LUKE 9:28B-36
I WENT TO MY EYE DOCTOR A
FEW WEEKS AGO. IT WAS GETTING HARD TO READ, ESPECIALLY IN THE
MORNING. HE DID THE USUAL TESTS AND PRESCRIBED ME A NEW PAIR OF
GLASSES, WHICH HAVE GREATLY HELPED THE PROBLEM. BUT HE ALSO SENT ME
TO A SPECIALIST WHO DID EVERY KIND OF TEST YOU COULD IMAGINE AND TOLD
ME I HAVE GLAUCOMA. HEARING AIDS, EYE DROPS, BLOOD PRESSURE AND
CHOLESTEROL AND THYROID PILLS – AND TO THINK THAT ALL THIS HAS
HAPPENED SINCE I TURNED 65 AND DECIDED TO GET A COMPLETE CHECK UP.
BUT I'M NOT COMPLAINING, WELL, MAYBE A LITTLE.
IT'S INTERESTING HOW THEY
FIT GLASSES. THE REASON YOU NEED THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE IS BECAUSE
THE LENSES OF YOUR EYES DON'T BEHAVE THE WAY THEY SHOULD. AS A
RESULT, YOU HAVE BLURRED VISION – MAYBE YOU ARE NEARSIGHTED, OR
FARSIGHTED, OR HAVE ASTIGMATISM; WHATEVER THE PROBLEM, THE OPTICIAN
BASICALLY CREATES A LENS WHICH DISTORTS THE LIGHT IN A COMPLEMENTARY
WAY. NORMAL EYES LOOKING OUT OF MY EYEGLASSES WOULD SEE NOTHING BUT
BLUR. JOHN CALVIN, THE FOUNDER OF THE PRESBYTERIANISM, HELD THAT
SOMETHING LIKE THAT IS THE FATE OF EVERY HUMAN BEING AS A RESULT OF
ORIGINAL SIN. WE DO NOT SEE THE WAY THINGS REALLY ARE; REALITY FOR
US IS DISTORTED, ILLOGICAL, AND FRAGMENTED. SOME PEOPLE KNOW THAT
THEY AREN'T SEEING THE WAY THEY WERE MEANT TO. OTHERS TAKE WHAT THEY
SEE AND DECIDE THAT THIS IS REALITY. AND THEY GO THROUGH LIFE
OPERATING UNDER FALSE PRETENSES.
IF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH
THE GOSPELS, ESPECIALLY THE GOSPEL OF MARK, IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE
HOW THE APOSTLES NEVER QUITE GET WHAT JESUS IS ABOUT. MY FAVORITE
EXAMPLE IS WHEN JAMES AND JOHN ASK JESUS “LORD, DO YOU WANT US TO
CALL DOWN FIRE FROM HEAVEN TO DESTROY THEM?” BUT THE GOSPEL
WRITERS RECORD MANY EXAMPLES.
SO WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT
MOUNTAIN 2000 YEARS AGO? DID A MIRACLE TAKE PLACE SO THAT JESUS
CHANGED HIS APPEARANCE? OR DID A MIRACLE TAKE PLACE SO THAT FOR A
MOMENT PETER, JAMES AND JOHN SAW THINGS CLEARLY, WITHOUT THE
DISTORTION WE ARE ALL BORN WITH? I LIKE TO BELIEVE IT'S THE SECOND.
THE REASON IS THAT I THINK THE TRANSFIGURATION KEEPS HAPPENING. WE
CERTAINLY HAVE EXAMPLES FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES DOWN TO THE PRESENT
WHEN IT SEEMS THAT GOD ALLOWED HIS PEOPLE TO SEE CLEARLY; REMEMBER
THE STORIES AFTER THE RESURRECTION? JESUS APPEARING IN THE LOCKED
ROOM, JESUS LIFTING THE VEIL SO THAT MARY MAGDALEN SAW THAT HE WAS
NOT THE GARDENER, HE WAS THE LORD? THE TRAVELERS TO EMMAUS ONLY
RECOGNIZED HIM WHEN HE TOOK BREAD AND BROKE IT. AND RIGHT DOWN TO
THE PRESENT, WHEN SISTER FAUSTINA, THE APOSTLE OF DIVINE MERCY, WAS
SHOWN AN IMAGE OF CHRIST AND TOLD TO HAVE IT PAINTED. THE PAINTER
WHO WAS TO CREATE THIS IMAGE TOOK SEVEN TRIES BEFORE SHE THOUGHT THE
IMAGE RESEMBLED HER OWN VISION.
