Scripture readings for March 1, 2026, Second Sunday in Lent
Gn 12:1-4a Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 2 Tm 1:8b-10 Mt 17:1-9
So what are we doing on a mountaintop in the early days of Lent?
Just last week, we were with Jesus in the desert, as he faced temptations from Satan. Recalling Christ’s 40 days in the wilderness, amid hunger and insecurity and cravings for comfort, we began our own 40-day journey through the wilderness of Lent (though, frankly, for many of us the most challenging temptation is nothing more daunting than resisting a Big Mac on Friday.)
But this week, we have left the desert to revisit one of the most mysterious and challenging episodes in the Gospels — Jesus transfigured, accompanied by Moses and Elijah, with three apostles cowering in fear.
Pope John Paul II noted that his predecessor, Paul VI, died on the Feast of the Transfiguration and said, “Paul VI reminds us: we are made for eternity and eternity begins at this very moment, since the Lord is among us and lives with and in his Church.” And Pope Benedict explained it simply: “God is light,” he said, “and Jesus wishes to give his closest friends the experience of this light which dwells within him.”
But part of the power and meaning of this episode — especially now, in the first weeks of Lent lies not just in what happened on the mountaintop, but what followed immediately after.
We hear it as almost an afterthought, when the Gospel writer notes, “As they were coming down from the mountain …”
With those simple words, we realize that the fullness of our faith isn’t lived out on mountaintops, overwhelmed by wonder and mystery, but it is meant to be carried with us into the world. The light that Jesus radiated is light we need to carry with us as disciples — as people on mission, witnessing to the Gospel, carrying forth Christ’s message of mercy, compassion and hope.
We can’t simply gape in awe or tremble in fear. We need to rise and return. We have work to do.
Matthew’s Gospel underscores that. If you keep reading after this episode, you see that immediately after the Transfiguration, Jesus and his apostles encounter a crowd of people — the world they’d left behind for the mountaintop — and a man begs Jesus to heal his son who is possessed by a demon. Jesus can’t escape the demands of the world. And neither can his followers.
What does this mean for us right now?
We need to spend these weeks of Lent living out those three pillars of the season: prayer, fasting, almsgiving. The world is crying out for charity, for mercy, for Christ’s light. What do we have to give of ourselves, of our time, of our talents? How can we extend ourselves to our brothers and sisters in need — not just during Lent, but long after?
How can we live out what the apostles saw on the mountaintop and remind the world of the luminous mystery of Christ’s love?
A few years ago, Pope Francis put it beautifully during an Angelus address, and offered a challenge to all of us. Describing the beauty of the Transfiguration, he asked, “Do we know how to recognize the light of God’s love in our lives? Do we recognize it with joy and gratitude on the faces of the people who love us? Do we look around us for the signs of this light that fills our heart and opens it to love and service?”
There’s no better time than Lent to ponder those questions — to set forth from the mountaintop and begin the urgent work we need to do to have our own hearts transfigured.
Deacon Greg Kandra is an award-winning author and journalist, and creator of the blog “The Deacon’s Bench.”
