserts but to meet God within them, just as Christ did when He refused easy bread, cheap glory, and power without sacrifice.
Today the Gospel shows another dimension of Lent: Lent is also a mountain moment. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain and is transfigured before them. In Scripture, the mountain is the place where God reveals Himself. On the mountain, noise fades and God’s voice becomes clearer.
We know what it means to climb a mountain spiritually. When a Christian wakes up early to pray instead of sleeping longer, he is climbing. When a mother whispers the rosary while caring for her children, she is climbing. When someone comes to Mass faithfully even when tired or discouraged, that is a step upward. When we spend quiet time before the Blessed Sacrament, we are standing on the mountain with Christ.
On that mountain, Jesus is transfigured. He does not become something new — He reveals who He truly is. The glory hidden in His ordinary humanity shines out. And the Father says: “This is my beloved Son… listen to Him.” Lent is a time to see Christ more clearly and to listen more deeply.
Sometimes we see Jesus only in moments of crisis, when we are sick, worried, or afraid. But the mountain invites us to know Him more intimately, not only as the one who helps us in trouble, but as the beloved Son who leads us to eternal life.
The first reading shows Abram beginning his own ascent. God tells him, “Go forth… to a land I will show you.” Abram had to leave something behind before he could receive God’s promise. Every Lenten journey requires a similar departure. For instance, we cannot climb the mountain while holding tightly to everything.
For some people, leaving something behind may mean reducing unnecessary spending so they can help the poor. For others, it may mean giving up gossip and speaking more kindly. For some, it may mean turning off the television or putting aside the phone in order to make time for prayer. For others, it may mean letting go of anger, bitterness, unresolved intra – personal or interpersonal conflict, that has been carried for years.
Besides the above, perhaps God is asking us to leave resentment, harmful habits, laziness in prayer, or too much attachment to comfort. We cannot climb while carrying unnecessary burdens.
Saint Paul reminds us in the second reading that we are called to a holy life, not by our own strength but by God’s grace. The light shining from Christ on the mountain is the light God wants to place in each of us. Holiness is not for a few special people; it is the destiny of every baptized Christian.
Sometimes we think holiness is something extraordinary, but very often holiness is simply fidelity in ordinary things: for example faithfully carrying out the corporal works of Beloved, these hidden acts shine with God’s light.
Beloved in Christ, lent holds together desert and mountain. The desert shows our weakness; the mountain reveals God’s glory. The desert purifies us. The mountain strengthens us. The desert shows us our need. The mountain shows us God’s promise.
Jesus does not keep the disciples on the mountain forever. They must come down and continue the journey to Jerusalem. In the same way, our moments of prayer must lead us back into daily life — but changed or transformed beings.
If we truly climb the Lenten mountain through prayer, sacrifice, and charity, we will begin to carry Christ’s light within us and to our daily responsibilities – families/ homes, our struggles and to our parish and its life.
And when Easter comes, we will recognize that the One who was transfigured on the mountain has also been quietly transforming us along the way.
May this Lenten season help us to climb steadily the mountain, so that when we come down from the mountain, we may follow Christ faithfully on the road that leads to Jerusalem — and ultimately to the joy of Easter.
ANNUNCIATION DAILY ROSARY REFLECTION 