2nd Sunday of Lent, Year A
Previous Years: Year A (2020), Year B (2021, 2018), Year C (2022, 2019)
Preached at the Church of the Assumption in Bellingham, WA
Recording
https://moorejesus.podbean.com/e/good-times-for-the-bad-times/
Transcript
The great majority of commentators throughout the Christian tradition who have written about the Transfiguration suggest that the purpose of the Transfiguration was to prepare for the crucifixion. This is happening in the Gospels shortly after Jesus begins to tell his disciples that he is going to go to Jerusalem and He is going to be crucified. They are initially in denial. Peter says, for example, “God forbid, Lord, that that should happen to you”. And that’s when Jesus has to say, “Get behind me, Satan”. Which is to say, “You can’t just deny that this is going to happen. You can’t live in that denial.” But He also knows it’s a hard piece of information for them to receive. They have to be slowly prepared for it. And so, the Transfiguration allows Peter, James, and John to see the glory of the Lord presented before them, before they experience the scandal of the cross. Remember that the Cross was reserved for the worst criminals in the Roman Empire. It was a horrific form of torture, and it was done publicly because the Romans knew this is how you maintain control. Somebody steps out of line and then you torture them publicly outside the walls of the city so that everybody who enters that city knows that if you get on the wrong side of Rome, this is what’s going to happen to you.
So when the disciples look upon Christ on the Cross, they are accustomed, because of the time they’re living in, to see a horrible criminal, somebody who is the worst of the worst, who has been stripped of all dignity and all power. It’s very difficult to give your life for three years. And they did give their life. They followed him around. They left behind their jobs and followed Jesus, giving up their life for three years, just to see that life end in absolute disgrace. And so the Lord knew that to prepare them for the crucifixion, to help them get through the crucifixion, they needed something to hold on to. And so, He gives them the transfiguration. Peter, James, and John see Jesus Christ glorified, prefiguring the glory that he will have for all eternity; glorified in his body, something they would never have known or experienced before. They see Jesus conversing with Moses and Elijah, these two incredible heroes of the Hebrew faith. It confirms for them that Jesus is acting with the authority of God, that Jesus is acting in accordance with the law and the prophets. Another fun fact; why Moses and Elijah? It’s not just because they represent the law and the prophets. These are the two figures of the Old Testament who asked to see the face of God, and they were not allowed to do so because in the Old Testament if you see the face of God, you will die. But now that God is incarnate and has a body, these two are able to look upon the face of God, which is the face of Jesus Christ. Moses and Elijah, after their death, are able to fulfill the request they made of the Lord during their life by looking upon the face of Jesus at the Transfiguration.
So Jesus gives the Apostles this gift of the Transfiguration. And they want to possess the gift. They want to hold on to it. They again continue to want to deny that Jesus would ever be crucified, that he would ever be put up on a horrible, horrible device of torture. And so Peter says, “We want to stay here, Lord, let’s make tents. Let’s never leave this moment”. He’s continuing to run from the crucifixion. He does so right up until the day of the resurrection. right? He denies Christ in the courtyard of the High Priest. Peter does not want to admit that Jesus’s life would end this way. And so he tries to stay here. He tries to say, “Lord, I want to be here. This is wonderful. Thank you for this gift. Let’s just live in this place instead of going down the mountain to Jerusalem where you will be killed.”
Having done so, Peter is then met with the voice of the Father: “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him”. As is typical, Peter just didn’t get it, and so he needed a voice from heaven tell him. The point of this experience is to confirm for him that this is the Son of God, that this is the Messiah. This is the Savior. And no matter how Jesus dies, no matter what the crucifixion looks like, Peter is going to have this voice of God ringing in his ears. Nothing that happens after this will negate Peter’s experience. He has seen the Lord transfigured. He has seen him conversing with Moses and Elijah. And for goodness’ sake, he heard a voice from heaven tell him, “This is the Son of God, you need to listen to him.”
