The season of Lent is a period of 40 days leading us to living out this prayer: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” This prayer is said during every mass as the priest or deacon is putting a couple of drops of water (humanity) into the chalice of wine (divinity). If we stop and think about it, what is seen of Jesus was his humanity. Jesus was 100% human. Jesus was also 100% divine.
In the Gospel account proclaimed this weekend, the Apostles Peter, John, and James see the divinity of Jesus that we hope to also one day see. This moment in Jesus’ life is called the transfiguration. This isn’t the Feast of the Transfiguration, that’s on August 6th of every year, but it’s a good time as we begin the discipline of Lent to be reminded of our goal. If we focus on the goal, then from there, working backwards, we can deduce what each of us has to do to point our lives toward that goal. You are now 10 or 11 days into Lent 2026 so it’s time to take a look at where you are heading spiritually. It’s not too late to make changes. It’s never too late to make changes.
The moment of the Transfiguration for the three chosen Apostles is a very special moment in their lives and yet we see that as Peter continues to live with Jesus he messes up. After Jesus has been arrested and taken in to be tried, Peter goes into the courtyard and three times, he denies that he knows Jesus and that he is one of his friends. James and John sort of mess up too when Jesus comes upon them arguing about which one of them is the greatest. Jesus stops their discussion by telling them that the greatest of all is the servant of all. So, there’s another hint for us about the direction our life could be moving in.
Now let’s go back to the prayer I started this piece with, the prayer that you may or may not hear as it is recited at every mass. We may never see the divine in ourselves but others see it and feel it and we will see it and feel it in others. It has been in each of us since we were baptized. We are nourished in the divinity of Jesus as we receive and consume the “Body of Christ” in Holy Communion and, at the end of mass, we are sent out to be visible signs of the divinity of God to others as we live our lives.
Deacon Ray
