By Teodoro Bacani Jr.

Tomorrow will be the Second Sunday of Lent. On this day each year, the Gospel tells about the transfiguration of Jesus before the three disciples he would choose as his companions in the Garden of Gethsemane. That Gethsemane moment would be a trying time for them, for they would be witnessing Jesus in his agony, when he would seem to be a worm and no man, cringing at the prospect of his forthcoming sufferings and struggling to submit himself to the will of his Father.

The Gospel for this year is from Mk. 9: 2-10. Jesus brought his three disciples, Peter, James and John, to a high mountain to share with him his peak experience of being transfigured for some unforgettable shining moments. He wanted to strengthen them for the future trial which would try not only Jesus’ endurance but their own souls as well. During this Transfiguration experience, the Father testified regarding his Son: “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him” We need to recall that after Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus spoke openly about his coming suffering and death which would be followed by his resurrection. Peter could not take it, and he remonstrated with Jesus. The Lord rebuked him sternly and told him that the way Peter thought was not God’s way but man’s.

The transfiguration was thus a moment of the Father’s attestation that Jesus’ words about his forthcoming suffering and death to be followed by his resurrection were indeed expressive of God’s plan, and that therefore, Jesus’ challenge to follow him in his way of the cross was to be accepted as well. That is why at the end of the scene, the Father said, “Listen to him.”

The transfiguration was a luminous moment, so splendid that Peter exclaimed, “It is wonderful for us to be here.” And he would have wanted to remain in that moment, and so, he suggested, “Let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

Peter again missed the point. The transfiguration was a temporary experience. It was meant to be a moment of inspiration and encouragement, but the redemption of the world still had to pass through the hard way of the passion and death of Jesus. Jesus would not reach his resurrection and achieve his mission except through Calvary.

Peter’s mistake was also our mistake after Edsa I. That peaceful revolution was a glorious moment in our history. Nothing was more glorious than that in our modern history, and we were justifiably proud of it. It was our “alay sa mundo” (gift to the world). But it was not supposed to be the end. We were not meant to sit on our laurels. Edsa I was meant to be a moment of inspiration to encourage us on towards the path of renewal which would take years of toil and suffering. We still had to go our way of the cross, come down from the mountain and do the unpleasant work of setting our hearts and our society in order. To our regret today, we did not pursue the difficult way of the cross, and we went back to our old ways, seeking, each one his/her own profit, often to the detriment of the common good.

In the Old Testament, the Exodus from Egypt was a glorious moment of liberation, but it was not yet the entry to the promised land. It was only the beginning of a long journey. In the New Testament, the transfiguration was also a glorious moment, but it was only a prelude to the passion-death-resurrection of Christ. For us Filipinos, Edsa I was also a glorious moment, but we must not be content to commemorate it with nostalgia. We must now move on to the task for which this transfiguration moment in our history was meant to prepare us.