Today’s Gospel brings us a wonderful moment in the education of Jesus’s friends.
Jesus was always trying to teach them about the mystery of life, and we can take heart from the fact that they were often slow learners. Peter, James and John see Jesus transfigured on the top of a mountain. But the vision doesn’t last long. Peter, always practical, wants to build tents so they can stay in the moment. But no, the journey to Calvary lies ahead where they will see Jesus disfigured. Eventually, they will put it together that transfiguration and disfigurement are two sides of the same coin.
This week, Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion shares another story of education. We visit a primary school in Samoa with 400 students and 11 teachers. Until 2023, the school had no reliable access to fresh water. At times, teachers had to fetch water from neighbouring families, and this took considerable time out of the day and limited classes. It also meant that each class had a single bucket of drinking water for everyone to share. Thanks to your generosity, this has now changed.
Education can continue uninterrupted. You might even say, that thanks to those who support Project Compassion, disfigured lives have been transfigured.
Samoa may seem a long way away but let us think for a moment of some of the words Jesus said on the night before he died. He prayed ‘may they all be one.’ We see the high price of division and conflict in so many places. People face each other with such hostility. As we Unite Against Poverty, we are slowly creating the solution. Our actions are teaching the world to see possibilities more than problems. Just as his friends saw Jesus in a brilliant new light, so too must we see the whole human family with its true dignity.
We pray for all those whose access to food and water is insecure. May the whole human family respond generously in creating lasting justice in the distribution of life’s necessities. May we respond to opportunities such as those presented by Project Compassion this Lent to Unite Against Poverty. May we all be one.
© Project Compassion Sunday Reflection, Second Sunday of Lent, Image: www.liturgyhelp.com