I THINK THAT'S THE WHOLE
PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH. EVER SINCE JESUS FOUNDED THE CHURCH, IT HAS
HELD UP FOR HUMAN BEINGS ANOTHER WAY OF LOOKING AT THE WORLD. IT'S
TRUE THAT PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH OFTEN DISTORTED THE IMAGE, OR WATERED
IT DOWN SO MUCH THAT IT DIDN'T LOOK THAT DIFFERENT FROM THE WORLD,
AND THAT STILL GOES ON TODAY. BUT THE IMAGE OF THE WAY THINGS ARE
SUPPOSED TO BE IS STILL THERE FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SEE. YOU DON'T
HAVE TO LOOK FAR TO FIND PEOPLE WHO HAVE SEEN SOMETHING OF THE WAY
THINGS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE. RIGHT HERE IN THIS PARISH YOU CAN FIND
PEOPLE WHO SEE THAT JESUS IS PRESENT IN THOSE WHO ARE SICK,
ABANDONED, HUNGRY, LONELY – AND BECAUSE THEY SEE THAT THEY DO
SOMETHING ABOUT IT. WE HAVE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN CAPTURED BY THE
VISION ON THE MOUNTAIN AND CAN'T WAIT TO SHARE IT WITH OTHERS – OUR
TEACHERS IN THE SCHOOL, THE PEOPLE WHO DEDICATE THEIR TIME TO FAITH
FORMATION. AND WE HAVE STILL OTHERS WHO HAVE SEEN THE VISION AND TRY
TO BRING THAT WAY OF LOOKING AT THINGS TO THEIR LAW PRACTICES AND
THEIR MEDICAL OFFICES AND THEIR BUSINESSES AND WORK PLACES. AND WE
SEE MARRIED COUPLES WHO BECAUSE THEY'VE SEEN THE VISION REFLECT THE
LOVE CHRIST HAS FOR HIS CHURCH IN THEIR OWN SELF-SACRIFICIAL LOVE.
AND NONE OF THIS WOULD HAPPEN IF THEY HAD NOT CAUGHT A GLIMPSE OF THE
FIGURE ON THE MOUNTAIN ALWAYS BEING POINTED OUT, HOWEVER IMPERFECTLY,
BY THE CHURCH.
PETER, JAMES AND JOHN
WERE SO OVERWHELMED BY WHAT THEY SAW THAT THEY WERE OVERCOME; LUKE
SAYS THAT PETER DID NOT KNOW WHAT HE WAS SAYING; MATTHEW SAYS THAT
THEY FELL ON THEIR FACES BECAUSE THEY WERE SO AFRAID. MANY OF US
MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH HAVE THE SAME REACTION; WE DON'T WANT TO SEE
THE WHOLE PICTURE; WE WOULD RATHER FALL ON OUR FACES; WE WOULD SAY
WITH PETER, LET'S COVER UP THE VISION SO THAT IT DOESN'T THREATEN, SO
THAT IT DOESN'T CONFRONT ME WITH HAVING TO CHANGE MY LIFE.
WHEN PETER, JAMES AND
JOHN CAME DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN THEY DIDN'T REALLY CHANGE MUCH AT
FIRST. THEY WERE STILL THE SAME OLD FISHERMEN. WHEN JESUS WANTED TO
WASH THEIR FEET, PETER PROTESTED – YOU WILL NEVER WASH MY FEET!
AND WHEN THE SERVANT GIRL CHALLENGED PETER IN THAT COURTYARD ON HOLY
THURSDAY NIGHT, PETER INSISTED HE DID NOT KNOW JESUS. BUT MONTHS AND
YEARS WENT BY, AND THEY COULD NEVER REALLY FORGET WHAT THEY HAD SEEN,
AND WITH TIME THEY THEMSELVES FORMED THE CHURCH, THEY THEMSELVES
BECAME BOLD AND PROCLAIMED THE GOSPEL; THEY THEMSELVES GAVE UP THEIR
OWN LIVES. THEY THEMSELVES WERE TRANSFIGURED. SAINT PAUL, WHO ALSO
HAD A DRAMATIC EXPERIENCE OF JESUS, SO DRAMATIC THAT HE BECAME BLIND
FOR A TIME, RECOGNIZED THAT HE WAS TRANSFIGURED HIMSELF. HE TOLD
HIS CORINTHIANS, “BE IMITATORS OF ME, JUST AS I AM OF CHRIST.”
OUR CHURCH HOLDS UP THE
SCRIPTURES, HER TRADITIONS, AND HER SAINTS, ALL SO THAT WE CAN
EXPERIENCE THE TRANSFIGURATION, SO THAT WE CAN SEE HOW THINGS SHOULD
BE, SO THAT WE CAN REALLY KNOW THE LORD JESUS. THE TRANSFIGURATION
GOES ON DOWN THROUGH TIME, WHEREVER THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED. SOME OF
US WILL FALL ON OUR FACES; SOME OF US WILL TRY TO COVER UP WHAT WE
SEE SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO FACE IT; BUT SOME OF US GAZE ON JESUS AS
HE REALLY IS, THE VERY PRESENCE OF THE LIVING GOD, THE WAY, THE
TRUTH, AND THE LIGHT, AND ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE TRANSFIGURED.
AND THAT SHOULD BE OUR
PRAYER TODAY – TRANSFIGURE US, LORD, SO THAT YOUR GLORY SHINES
THROUGH US TO THE WORLD. TRANSFIGURE US SO THAT WE WILL BE THE
GLASSES THROUGH WHICH OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS WILL SEE HOW THINGS
ARE REALLY SUPPOSED TO BE.
