Second Sunday in Lent, Cycle A

MATTHEW 17:1-9
WE'VE HEARD THE STORY OF THE TRANSFIGURATION ONCE AGAIN. THERE ARE MANY QUESTIONS. IF JOHN WAS THERE, WHY IS THERE NO ACCOUNT OF THE TRANSFIGURATION IN HIS GOSPEL, EVEN THOUGH IT IS IN THE OTHER THREE? IF THE THREE APOSTLES HEARD THE VOICE OF GOD AND SAW THE TRANSFIGURED JESUS, AND HEARD THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE JEWISH RELIGION TALKING ABOUT HIS CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION, WHY WERE THEY AFRAID WHEN THAT ALL BEGAN TO HAPPEN? WHY WERE THEY SURPRISED WHEN JESUS APPEARED TO THEM AFTER HIS DEATH? I HAVE TO WARN YOU RIGHT NOW, I DON'T HAVE ANSWERS TO THESE AND THE MANY OTHER QUESTIONS THAT THIS EVENT RAISES IN MY MIND. I GUESS THE BIGGEST QUESTION OF ALL IS THAT THE TRANSFIGURATION SEEMED TO HAVE HAD SO LITTLE EFFECT ON THE BEHAVIOR OF PETER, JAMES AND JOHN AFTERWORDS AND THEY SAW IT HAPPEN. WHAT IS EXPECTED OF US WHO ONLY HEAR THE STORY?
IN A SMALL TOWN THAT DIDN'T AMOUNT TO MUCH, IN A COUNTRY THAT DIDN'T AMOUNT TO MUCH EITHER, AN ANGEL APPEARED TO AN ORDINARY JEWISH TEENAGE GIRL AND DECLARED THAT SHE WAS FULL OF GRACE, AND THAT THE LORD WAS WITH HER. FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS AND EVEN HER PARENTS COULD NOT SEE THIS. TO THEM SHE WAS LOVED AND CHERISHED, BUT CERTAINLY NO ONE EXPECTED HER TO DO MORE THAN LEARN HOW TO KEEP HOUSE AND MARRY AND BEAR CHILDREN. BUT SHE WAS BLESSED AMONG WOMEN.
FAST FORWARD. A YOUNG MAN, THE SON OF A RICH MERCHANT, DECIDES TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE AS A HIRED SOLDIER. HE ISN'T TOO GOOD AT IT, AND ENDS UP IN PRISON. WHEN HE GETS OUT HE HAS A VISION, TELLING HIM TO REPAIR THE CHURCH. YOUNG FRANCIS BEGINS TO REPAIR A RUINED CHURCH, BUT SOON GETS THE MESSAGE THAT THIS ISN'T QUITE WHAT THE HEAVENLY VOICE HAD IN MIND. AND THE REST IS HISTORY. EVERYONE WHO KNEW FRANCIS SAW A SPOILED RICH KID WHO DIDN'T SEEM TO MAKE VERY GOOD CHOICES – AND INDEED, EVEN AFTER HIS CONVERSION HIS IMPULSIVENESS AND IMPRACTICALITY WERE ALWAYS GETTING HIM INTO TROUBLE, SO MUCH SO THAT THE ORDER HE FOUNDED EVENTUALLY EASED HIM OUT AS THEIR LEADER. BUT GOD SAW SOMETHING IN HIM THAT NO ONE ELSE SAW, AND THE ORDER HE FOUNDED IS OLDER THAN MOST OF THE COUNTRIES ON EARTH.
AND THERE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN IN FRANCE WHO WAS ONE OF MANY CHILDREN RAISED IN A VERY CATHOLIC FAMILY. HER DESIRE WAS TO FOLLOW HER OLDER SISTER INTO THE CARMELITE ORDER, AND, AFTER MANY TRIALS, SHE WAS FINALLY ACCEPTED. SHE KNEW SHE DIDN'T HAVE GREAT LEARNING OR A VERY STRONG CONSTITUTION, AND IT WAS EVEN HARD FOR HER TO LIVE THE DISCIPLINE OF THE ORDER. SO SHE FOUND HER OWN SPIRITUALITY, WHICH COMES DOWN TO US AS THE “LITTLE WAY” OF SAINT THERESA. SHE LIVED AND DIED IN OBSCURITY, BUT NOW SHE IS A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH. GOD SAW SOMETHING IN HER THAT EVEN THE NUNS SHE LIVED WITH DID NOT.
