2nd Sunday of Lent 2026 - A call to transformation

On this Second Sunday of Lent, the Church places before us three readings that shine with one common theme: transformation. Not surface change. Not cosmetic improvement. But deep, covenantal, life-altering transformation — the kind that only God can bring about.

We begin with Abram in the Book of Genesis (12:1–4a). Abram is seventy-five years old. He is settled, has land, familiarity, routine. And God says to him:
“Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk… to a land that I will show you...I will make of you a great nation… I will bless you… All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you." God does not give him a map but gives him a promise. Abram must leave behind security in order to receive identity. He must surrender what is known to receive what is promised.  That is the first movement of transformation: trust before clarity. Abram becomes Abraham, the father of nations not because he understood everything, but because he trusted.

Lent asks us the same question: What must I leave behind so that God can make me new? Comfort? Habitual sin? Resentment? Fear? Spiritual laziness? Transformation begins when we step out in faith.

In the second reading from the Second Letter to Timothy (1:8b–10), St. Paul deepens this theme. He reminds Timothy: “He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design”. 

Holiness comes from a divine act: God "saved us and called us". In saving us He redefined our destiny. Paul says that Christ “destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light.” That is transformation at its highest level, from death into life. Lent is not about minor moral adjustments. It is about allowing Christ to transform our fear into courage, selfishness into charity, despair into hope.

And now we arrive at the Gospel: the Transfiguration, from the Gospel of Matthew (17:1–9). Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. Mountains in Scripture are places of revelation — Sinai, Carmel, Zion. On this mountain, Jesus is transfigured before them: “His face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.” This is not Jesus becoming something new. This is Jesus revealing who He truly is. The glory was always there. The disciples simply could not see it  until that moment. Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets, appear, and so, the entire history of Israel converges in Christ. And then the voice from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

That is the command of Lent: Listen to him.

So how does this apply to us? Lent is our mountain. Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we climb higher spiritually. In prayer, Christ reveals Himself, in fasting, our attachments loosen, in almsgiving, our hearts grow. But the goal is not a temporary spiritual high, but rather, the goal is a transformation that endures when we go back down into daily life: into work, family tensions, financial stress, illness, disappointment. The Transfiguration tells us three important truths about transformation:

First: Transformation begins with listening. The Father does not say, “Admire him.” He says, “Listen to him.” If we want change, we must listen to Christ in Scripture, in prayer, in the teachings of the Church.

Second: Transformation reveals identity. At Jesus’ baptism and again here, the Father says, “This is my beloved Son.” In Christ, we too are beloved sons and daughters. Many of us live our life as if we are defined by failure, by past mistakes, by labels. But our deepest identity is 'beloved.'

Third: Transformation prepares us for the Cross. Peter, James and John had to see His glory, in order to witness and understand the cross. We do not seek suffering but when it comes, we remember the glory. The Cross does not erase God’s promises; it fulfills them.

Abram journeyed into the unknown and became Abraham, the Father of nations, the disciples saw Christ’s glory and were strengthened for the Passion, Paul endured hardship because he knew that death had been conquered, and we are invited to allow God to transform us. It begins with one act of trust, one step of obedience, one sincere prayer.

Brothers and sisters, let us climb the mountain with Jesus this Lent. Let us listen to Him, let us trust like Abram, let us endure with hope like Paul.
And when we come down the mountain, may the world see in us something different: something luminous, something transformed.
Peace,

Deacon Michel