Homily
for February 17, 2008
Liturgical Year A- Cycle II
2nd Sunday of Lent
By Fr. John Carney Topic:
Suffering purifies us
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Gospel: Mt 17: 1-9 Jesus took Peter,
James, and John his brother, and
led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured
before them;
his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And
behold,
Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said
to
Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will
make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
While
he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them,
then
from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with
whom
I am well pleased; listen to him." When the disciples heard this, they
fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched
them,
saying, "Rise, and do not be afraid." And when the disciples raised
their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming
down from
the mountain, Jesus charged them, "Do not tell the vision to anyone
until
the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.
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We are all familiar with this Gospel
story. We hear the story of the Transfiguration on
the second Sunday of Lent every year, this year from Matthew’s Gospel.
We also hear it on the 6th of August each year
and it’s a beautiful story by itself.
Jesus goes up Mount Tabor with his three principle apostles, Peter,
James, and John, and is transfigured before them. Somehow, they
see his glory. With him is Elijah and Moses--Elijah the
great prophet, Moses the great lawgiver--indicating that Jesus is the
fulfillment of the law and the prophets.
Of course, the apostles are delighted
to be there and
their spokesman Peter says, “Let’s stay here.
This is glory. This is the
mountain of Gloria and we will build three booths or construct three
tents and
remain here.” Then they go down the
altar and interesting and often in the scriptures, Jesus tells them,
“Don’t
tell anyone what you’ve seen.” Of
course, they always tell everyone. That
might have been Jesus’ hardest to keep commandment. Imagine
winning the Lotto but say, “But you
can’t tell anyone.” It would be
impossible. However, to really understand the
transfiguration, and to
bring its message home to us, it has to be understood in the context of
when it
happened. Just before this, Jesus had
met with his apostles. He told them that
the Son of Man, himself, would have to suffer, to die, and then to be
raised
again. You remember that account. Peter remonstrated with
him and he said,
“This must not be you. You must not
suffer.” Jesus became angry with Peter,
“Get behind me you Satan for you’re are thinking not as God thinks but
as man
thinks.” That happened right before the
Transfiguration. Then, they moved out
and they were in route to Jerusalem for the Passion, for the suffering
and the
death of the Lord. In route to
Jerusalem, they took this detour to Mount Tabor. I think the
reason is obvious. Jesus wanted to fortify them for the days
ahead. He wanted to give them a glimpse
of his glory so that they could handle what they would see, what has
been
called the scandal of the cross. We are the same disciples. We
are His disciples as well today, thousands
of years later, but Jesus hasn’t changed.
The way of salvation remains the same.
Jesus gives us glimpses of his glory so that we might carry our crosses
as well. We all know that life consists
of good times and bad times. I am going
to ask you the question: In your own experience, what makes us more
holy? What makes us closer to God, the good times,
the riches, the success, the good health, the fame, and the popularity?
In those times, God is more or less an
interruption, oftentimes. On the other
hand, are we closer to God in the bad times:
sickness, pain, losses, disappointments, and the death of loved
ones? I think we all know the answer to
that. Ask a married couple that’s been
married a long
time. They took vows and said, “I
promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in
health. I will love you and honor you
all the days of my life.” Ask them which
times brought them closest, which times brought them closer to God and
to each
other and I‘ll guarantee you they’ll tell you: the hard times. We’re like Peter though.
We don’t like suffering. We want
to stay with the glory but it is through suffering that we grow and are
purified. I don’t think there’s a
substitute for it; as a matter of fact I know that there’s not.
Suffering should make us better not
bitter. It reminds us of our mortality
and strips away all of the other stuff of life.
Suffering is inevitable and necessary.
It was for Jesus. The author of
Hebrews tells us, “It was fitting that the Father for whom and through
whom all
things exist in bringing many children to glory should make the leader,
(Jesus), of their salvation perfect through suffering.” St. Paul
tells us in First Colossians, “Now I
rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh I complete what
is
lacking in Christ’s suffering for the sake of his body that is the
church.” Think of people who have suffered a
lot, who have kept
the faith, and I think you’ll agree that we admire them more than
anyone
else. I remember in the mid-eighties I
was in Washington, DC. I lived in
Arlington, Virginia and I worked with Vietnamese refugees who were
trying to
get a start in this new land. Of course,
Vietnam fell to the Communists in 1975 and this was about eight years
later. I knew a family named the Bai
family. There were about fifteen of them
living in a two bedroom apartment in Arlington and they thought it was
spacious. Everyone who could work was
working and doing the most menial jobs and they were grateful for the
work. I’ll have to say; in my lifetime,
they are the holiest people I have ever met.
They appreciated every little thing, every bite of food, every day of
sunshine, every bit of freedom, they enjoyed and they had suffered as
much as
anyone could suffer. They were boat
people. They were attacked by
pirates. They spent a year in a refugee
camp in Indonesia. A terrible, terrible
story and yet they were holy. I suspect
if I go back and try to find their grandchildren today, they’ll be as
messed up
as us. Suffering purifies us.
It makes us holy. It’s a good
thing in some way. Maybe suffering is good
for us because it’s the only time God can get our attention. C.S.
Lewis, on the problem of pain wrote,
“God whispers to us in our pleasures.
God speaks to us in our conscience but God shouts to us in our
pain. Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a
deaf world.” Speak Lord your servants
are listening. Let us pray:
Father, we thank you
for the gift of life, our
lives. We thank you for the good times,
the times of peace and joy, and prosperity.
They are signs to us of your love and goodness. We thank you also
for the hard times, when
life is filled with pain and disappointments.
They are signs that Jesus shares his cross with us. You promise
eternal life to those who follow
you, who hold out until the end. Give us
the grace to always say yes to you and remain close to you. May
we bear our crosses with dignity and with
grace. For richer, for poorer, in good
times and in bad, in sickness and in health.
Lord, finally, give us the courage to acknowledge you as Lord by the
way
we live and the way we die. One day may
we hear the words, “Well done good and faithful servant. Welcome
into the joy that has been prepared
for you.” We pray this through Christ
our Lord. Amen.