Can you remember a time when someone or something changed before your eyes and you saw goodness and beauty there that was not seen before, and in that goodness and beauty you were deeply moved?
It could be the beauty of nature: a waterfall cascading down a mountain side giving off a mist of life giving water, or a beautiful lake with the sound of singing Loons, birds that are often found on lakes, awakening the morning. Or maybe it was the roar of the ocean’s waves bringing to the sandy beach gifts from far off, or even a crimson sunset that looks like the earth is blushing. Or it could be the stars in the heavens above twinkling at night as if saying hello to those who look up!
Or it could be that one person that makes you feel in awe because of their goodness and the beauty of their nature. It could be someone close to you who was so normal, but at a special moment is changed before your eyes and that persons beauty shined outward in what they said and did for others.
I can’t help but think how parents feel with their children. They may have seen a change in their children as they received their first communion, all dressed in white and glowing with wonder and excitement. I can’t help but feel the spiritual change in the little ones I have had the humble experience in baptizing and also the parents and god-parents.Baptism is my most favorite sacrament following the Eucharist of course, because this is where it all starts, the journey of our transfiguration.
Between Moses and Elijah, Jesus shows forth his divine glory, and in doing so foreshadows his resurrection. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end of all things. Today’s mass places before us the transfigured Lord and the model toward whom we must reach for and our own transfiguration as the goal we must attain.
But how do we do this? By a profound realization that we are sinners and in this realization of our sinfulness, the need for a redeemer. Jesus, revealed to us in the Eucharist, His body and blood, his real presence, offered to us to help us in purity of soul and body through our partaking in this banquet, the receiving of Jesus Christ in us.
In the gospel today, this momentary vision of Christ, in his glory, was given to Peter, James and his brother John, in order to strengthen them to face the trials to their faith, which the suffering and crucifixion of their beloved Master would bring on them.
For the very same reason it is retold to us today, in the second Sunday of Lent, to encourage us to persevere in our Lenten journeys. The Transfiguration reminds us that very soon the Pascal candle will be lit and the bells will ring once more echoing the message of Jesus’ resurrection.
If we are to share in Jesus’ sufferings, we shall be sharers with him in his glory. As St. Paul Says: “He saved us and calls us to a holy life”. This is a truth that is so easily forgotten today. In this secular world, a place where it is all about me, what I can attain in material stuff, a world where no care is given to those whom I step on to attain that higher position in the company, where Genocide, hatred, discrimination, and killing of the innocent happen on a daily basis, a world plagued by war and dissension, there is a bright light that shines forth to bring hope! That light is JesusChrist.
When the three Apostles heard the voice of God announce his pleasure with his Son, Jesus, they became afraid. Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid”. This was the affirmation thatwould be echoed many times over. Jesus was assuring the Apostles and us that even as we go through our trials in life, Jesus will be there to protect and guide us.
Very few positive things come out from this world’s problems, or so it seems. With all this doom and gloom in our world miracles come forth as though coming through a dark cloud only to bring love and hope where there was hatred and despair. Some examples: St. Francis and His prayer: “Make me an instrument of thy Peace, where there is hatred let me sow love”. How about St. Damien who lived with and ministered to the outcasts of society at the Leper Colony on Molokia, Hawiaii, and who contracted that same disease, which ultimately took his life. Mother Teresa, who took care of the poor in Calcutta, India. I could go on and on. (Signs of light, of miracles, coming from the darkness around us”).
Our time on earth does have a purpose! This is our chance, given to us by God, to show who he has created us to be, loving and praiseworthy and co-heirs in his heavenly kingdom. We can never earn our way up there (POINT UP), but God accepts the little we can do and provides to us his infinite mercy.
And yet, there are far too many who refuse even the little bit that is asked of them and are running the risk of not taking part in God’s plan for their eternal happiness. I call these people “Seekers of Purgatory”. But there is a real danger here. One has to be very careful for if you aim for purgatory, YOU MIGHT MISS!
Need I say what that means?
Jesus’ Transfiguration gives us meaning for our lives. Jesus has shown his divinity and a glimpse of heaven. But you know, we have this same Transfiguration of Jesus and this glimpse of heaven at every mass if we only open our eyes and hearts. Doesn’t Father Rick call upon the angels and saints and the Blessed Virgin to be with us? Doesn’t he call upon the Spirit of God to make the gifts holy? A bit of heaven, yes!
It is part of life that illness, troubles, and disappointments will come our way. They respect neither wealth, nor power, nor position. The ones who realize their purpose in life and who strive to reach God’s plan for them, can and will see in their trials of life the hand of a kind and gentle Father who is preparing them for great things. I hope and pray that this is all of us here!
My friends, every time we gather for the Eucharist we experience a moment of Transfiguration where our Divine Lord is transfigured before our eyes in the forms of bread and wine. May the reassurance of God’s loving presence with us at communion take away all our fear and doubt from our hearts and strengthen us to get up and face with courage the challenges, trials, sufferings, and yes, death, that we must pass through before we can share in the divine glory in heaven.