The Consolation of Faith

Gospel Reflection for March 16, 2025, the Second Sunday of Lent - Luke 9:28-36

And it came to pass about eight days after these words, that he took Peter, and James, and John, and went up into a mountain to pray.

And whilst he prayed, the shape of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became white and glittering.

And behold two men were talking with him. And they were Moses and Elias,

Appearing in majesty. And they spoke of his decease that he should accomplish in Jerusalem.

But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep. And waking, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.

And it came to pass, that as they were departing from him, Peter saith to Jesus: Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias; not knowing what he said.

And as he spoke these things, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them; and they were afraid, when they entered into the cloud.

And a voice came out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son; hear him.

And whilst the voice was uttered, Jesus was found alone. And they held their peace, and told no man in those days any of these things which they had seen. (Luke 9:28-36 DRA)

One of the founding errors of the Protestant Revolution was sola fide, the doctrine that we are saved by faith alone. Because of this teaching, Protestantism has fallen down the slippery slope of its own logic until many of its “denominations” today lack any resemblance to a real church and being a Christian has become merely a matter of “identity” without any required beliefs or values beyond “I accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior.” A negative effect of this for Catholics is a certain fear or wariness about faith. The need to emphasize the necessity of grace, works and the Sacraments beyond faith alone has sometimes obscured for Catholics the true importance of faith, just as the Protestant error of sola scriptura has led many Catholics either to avoid the Bible for fear of misusing it or to adopt whatever false interpretations are popular in Protestant scholarship.

In truth, faith is central to being Catholic and, like Scripture, is something we should not fear but wholeheartedly embrace as a gift from God. In the readings for today, God shows us that there is more to this world than the material needs and urges of the body which are all that modern culture values. The spiritual world is not some ephemeral dreamscape on the fringes of reality; rather, it is more real than the physical world, lacking its propensity for change and disintegration. We live within a supernatural story in which, with our spiritual soul, we are key protagonists. As humans, we possess an intellect that can know truth itself and a will that can love goodness itself – not merely the truth and goodness partially reflected in material objects, but truth and goodness which transcend matter and point to God, who is Truth and Goodness itself. The ability to know and love God is what makes us human.

From these God-given natural gifts of intellect and will, God bestows an even greater gift to us, one which grants us even now a foretaste of the Beatific Vision: the theological virtue of faith. Contrary to common conceptions today, faith is not merely synonymous with belief or even with trust. Faith is not simply the perfection of our natural faculties but in fact transcends them. By grace, God shines the light of faith into our intellects, raising them up to behold the divine mysteries of His intimate Trinitarian life.

Even though in this life, as St Paul says, “We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known”, (1 Cor 13:12) nevertheless, faith enables us to know with the very knowledge of God, to participate in His own divine act of knowing and thereby to know revealed truths which are otherwise wholly beyond human reason. Hence why Our Lord told St. Peter, “flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 16:17) We can only understand these truths through the analogies and images of our limited minds, since “while we are in the body, we are absent from the Lord”, (2 Cor 5:6) but without faith, we would be unable to know that God is Trinity, that He became Incarnate for our salvation, that He has made possible the Beatific Vision and resurrection of the body for us, that He offers us sanctifying grace in the Sacraments, and all the other supernatural truths of the Faith.

Abram was rewarded for his faith – not a mere human belief or trust in God, but a supernatural faith which enabled him to know the mystery of salvation which God revealed to him. Likewise, faith teaches St. Paul in the Epistle that our true citizenship is in Heaven, for which we should live even now, with the certain hope of the resurrection to glory in the Second Coming of Christ. Finally, the apostles in the Gospel are granted one of the greatest theophanies in history: not only do they behold Christ’s true divinity through the veil of His humanity made translucent in the light of glory, they also witness two Old Testament saints, Elias and Moses, who were assumed into Heaven and thus even now, like Our Lady, live in their glorified bodies, thus giving direct evidence of St. Paul’s promises.

This is the hope of Easter which vivifies Lent and strengthens us through our penitential practices, limited as they are in the modern West: the Resurrection requires the Cross, the Via Dolorosa is the only road that leads to the empty tomb. To be raised to new life, we must sink into the depths with Christ in the Jordan, sharing in His death through our Baptism so that we may even now be raised to new life in the spirit and one day share fully in His Resurrection.

It must also be remembered, however, that St. Paul includes a dire warning with his eschatological promises: “For many walk, of whom I have told you often (and now tell you weeping), that they are enemies of the cross of Christ; Whose end is destruction; whose God is their belly; and whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things.” (Phil 3:18-19) Salvation is certain in itself, but not in us. We can not only reject Christ by our free will, but even masquerade as true Catholics, all while thinking and living according to the world.

Forgetting the fear of God and fearing instead the cancellation of the world, we can attempt to “fit in,” camouflaging ourselves in the vanities of the world which is in truth only the pomp and glamour of Satan. We can come to deny the truth, to pervert goodness and hate beauty while championing lies, debauchery and ugliness, yet still believing and telling others that we are good Catholics. By their professed universalism, they forget the vision of St. John: “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in the presence of the throne, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” (Apocalypse 20:12)

There is no greater scandal than this.

As we continue our journey with Christ in the desert this Lent, may we take St. Paul’s words to heart. Rejecting the worldliness that leads only to destruction, may we remember that our true citizenship is in Heaven and that, as we await the completion of Christ’s new exodus, we must prepare ourselves through fasting, penance and good works, pleading with God ceaselessly for His grace and mercy, so that we may have “faith that worketh by charity.” (Gal 5:6)