Transfiguration: How Contemplation Transforms Our Gaze
By Priscila Vintimilla, Global Data Manager
Do you trust God completely?
I do. But it was not always that way.
We live surrounded by noise external and internal. The constant flow of news, responsibilities, comparisons, expectations, fears. It is easy to move through life on autopilot, disconnected from our own hearts and from the quiet presence of God.
In this Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 17:1-9), Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. There, in silence and apart from the crowds, He is transfigured before them. His face shines like the sun. His clothes become dazzling white. For a moment, the veil is lifted, and they glimpse His divine glory.
But Peter, surrounded by his internal thoughts, wants to stay there. “Lord, it is good that we are here.” He proposes building tents as if the experience could be preserved, contained, secured.
Then the Father’s voice interrupts: “This is my beloved Son… listen to him.”
LISTEN.
Lent and Contemplation: Returning to the Heart
During this Lenten journey, the Laudato Si’ Movement invites us to return to the heart. The Transfiguration reminds us that contemplation is not escape; it is transformation. When we pause, when we enter silence, our gaze changes.
Pope Francis writes in Dilexit Nos:
“Every person needs a ‘centre’ for his or her own life, a source of truth and goodness to draw upon in the events, situations and struggles of daily existence… the presence of Christ, the heart of the world.” (DN 81)
Returning to the heart means rediscovering that centre. It means allowing Christ Heart of the world to shape how we see God, others, and creation.
Seeing with New Eyes: The Transfiguration and Ecological Education
The disciples needed to see the light of Christ before walking toward the darkness of the Passion. In the same way, we need moments of contemplation so that we can live courageously in a world marked by ecological crisis, inequality, and uncertainty.
This is where Ecological Education — this week’s Laudato Si’ Goal — becomes essential.
Ecological Education is not only about learning facts about climate change or biodiversity loss. It is about forming a new way of seeing. It invites us to rethink our institutions, our schools, our families, and our communities in light of integral ecology. It encourages leadership, creativity, restoration, and justice.
But none of this is possible without an interior conversion first.
When we contemplate the Transfigured Christ, our gaze is purified. We begin to see creation not as a resource to exploit, but as a gift. We see others not as competitors, but as sisters and brothers. We see our common home as sacred ground.
Catholic Family Life and Lenten Conversion
As a mother and as a Catholic woman, I often reflect on the legacy I am leaving. Education begins at home. What am I teaching through my actions?
Do my daughters see in me someone who listens to Christ?
Someone who cares for creation?
Someone who acts with hope?
Lent is not only about sacrifice. It is about transformation — allowing Christ’s light to illuminate our daily choices.
From Contemplation to Mission: Descending the Mountain
The Transfiguration does not end on the mountain.
It ends with the descent.
Jesus tells them not to be afraid. They must go back down — back into the world.
Contemplation leads to a mission.
On this Second Sunday of Lent, we are invited to ask:
Where am I being invited to listen to Christ more deeply, and allow His light to shape the way I see God, creation, and others?
Perhaps the answer begins in silence.
In the sound of wind through the trees.
In the beating of our own heart.
And in the quiet assurance of Christ, who touches us and says:
“Rise, and do not be afraid.”