AND THERE ARE SO MANY MORE STORIES ABOUT THE SAINTS. WHEN I GET TO KNOW A SAINT MY FIRST REACTION IS AMAZEMENT – AFTER ALL, EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE COUNTLESS SAINTS WE WILL NEVER KNOW UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE, THE SAINTS WHO ARE CANONIZED ARE SELECTED PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY STAND OUT, AND WE CAN LEARN FROM THEM, AND THEY ARE WORTHY OF BEING IMITATED. MY FIRST REACTION IS – HOW HOLY, HOW BRAVE, HOW ENTERPRISING, HOW LEARNED. THE BRILLIANCE OF THOMAS AQUINAS; THE MISSIONARY TRAVELS OF SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER; THE BRAVERY OF THOMAS MORE, WHO WENT TO HIS DEATH INSTEAD OF GOING ALONG WITH HIS KING; THE INCREDIBLE ENTERPRISES OF MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, WHO RAN A HUGE PUBLISHING EMPIRE AS WELL AS THE LARGEST MONASTERY IN THE WORLD AT THAT TIME; WHO FOUNDED A WORLD-WIDE LAY ASSOCIATION, WHO ESTABLISHED A THRIVING CATHOLIC CENTER IN JAPAN. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THE SAINTS ARE ADMIRABLE. BUT MY SECOND REACTION IS – THEY DIDN'T GET THAT WAY BY THEMSELVES – IN FACT, SAINTS ARE JUST TELESCOPES THAT ALLOW US TO SEE GOD WORKING IN THE WORLD. AND THEN THE QUESTION MIGHT BE ASKED, “WHAT DID GOD SEE IN THEM?”
JESUS WAS LIKE US IN ALL THINGS BUT SIN. HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS WITNESSED MIRACLES, HEARD HIS PREACHING, AND EVEN ONE OF THEM HAD DECLARED THAT JESUS WAS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. BUT PROPHET HE MIGHT BE, HE STILL ATE AND DRANK AND HAD TO SLEEP; HE STILL CAME IN FROM A DAY'S WORK GRIMY AND SWEATY. AND THEN ONE DAY ON A MOUNTAIN TOP THREE OF HIS FRIENDS SAW WHAT GOD SAW IN HIM AND WERE SPEECHLESS, IN FACT, ALMOST KNOCKED SENSELESS BY THIS VISION.
AND I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE TRANSFIGURATION TEACHES US. GOD SAW SOMETHING IN JESUS THAT NO ONE ELSE SAW; AND JESUS SAW SOMETHING IN THOSE FIRST DISCIPLES THAT NO ONE ELSE SAW. AND WE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS HAVE TO CULTIVATE THAT SAME VISION, WE HAVE TO STRUGGLE TO SEE WHAT GOD SEES IN EVERY PERSON.
SO KEEP THAT IN MIND THIS WEEK AS YOU GO OUT INTO THE WORLD. THAT MAN ON THE STREET PUSHING A STOLEN SHOPPING CART FULL OF ALL HIS POSSESSIONS – HOW DOES HE LOOK TO GOD? THAT CO-WORKER YOU CAN BARELY STAND, OR THAT RUDE WOMAN IN THE CHECK-OUT LINE AT THE SUPERMARKET – WHAT DOES GOD SEE IN THEM? THAT SPOUSE YOU TAKE FOR GRANTED, OR THE PARENT WHO IS SLOWLY SLIPPING INTO ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, OR THE CHILD WHO HAS MADE SOME DISAPPOINTING CHOICES IN LIFE – IF WE COULD SEE THEM WITH GOD'S EYES, WOULD THEY BE TRANSFIGURED? WOULD WE BE ABLE TO SEE THE GARMENTS SO WHITE THAT WE COULD NOT DIRECTLY GAZE ON THEM, THE FACE SHINING WITH LIGHT?
HOW WONDERFUL WE MUST ALL APPEAR TO GOD, GOD WHO LOVES US BEYOND ANYTHING WE CAN IMAGINE, GOD WHO DIED FOR US SO THAT WE COULD BE WITH HIM FOREVER.
THERE ON THE MOUNTAINTOP JESUS SHOWED HIS THREE FRIENDS HOW THE FATHER SAW HIM. THE FATHER SEES US NOT AS WE ARE NOW, NOT WITH OUR FAULTS AND IMPERFECTIONS, NOT EVEN WITH OUR SINS, WHICH HE IS WILLING TO FORGIVE AND FORGET IF WE TURN TO HIM AND ASK. THE FATHER SEES US AS WE CAN BE – AS WE WILL BE IF WE ACCEPT THE INVITATION OF HIS SON TO BE HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS, TO UNITE WITH HIM IN HIS PASSION AND DEATH. AND WE CAN SEE EACH OTHER TRANSFIGURED, JUST AS JESUS COULD, JUST AS THE GREAT SAINTS COULD. FOR HOW ELSE COULD FRANCIS HAVE KISSED THE WOUNDS OF A LEPER? HOW ELSE COULD MOTHER THERESA SPEND HER LIFE TENDING TO PEOPLE WHO MEANT NOTHING AT ALL TO THE SOCIETY IN WHICH THEY LIVED?
SO OUR MISSION, THIS SECOND SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT, IS TO DEVELOP THAT VISION THAT ALLOWS US TO SEE EACH OTHER AS THE FATHER SEES US – TO SEE THE REAL PERSON THAT GOD SEES. AND WE SHOULD LOOK AT OURSELVES AS WELL, FOR GOD SEES US TRANSFIGURED AS WELL, GOD, WHO SEES WHAT WE COULD BE IF WE COOPERATE WITH HIS GRACE.