Fr. Jorge Miró shares with Exaudi readers his commentary on the Gospel of this Sunday, March 16, 2025, entitled “While He Prayed, the Appearance of His Face Changed.”

***

Today’s Gospel speaks to us of the Transfiguration of the Lord, which, in the Gospel of Saint Luke, follows the proclamation of the Lord’s Passion: The Son of Man must suffer greatly… and the invitation to discipleship: If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. Before reaching the drama of the Passion, Jesus Christ appears transfigured and glorious before his disciples.

The Transfiguration is a proclamation and a glorious foretaste of the Lord’s Resurrection.

With this, the Word of God wants to encourage you on your journey toward eternal life. It wants to remind you that we are citizens of heaven. You are not an existential wanderer, but a pilgrim walking alongside other pilgrims toward heaven.

As Pope Francis reminds us in his Message for Lent, we are Pilgrims of hope, who walk alongside other brothers and sisters, because the Holy Spirit prompts us to go out of ourselves to go toward God and toward our brothers and sisters, and never to close ourselves off, being artisans of unity, listening to one another with love and patience.

To be able to make this journey, Jesus invites you to climb to the top of the mountain, to pray with Him. To be a Christian is to live a life of intimacy with the Lord, to seek his face every day, as we sing in the Psalm.

Then you too will experience the transfiguration: look upon him and be radiant (cf. Ps 34:6). The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? (cf. Ps 26:1).

Then he will pour out upon you the Holy Spirit, who will make everything new in your life.

Moses and Elijah, the Law, and the Prophets also appear in the Gospel. They bear witness that in Jesus the promises God made to the people of Israel are fulfilled.

God is faithful! This is our rest and the foundation of our hope: nothing can separate us from the love of God, manifested in Christ Jesus (cf. Rom 8).

Moses and Elijah show that Jesus Christ is the Savior, and they speak of Jesus’ exodus, of his death and resurrection. And they invite us to enter, like Jesus, into the mystery of the cross—of your cross—which, with the Lord, is a transfigured, glorious, fruitful cross, a source of life and salvation.

And a voice from the cloud said: “This is my Son, the Chosen One; listen to him.” To be disciples, we must listen to the Lord, trustingly accept his Word, and treasure it in our hearts.

Do not live listening to siren songs that promise us false paradises, but live each day listening to the voice of the Lord: “May you listen today to the voice of the Lord. Do not harden your hearts.”

The first reading reminds us how God calls Abraham, the father of believers, and makes a covenant with him, which carries with it a promise and a blessing.

Abraham, before the mystery of God, before the mystery of the covenant, of the free choice, of the promise… does not understand many things, but he trusts in God.

His gratitude opens his heart, and he is ready to listen. Abraham does not see God, but he hears his voice. And thus, by believing, he receives the promise of becoming a blessing for all peoples.

Do you dare to seriously follow this path, to live this adventure? It is worth it! Dare! It will not disappoint you! You too, if you believe, if you follow Jesus Christ on the way of the cross, will see the glory of God.

Come, Holy Spirit!