The Way to Glory

02-28-2021Weekly Reflection Fr. Bing Colasito

God called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac (first reading). God gave His Son for our sake: He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all (second reading). The same Son Jesus: foretold His suffering transfigured to offset the scandal of His crucifixion.

A few days after the first prediction of Christ’s suffering comes the transfiguration of the Lord. And He takes the three apostles closest to Him, Peter, James, and John, who will also witness His agony in the garden. The memory of the transfiguration would help offset and safeguard the scandal of the cross, and the agony of seeing Jesus suffer and die. Jesus’ passion and death on one side, Easter glory on the other side.

In the presence of God, shekinah, a voice from the cloud said, this is my beloved Son, listen to Him (Mk. 9:7). The Son is the servant of Yahweh revealed (Is. 42; Is. 52:13-53:12), who preaches and suffers for the people. The transfiguration is the anticipation of the Easter glory. Where Easter, the resurrection gives meaning and sense to the Passion, His suffering and death. The great scandal brought by His suffering and death to the memory of Peter, James, and John makes sense only when tied to the events of the transfiguration, which they will remember and talk vividly after His resurrection. The Messianic secret revealed in the Gospel of Mark comes in this way: The disciples shall not speak about Christ as the Messiah, because Jesus does not want to be a political hero or a miracle worker, but the Son of Man who has to suffer and fulfill the Messianic mission, as the savior of the world. For a moment, Jesus pulled the veil that covered the mystery of His being. Peter overwhelmed fell flat on His face, the experience of seeing Jesus transfigured mesmerized him. He wanted to build a tent for Jesus and the two other figures with Him to extend the glory they just experienced and keep His transfigured appearance with them. Then they heard the voice: This is my beloved Son, listen to Him. And all of a sudden, they were alone with Jesus. What did it all mean? Why did He charge them not to tell anyone until He has risen from the dead?

The way to Glory for Jesus is through the cross. Jesus made this clear in all His passion predictions. The transfiguration was not the signal that the end was near but was a foretaste of the Glory of Jesus, the Son of God. A passing glimpse of what is to come. But to accomplish this glory, He would need to suffer, be rejected by His own, and put to death. He would take for himself the sins of humanity and atone for them by offering His life as a ransom or holocaust sacrifice to the Father. He would manifest the Father’s love through Him: God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our savior, His most precious one. The sacrifice will be celebrated in thousands of altars the world over up to the end of time.

The way to authentic glory is the way that the Lord took. Let us listen to Him, and take up our cross daily and follow Him. Those who will listen to the voice of the beloved Son will enter God’s glory. The glory of listening to Jesus, whom the Father sent as the savior of the world. And the glory of being admitted to the dwelling place that Jesus prepared for His faithful. Through the cross, threading the narrow way of following the Father’s Will, we will reach the goal for which the human heart longed.