In today’s Gospel from Matthew 17:1-9 we hear of the Transfiguration of Jesus.  Jesus takes three of His disciples up a high mountain and is Transfigured before them while “Moses and Eljah appeared to them, conversing with Him.”  We might ask why Jesus would have taken Peter, James and John up the mountain to witness this.  It clearly wasn’t just a casual stop along their journey.  The disciples were afforded an image that would have made them believe in Jesus’ divinity.  It is believed that Jesus wanted them to see Him in His divinity in order for them to be able to withstand what they will experience during His Passion and Death on the Cross.  It is no surprise that Jesus had them climb a high mountain in order to witness this.  On this second Sunday of Lent we can ask ourselves, how are we doing on our climb toward Jesus?  We are each on our own climb as we continue the work of forming ourselves spiritually.  Not only during Lent but in the totality of time that we have here on earth before we are one day called in hopes of ourselves seeing Jesus in His divinity.  The climb is often very difficult and the desire to descend can be overwhelming.  What can we do to persevere?

   In this time of worry over the potential of illness from a virus, many are taking extra precautions.  Many of these precautions should be normal practice yet we are being instructed to follow these simple exercises as extraordinary means of reducing the potential of contracting the illness.  This brings to mind the many routine spiritual practices we should be exercising yet struggle to incorporate into our daily lives.  Imagine the impact we could have on ourselves and those we encounter if we made the same effort to ensure our spiritual well-being.  If we worked to avoid the things that make us spiritually ill, all the temptations that cause us to Sin.  If we were sure to receive regular doses of Prayer and Sacred Scripture and if we sought the healing power of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist.  We could affect so much good in the efforts of fighting the battle against evil in society.