Like Peter, we are tempted to believe that following the Lord is only these times, the times of transfiguration, the times of glory, the times where it’s so clear that Jesus is the Son of God and that he loves us and that everything is going right. But we hear in our second reading Saint Paul speaking to Timothy, the man that he chose to succeed him, the man that he called out of the world to be a successor to the apostles. Saint Paul writes to Timothy and says, “Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God”. Authentic Christianity has both. It has the times of glory, the times of confirmation, the times of what we might call consolation. And it also has the times where we have to bear our share of hardship for the sake of the gospel. If we have one without the other, we are not living authentic Christianity. If we have a Christianity that is only hardship, where it’s all a drudge, that is not authentic Christianity. Here we might think of previous forms of catechesis, or maybe even your current experience of the Church. Everything is a rule. Everything is a demand. Everything is, “you have to do this, otherwise you’re a horrible person.” Well, that’s not authentic Christianity, to have the hardship without the glory. But similarly, if we think that Christianity is never going to have difficult times, we are mistaken. The Lord gives us these times of glory to confirm for us that we’re on the right path. Following Jesus is the right thing. He is God. He is our Lord. But he does so knowing that there are going to be difficult times.
The theme of today’s readings is “sending”. The Church always pairs on Sundays the first reading with the gospel. And so how does the Church interpret this gospel today? It gives us Abraham who is sent from his land. “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you,” which is to say, leave everything behind, everything that you know, everything that you rely upon, all your relatives and your friends, all of your comfort. The church sees in the Transfiguration that kind of sending. Yes, you’re in your homeland Peter, James and John. You see Jesus, you see Moses, you see Elijah. But the Lord is going to send you down the mountain. The Lord is going to send Abraham to a new land, to a place he’s never been, to a place of hardship.
These readings go together and they have to. The Lord knows we live in a fallen world where following him is a struggle. And so He gives us consolations. He would never send us out into a world without supporting us and loving us, and showing us how wonderful he is, so that when we are in those times of difficulty, we will have something to hold on to. If he didn’t give us consolation, he’d just be abandoning us, which is not the way of the Lord. Our job is to remember, give thanks for, and internalize the times of glory. Ask yourself, where has God blessed you? Where has he touched you? You would not be at this Mass this morning if you didn’t have one of those stories. There is a way in which the Lord has blessed you and graced you. He has shown you his glory. That’s given to you, not just for that moment, not to stay in like Peter wanted to do, but to take with you into the hardship. If you find yourself in a hardship, go back to that time of blessing. Remember it. Give thanks for it. Use it as an encouragement.
A lot of times when priests preach on this reading, they will give examples of encouragements or that points of glory that we can take with us into a world of hardship. And most of the time, they will talk about the Mass. And in an ideal, perfect world, that might be so. Every Mass we go to might be the best Mass we’ve ever attended. We might see the glory of the Lord revealed to us in the Eucharist, and that might give us the strength that we need. But if you’ve been Catholic long enough, sometimes Mass becomes routine. Sometimes Mass does not do that for us. I think we have to be careful as Catholics not to put all of our eggs in the Mass basket. It’s something that we’re tempted to do because it’s the only required part of our faith. You have to go to Mass every Sunday, but then we begin to hope that the Mass is every sign of the glory of the Lord for us. We want it to be a communal event where we feel very close to and get to know our neighbors. We want it to be a Bible study, where the priest does all of his homework to make sure he can explicate the scriptures for us. We want it to be a celebration of our joys, and also a place where we can feel sad or bring our struggles. We want it to be a place where every part of our faith is taken care of. But in my experience as a Catholic, it’s never that way.
Instead, my experience is that there are always other parts of our faith that we have to live out to find the fully glory. We might be asking ourselves, where is the glory of the Lord today? Where am I finding it? Well, for some of us, we’re going to find it in a Bible study. For some of us, we’re going to find it in coffee and donuts afterward.
If you’re struggling with an aspect of your faith, that’s okay. We’re bearing our share of hardship for the sake of the gospel, and even the church can sometimes be a hardship. What I’d encourage you to do is if you’re not finding the glory of the Lord where you’re looking for it, dive even deeper into your faith. The Lord does want to bless you, He wants to show you his glory somehow, because he knows that you need that support to survive in a fallen world. Take upon yourself, maybe personal prayer at home, or like I mentioned, a Bible study, or coffee and donuts. Go to Stations of the Cross, maybe help out at Hope House. They now have evening hours so you can help even if you’re working. Somehow, somewhere, the glory of the Lord will be revealed to you. And when that glory is revealed to you, don’t, like Peter, try to just hold on to it and possess it and live there forever. Take it with you into a fallen world. Allow it to fuel you. Allow it to comfort you. Allow it to be with you as the Lord wishes to be with you. We’re all going to have mountaintop experiences and we’re all going to have crucifixions. It’s part of the Christian life. Know that the Lord loves you in both of those places. Know that the Lord is with you powerfully in both of those places.
Fr. Moore 