Episode Transcript
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There are fleeting moments in life
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when the curtain between us, the world, and God,
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present and future, is drawn back
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and we glimpse eternity.
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Today's Transfiguration story
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on the second Sunday of Lent is such a moment.
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Transfiguration occurs right after Peter's confession
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that Jesus is the long- awaited Messiah
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and then Jesus's shocking response
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that He, Messiah, "must suffer many things,
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be rejected... be killed..."
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We're then told that Peter, James, and John
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leave with Jesus to a high mountain.
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There, Jesus is caught up in a dazzling theophony
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talking with the two great figures of Judaism,
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Moses and Elijah.
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Peter blurts out, "Master, it is well that we're here.
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Let us make three booths, one for each of you."
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Then suddenly they see only Jesus,
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and hear a voice from the cloud saying,
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"This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him."
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In this dazzling moment of recognition,
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it was revealed to these disciples
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that Jesus is son of God, Messiah,
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and His suffering way to the cross is in accord with God's will.
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Peter wanted to fix that transfiguring, mountaintop moment
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in concrete for all time, but we can't.
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Glimpses like that come and go.
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God pulls back the curtain between now and eternity
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only for a peak.
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And when such glimpses are given
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on a mountaintop in Judea
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or in a Sunday mass, cherish it.
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But don't even try to capture it,
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for it's a fleeting, blessed gift of revelation.
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And such glimpses sustain us on our Lenten journey
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with Jesus to the cross.
