'She was a clear expression of the beauty and of the purity of God to me.' Sunday Reflections, 2nd Sunday of Lent, Year A

 

Transfiguration

Cristofero Gherardi [Web Gallery of Art]

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Matthew 17:1-9 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)  

After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

Léachtaí i nGaeilge 

The Upper Basilica, Lourdes

[Wikipedia; photo]

Like Peter, James and John, I caught a glimpse of something of the Purity of God on a hill. Tradition tells us that Jesus was transfigured on Mount Tabor, Israel. My 'Mount Tabor' was a hotel at the top of a hill in Lourdes, France.

During Holy Week 2001 I took part in the international pilgrimage of Faith and Light to Lourdes which takes place every ten years. Faith and Light was born of a desire to help people with an intellectual disability and their families find their place within the Church and society. This was the main purpose of the organized pilgrimage to Lourdes at Easter of 1971. 

I was based in Britain at the time and travelled with a group from the north of England. However, before I left the Philippines for Britain in 2000 I had been invited to be chaplain to the small contingent from the Philippines, as I had been involved with Faith and Light in the Philippines, mostly on the fringes, between 1992 and 2000.

The Filipinos were staying in a hotel at a distance from the shrine and at the top of a hill. There was also a group of Faith and Light pilgrims from Hong Kong, including Fr Giosue Bonzi PIME, an Italian, in the same hotel. (I was with the English pilgrims in a hotel close to the shrine.)  

Chinese ceramic plate, circa 1680 

[Wikipedia; photo]

One of those from Hong Kong was Dorothy, a girl of about eleven with Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21). Her father died suddenly when she was very young. Dorothy's face had the delicate beauty of Chinese ceramics. But she had an extraordinary inner beauty, a purity that could have come only from God. Though I had no Cantonese and she had no English, we were able to communicate simply by looking at one another. She showed complete trust in me. She had a vulnerability that called forth the deepest respect.

Fr Giosue Bonzi PIME with Dorothy, now an adult, in Hong Kong

In Irish there's an expression used for a person with a severe mental or learning disability, duine le Dia, 'a person with God'. Dorothy was such for me, in a very full sense of that phrase: she was a clear expression of the beauty and of the purity of God to me.

The Opening Prayer of today's Mass reads:

O God, who have commanded us
to listen to your beloved Son,
be pleased, we pray,
to nourish us inwardly by your word,
that, with spiritual sight made pure,
we may rejoice to behold your glory.
Through . . .

When Peter, James and John went up Mount Tabor with Jesus they had no idea that would see the divinity of Jesus there. They had no idea they would hear God the Father say This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. The Entrance Antiphon, taken from Psalm 26 [27], prays, It is your face, O Lord, that I seek; hide not your face from me. I have no doubt that I saw the face of the Lord in that young girl with Down Syndrome from Hong Kong whom I met in Lourdes in Holy Week 2001.

Jesus may speak to us at any time, unexpectedly, as he revealed his presence to me in that hotel at the top of a hill in Lourdes. May we make the Opening Prayer our own so that, with spiritual sight made pure, we may rejoice to behold your glory.

Immaculate Mary (The Lourdes Hymn)

Traditional Pyrenean melody arranged by James Doig

Sung by Prima Luce (Sydney, Australia)

Traditional Latin Mass

Second Sunday in Lent

The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 03-05-2023 if necessary).

Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7. Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9.

Transfiguration (Cell 6)

Blessed Fra Angelico [Web Gallery of Art]