Lent 2 THe big Climb

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http://www.catholicnews.org.uk/confession






The mount of Transfiguration is a big climb. One of the things that you have to do when you go to it is to get into a taxi and make quite a hair-raising drive up the mountain. When you reach the top the views are extraordinary. When you look down on the right of the Church that is built on top is a valley called Armageddon the place according to the book of Revelation God will defeat the devil.

Up here on the mountain I reflected that Jesus must have been a very fit person to have walked up this mountain. There on the mountain he is revelled to his closest friends who he actually is.

Sometimes we have extraordinary mountains to climb and we can feel that we are not fit and cannot do it. We are also a lot of the time carrying a heavy load with us on our back. These things that we have on our backs often feel like an impossible burden to carry. And yet we struggle on. We may stumble at times and lack behind and on steep gradients feel that we are not getting anywhere fast.

But, there is one thing about when we reach the top, there are two feelings. The first is blessed relief we almost forget about the problems we have faced and also we gaze at the wonder of what is around us. Imagine yourself as the disciples who was climbing up this mountain. Seeing this wonderful sight of Jesus being transfigured in front of them must have been quite a sight and they did not truly understand what was happening. And we too can be like the disciples not really understanding the significance of these two characters Moses and Elijah. One can argue that these two figures were the great heroes of the Old Testament. Moses representing the law and Elijah representing the prophets Jesus in the middle presents himself as the fulfilment of the Law and the prophets of the Old Testament.

This is why for the disciples it was wonderful for them to be there. The journey up the mountain with all its difficulties was worth it.

The Mountains of our own lives are the ones that we find it difficult to climb and sometimes it feels like it is too difficult to get there. The Gospel today teaches us about taking our time and going slowly. This year I am focusing on the sacrament of reconciliation. Last week I talked about the courage to go to the sacrament. It can feel like a mountain to climb. What we say when we get there is important because we can talk about our struggles. We need help up our mountains and we can help and encourage each other and help and rely in the help of Jesus.    

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