A century ago there lived a young boy out in the country who had never seen a circus, so imagine how excited he was when a poster went up at school announcing that a traveling circus was coming to town.
Eagerly, he ran home to ask the big question, “Dad, can I go?” His family was poor, but his father sensed how badly his son wanted to go, so he said, “If you get your chores done in time, I’ll see to it that you can go.” The next morning, the chores were done and the young boy stood dressed in his Sunday best by the breakfast table. His father reached down into his overalls and pulled out a dollar bill –the most money the boy had ever had at one time in all his life.
His father cautioned him to be careful and then sent him on his way. The boy was so excited his feet hardly touched the ground along the way. When he got to town, he noticed people were lining the street, so he worked his way through the crowd until he could see what was coming. And there in the distance approached the spectacle of a circus parade.
It was the grandest thing this boy had ever seen. There were tigers and apes in cages, along with elephants, bands and clowns and all else that makes up a circus parade. After everything had passed by where he was standing, a traditional circus clown, with floppy shoes, baggy pants and brightly painted face came up in the rear.
As the clown passed by, the boy reached into his pocket and took out the precious dollar bill. Handing the money to the clown, the boy turned around and went home. He thought he had seen the circus. He didn’t realize that the best was yet to come. All he had seen was a preview, a glimpse of the wonderful performance that was to come under the big top.
As awesome as the transfiguration must have been for Peter, James and John, they hadn’t seen anything yet. They had yet to witness the passion or the resurrection or experience Pentecost. Certainly, the moment of the transfiguration was incredible but that’s all it was, a moment Peter wanted to lock in time when he offered to build tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. “Let’s hold on to this forever.” And who could blame him? Until then, Peter, James and John had been fishermen who had abandoned their nets to follow a man whom they believed would save them. Jesus saved them all right, not as they had expected from the oppression of the Romans but from the oppression of sin.
Our first inclination when we read this gospel is to think that Jesus was the one who changed that day but the real transformation took place in the apostles. Their eyes were opened. In that moment they saw Jesus in his true nature as he really was and always has been. Fortunately for us, they saw the transfiguration as God’s invitation to move forward on a new path of faith.
We can allow ourselves to be transformed when we give Jesus the opportunity through the power of prayer and penance to take us up on the mountain and be enlightened as well. Like the boy, many of us think we have already seen the show but we really haven’t yet.
For many people, making time for Jesus is like making time for a favorite TV show, only this time, instead of an easy chair in the living room; it’s a pew in church. When the show is done, we move on with other activities until the following weekend, but as the week progresses, how often do we think to “listen to him?”
At any given moment, we can find ourselves in a tug of war between the values of the gospel of Jesus that lead us to salvation and the values of our secular culture, which beckon us with promises of short lived pleasures that captivate us like any parade passing by.
More often than we care to admit, we sin without much thought to the consequences of our actions. We play down certain sins, convinced they will do no harm. Come judgment day, we may be surprised like the teenager who was stunned to find himself grounded after missing curfew one time too many. “Dad, if you had told me you were serious, I would have gotten home on time!”
Be advised, Jesus is serious when he tells us to turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel but for any number of reasons, we are reluctant to listen to him. We consider ourselves Christians yet how committed are we to doing what Jesus expects of us? Until we see the value of why God calls us to be faithful and obedient, we are apt to miss the show, just as the young boy missed seeing the circus.
Having seen the parade, the young boy thought he had seen it all and he went home. Think of how much he missed! Think of how much the apostles would have missed had they left the mountain, figuring they had seen everything. Think of how much we are missing if we think right now that we know all there is to know about our faith or that we have as intimate a friendship with God as we can possibly have. Jesus has so much to teach us, to show us, and to share with us. No wonder, God says, “Listen to him.” Jesus invites us to ascend the mountain with him and to place our trust in him. Are we willing to give him the chance to transform us through prayer and scripture in the remaining weeks of Lent?
If you really want to “do” something for Lent, then listen. Listen to the
Son of God who invites you to journey with him to the mountain-top. When we refuse to listen, we are likely to sin and for those times we now seek God’s forgiveness.