Homily 5 March: Matthew 17:1-9

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Please read this passage before reading the homily.

My sisters and brothers,

We celebrated Ash Wednesday and we have begun Lent.  Ash Wednesday is always around a new moon.

Today we celebrate the second Sunday of Lent.  This Sunday always celebrates the transfiguration of the Lord.  The transfiguration of the Lord is like a full moon.  This moon is beautiful and a sign of the glory of the Lord.  The full moon shares its glory with the darkness of the night, and the glory of the Lord fills the darkness of our lives.  Each year there is a full moon around this Sunday.  This partly why the Church celebrates with readings about the transfiguration of the Lord.

This full moon is the last full moon of winter.  The next full moon, the one after this, will be the first full moon of spring, the moon we call the Paschal Moon of Easter.

Some farmers plant their seeds according to the phases of the moon.  Some people also think that the moon somehow controls our actions.

The moon is important for Christian people.  The feast of Easter is determined by the first full moon of spring.  A new moon determines when Ash Wednesday comes and a full moon determines the transfiguration Sunday of Lent.  The Scriptures call the moon “a faithful and lasting witness in heaven” (Ps 89 (88):37).

We have entered the desert of Lent with the Holy Spirit.  We have climbed the mountain of God.  We can grow tired of climbing.  On the other hand, at the top of this mountain, in this Lent, the Lord will transform our life into the image of his resurrected body.

This is the task and work of Lent, when, like the faithful moon, we listen to the voice of God and come down the mountain to finish the work of Lent in the celebration of the Easter Vigil.