Flash of Gold

 

Sermon by Father Jonathan E Moore - Link HERE

The second Sunday of Lent, 2026.

Last Sunday's Gospel told of the temptations of our Lord, which reached their climax with Him on the top of a mountain, where Satan showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, telling Jesus, “I will give you all this if you will bow down before me”. Our Lord, of course, rejected this false and empty promise.

This Sunday's Gospel story also reaches its climax on a mountaintop, but there the similarity ends. This time it is Jesus Himself who takes Peter, James and John to the mountaintop. That journey up the mountain symbolises a spiritual ascent, a movement away from the distractions of the world towards the presence of God.

Jesus doesn't show them the glory of the world and promise it all to them. In fact, He promises them nothing. What He does do, however, is to give them a momentary glimpse of His divinity.

Side by side with Jesus, they see Moses and Elijah. Their Jewish faith rested entirely upon the law and the prophets, and their revered lawgiver Moses and their greatest prophet Elijah, thus gave their testimony to Jesus. They also hear the voice of God the Father, “this is my own beloved Son, listen to Him”.

The Transfiguration is not just about seeing Jesus' glory, but about hearing and obeying His word. Those three apostles did not see the Lord's glory for long. Most of the experience was shrouded in mist and mystery, but they remembered it for the rest of their lives.

Saint Peter recalled that moment many years later when he wrote, “we ourselves heard that voice from Heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain”.

I want you to think this morning about the way you see Jesus, your image of Christ. Whichever depiction of Jesus it is you have in your mind now doesn't really matter.

What does matter, however, is that you pay close attention to the way that figure is clothed. In both Eastern and Western religious art it is usual to find Jesus shown with one corner or edge of His outward robe turned down. In the East that garment is commonly brown, depicting our Lord's human nature.

In the West it is usually red, symbolising our Lord's redeeming passion and death. The colour of the robe is not important, but that turned down corner is, because it is always coloured gold to show our Lord's divinity. This image helps us like Peter, James and John to glimpse his Godhead.

Jesus as truly God and man. Jesus taking on our human nature so as to make that greatest and most perfect sacrifice, giving His life so that we might have eternal life. Never lose sight of that little flash of gold.

We can of course lose sight of Jesus in another place too. Mass on the first Monday of Lent always features St Matthew's parable of the Last Judgement, with all of humanity divided into sheep or goats. The sheep are destined for Heaven because they served Christ in the sick, the hungry, the naked, those in prison.

The goats will not see Heaven. Their destiny is altogether different. They passed by their chance of Heaven when they failed to see the face of Jesus Christ in the poor and needy around them.

Thank God there are many opportunities of seeing a real concern for the poor, for refugees and outcasts shown in our society today. So many charities attracting support from people of faith and people who profess none. Lent for us Christians is a special time for almsgiving.

The real point of fasting in Lent is not to lose weight or trim yourself up, get fitter, but to save money we would normally spend on ourselves so as to give it to poor folk the world over. Seeing Christ, serving Christ in people we often will never meet this side of Heaven. What a pity if we ever allow the poor to become invisible to us.

How sad to go through all of life missing that flash of gold hidden beneath the cloak of human misery and suffering. Once seen it is never forgotten. It gives one a reason for living in this world and God's own true promise of happiness in the next.

Amen. God bless you. Say one for me.