MARK 9:2-10
IN NOVEMBER ANOTHER
GRANDCHILD CAME INTO OUR FAMILY. I LOVE ALL MY GRANDCHILDREN, BUT
THEY ALL LIVE SOMEWHERE ELSE. MY NEWEST GRANDDAUGHTER LIVES WITH ME
FOR NOW. SINCE I AM RETIRED, I AM CALLED UPON TO HOLD HER WHILE HER
MOTHER DOES OTHER THINGS, SO I AM GETTING TO KNOW HER PRETTY WELL.
NOW IF YOU WERE SOME
ALIEN FROM ANOTHER PLANET AND STUDIED A THREE MONTH OLD BABY, YOU
WOULD NOT BE IMPRESSED. THEY AREN'T PARTICULARLY USEFUL, THEY HAVE A
VERY SHORT ATTENTION SPAN, THEY DROOL A GREAT DEAL AND SPIT UP
CURDLED MILK. AND THE OTHER END IS EVEN WORSE. AND THEY ARE VERY
HARD TO IGNORE WHEN THEY CRY, BECAUSE THE CRYING GETS LOUDER AND MORE
VIOLENT THE LONGER YOU IGNORE THEM.
BUT IF YOU ARE A
GRANDFATHER, OR A FATHER OR A MOTHER, THE MORE TIME YOU SPEND WITH
THE BABY, THE MORE YOU BEGIN TO SEE THAT THERE IS SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL
HERE, NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THE FUTURE, BUT RIGHT NOW. SURE, THERE ARE
MOMENTS WHEN YOU WISH YOU COULD BE SOMEWHERE ELSE, BUT ALL IN ALL,
IT'S HARD NOT TO APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY OF A BABY.
TODAY WE HEAR THE STORY
OF THE TRANSFIGURATION. BEFORE THAT MOMENT, THE APOSTLES KNEW JESUS
WAS SPECIAL. HE COULD, AFTER ALL, HEAL, AND HE DEMONSTRATED A
REMARKABLE WISDOM IN HIS TEACHING. THEY CHOSE TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES
AND THEIR OCCUPATIONS TO FOLLOW HIM. BUT THERE WERE OTHER
CHARISMATIC TEACHERS IN THAT TIME; THERE WERE OTHER WANDERING
WONDER-WORKERS IN PALESTINE, AND THERE HAD BEEN BOTH IN THE PAST AS
WELL. ELIJAH HAD HEALED, RAISED THE DEAD, AND COMMANDED FIRE FROM
THE SKY TO CONSUME A SACRIFICE, NOT ONLY THE SACRIFICE, BUT THE ALTAR
ON WHICH IT HAD BEEN OFFERED. MOSES HAD NOT ONLY WORKED MIRACLES,
BUT HAD TAUGHT; THE JEWISH NATION HAD PERSISTED FOR CENTURIES BASED
UPON HIS TEACHINGS.
THEN JESUS IN A MOMENT ON
THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN SHOWED HIS REAL SELF, SHOWED THAT HE WAS FAR
MORE THAN A MIRACLE WORKER, A TEACHER, OR A LAW-GIVER. WHY DID HE DO
THIS? SOME SAY IT WAS TO STRENGTHEN THE RESOLVE OF THE APOSTLES WHEN
THEY WITNESSED THE CRUCIFIXION. I GUESS IF THAT WAS THE CASE, IT
DIDN'T WORK; THEY ABANDONED HIM AND DIDN'T GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER
UNTIL PENTECOST. SOME SAY IT WAS TO SHOW THAT HE WAS THE FULFILLMENT
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, REPRESENTED BY MOSES, THE LAWGIVER, AND ELIJAH,
THE GREATEST PROPHET. I CAN BUY THAT, BUT THAT'S THEOLOGY, AND I
SUSPECT THE THREE DISCIPLES, WHO PROBABLY KNEW A LOT ABOUT FISH,
DIDN'T HAVE A THEOLOGICAL THOUGHT BETWEEN THEM. AND OF COURSE, SOME
SAY IT WAS TO REVEAL TO THEM THAT JESUS WAS THE SON OF GOD. OF
COURSE, AFTER HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, THEY
WOULD BE EVEN MORE CONVINCED.
BUT THE TRANSFIGURATION
DID DO SOMETHING. FROM THAT MOMENT ON, THE APOSTLES LOOKED AT JESUS
WITH NEW EYES, EVEN THOUGH HE APPEARED TO THEM THE SAME AS BEFORE.
