The Journey of Trust: From Obscurity to Glory

Voice over by Eliz

Gen 12:1-4a, Psalm: 32, 2Tim 1:8b-10, Mt 17:1-9

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

On this Second Sunday of Lent, the Church gives us a glimpse of our destination. The purple of penance is shot through with a dazzling white, reminding us that our Lenten journey of sacrifice has a purpose: transformation in glory. Today’s readings map this journey for us, from the first uncertain steps of faith to the radiant revelation of God’s promise fulfilled.

Our journey begins in the Book of Genesis with the call of Abram. God speaks a disruptive word to a man settled in Haran: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.” Notice, God does not give Abram a map or a destination. He gives only a promise: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you… All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.” Abram’s faith is not a mere intellectual assent; it is an act of radical trust. He leaves everything familiar—security, identity, lineage—based solely on the word of God. He becomes our father in faith by stepping into the unknown, believing that God’s promise is more real than the ground beneath his feet.

This same call to trust in the promise reverberates in Saint Paul’s words to Timothy. Paul urges him to “bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.” Our Lenten sacrifices—our fasting, prayer, and almsgiving—are a share in this holy hardship. But Paul roots this call not in grim duty, but in grace: God “saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began.” Our ability to journey, to endure, flows from a grace given before we took a single step. The hardship is real, but the strength is divine.

This brings us to the mountaintop. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain, and “he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.” This is the fulfillment toward which Abram’s journey pointed. Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) appear, conversing with Jesus, showing that He is the fulfillment of all God’s promises. Peter, overwhelmed, wants to build tents, to capture the moment. But the Father’s voice from the cloud interrupts: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” The command is clear: The journey continues. You cannot stay on the mountain. You must listen to Him and follow Him back down—down to the valley, down to Jerusalem, down to the Cross.

Herein lies the profound lesson for our Lent. We are all on a journey from our own “Haran”—from attachments, sins, and comforts—toward the glory God promises. Like Abram, we must trust without always seeing the destination. Like Paul and Timothy, we will face hardship, but we draw strength from grace. And like the apostles, we are given mountain-top moments—in prayer, in the Eucharist, in moments of grace—to strengthen us for the climb ahead and for the return to daily sacrifice.

Pope Benedict XVI beautifully reflected that the Transfiguration is “an event of prayer” that shows us the goal: “to be with God.” It is a Lenten vision that “sustains us on our journey.”

So, let us take courage this Lent. Embrace the journey. Trust the Promise-Maker, even when the path is unclear. Draw strength from His grace in your hardships. And when you catch a glimpse of His glory—in a moment of peace, in the face of the poor, in the breaking of the Bread—let it fuel your resolve to “listen to him” and follow wherever He leads, knowing that the road through the valley of sacrifice is the only one that leads to the everlasting light of Easter. Amen.

May God bless you all!