Listen to him. Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent, Year B.

Mark invites us to understand what happened on the Mount of Transfiguration by looking closely at the encounter between God and Moses on Mount Sinai. Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan before he begins his public ministry evokes the people of Israel passing through the waters of the sea as the great Exodus journey begins. And just as Jesus was tested in the desert, the forty-year journey in the desert is also a time of testing for God’s people. So, at the very beginning of the gospel Mark is announcing that a new and greater Exodus is underway. Today’s gospel continues the Exodus motif. Moses received a revelation from God on Mount Sinai, and on the mount of Transfiguration God acknowledges Jesus as his Son, the Beloved.