THE WORDS OF THE FATHER, THE APPEARANCE OF MOSES AND ELIJAH, THE
CLOUD SETTLING ON THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN – WONDROUS AS THOSE WERE,
THEY WOULD EVENTUALLY FADE FROM THE MIND. THAT'S THE WAY HUMAN
BEINGS ARE. EVEN THE MOST POWERFUL EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES BECOME PALE
MEMORIES OVER TIME.
BUT EVERY TIME THEY
LOOKED AT JESUS, THEY WOULD NOW REMEMBER THAT MOMENT ON THE MOUNTAIN
WHEN THE JESUS WAS REVEALED AS HE REALLY IS; FOR PETER, JAMES, AND
JOHN, THEY COULD NOT LOOK AT JESUS WITHOUT REMEMBERING.
SAINT MAXIMUS THE
CONFESSOR, WHO LIVED IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY, WAS THE FIRST TO NOTE
SOMETHING ELSE; THAT IN ORDER TO PERCEIVE THE GLORY OF CHRIST, IT
WOULD HAVE BEEN NECESSARY FOR THE SENSES OF THE APOSTLES TO BE
CHANGED OR TRANSFIGURED, BECAUSE IT WAS WELL KNOWN THAT YOU COULD NOT
LOOK UPON GOD AND LIVE.
THERE IS AN INNER GLORY
IN EACH OF US, WHETHER YOU ARE A THREE MONTH OLD BABY OR JESUS CHRIST
HIMSELF. WE ARE, AFTER ALL, ADOPTED SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE
FATHER, AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF JESUS CHRIST. WE ARE DESIGNED TO
SPEND ETERNITY IN THE PRESENCE OF THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. WE
HAVE A PRIVILEGE THAT NOT EVEN ANGELS CAN CLAIM – WE CAN EAT AND
DRINK THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST. AND JESUS HIMSELF HINTED
THAT YOU AND I CAN HAVE TRANSFIGURED SENSES; WHAT WE DO FOR THE LEAST
OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WE DO FOR JESUS. IT IS POSSIBLE TO SEE
THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN OTHER PEOPLE, PERHAPS ESPECIALLY THE PEOPLE
WHO ARE MOST DESTITUTE, MOST HEARTBROKEN, WHO ARE LIVING AT THE
MARGINS.
I WONDER IF PETER, JAMES,
AND JOHN THOUGHT BACK TO THAT MOMENT AND WISHED THEY COULD REVISIT
IT, WISHED THAT IT HAD NEVER ENDED. I WONDER IF THEY LOOKED FORWARD
TO THAT DAY WHEN THEY WOULD MOVE FROM HERE TO THEIR ETERNAL HOME AND
ONCE MORE SEE THE GLORY OF GOD COMING FROM THEIR LORD. AND MAYBE
THIS THOUGHT CONSOLED THEM AS THEY TURNED TO THOSE AROUND THEM, THOSE
WHOM THEY SERVED, AND BECAUSE OF THAT MOMENT, THEY WOULD AGAIN SEE A
FAINT SHADOW OF THE TRANSFIGURATION IN THEIR BROTHERS AND SISTERS;
THAT WOULD HAVE TO DO FOR NOW.
THIS WEEK LET US ASK FOR
THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR OWN SENSES, SO THAT WE CAN CATCH A GLIMPSE
OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN OUR NEIGHBOR. WE MARRIED PEOPLE NEED TO SEE
THAT ESPECIALLY IN OUR SPOUSES, WHO ARE OUR CLOSEST COMPANIONS AND
WITH WHOM WE AT LEAST ONCE EXPERIENCED THE LOVE OF GOD FOR US. WE
PARENTS NEED TO SEE THE GLORY OF GOD IN OUR CHILDREN, WHO ARE GIFTS
FROM GOD TO US. ALL OF US IN THIS PARISH NEED TO SEE GOD'S GLORY IN
EACH OTHER, BECAUSE THE ONLY THING WE ALL HAVE IN COMMON IS THE FACT
THAT WE ARE FRIENDS AND COMPANIONS OF JESUS.
AND LET US NOT HESITATE
TO REVEAL THE GLORY OF GOD WHICH IS IN US, TO EACH OTHER THROUGH OUR
WORDS, THROUGH OUR ACTIONS. THE TRANSFIGURATION REMINDS US THAT
THERE IS FAR MORE TO EACH OF US THAN WHAT WE SEE WITH OUR MORTAL
EYES. LET US PRAYER FOR TRANSFIGURED SENSES SO THAT THIS WILL BE
APPARENT TO US ALL THE TIME.
