When I was in school, both high school and college, there were times I was in class and the teacher was talking about the lesson. Of course all I heard was bwaa bwaa bwaa. I didn’t understand what was being taught. I was struggling and I was worried about the next test that was coming up soon. How would I ever climb this mountain of understanding in order to pass the test. Then more times than not before the test, it hit me, usually while I was doing something else, the light bulb went on and the instructions became clear. I began to hope that this would happen more and more as I got older. I also began to realize it was ok to ask for help when I did not understand something.
God does something similar for Peter, James and John in the Gospel today. Jesus and these three apostles go up the mountain. I have read this is about a 2000 ft vertical climb that is very difficult. When they get to the top they are exhausted. As they caught their breath and looked at Jesus there was this otherworldly glow about him, he was transfigured into the divine in front of them. For the first time showing them that he was the Son of God, the Messiah.
They see Moses and Elijah, representing the prophets and the law. When they see them conversing with one another Peter is the first to say, lets stay here, we will build tents for each of you so you can relax and we can stay in this perfect presence. In this presence there is no bad that can happen, and I would guess Peter and the others wanted to stay there forever.
Then the voice of God tells them who Jesus really is, the Son of God, with whom he is well pleased. They are so struck by this voice that they prostrate themselves and when Jesus tells them to get up there is no one but the four of them on the mountaintop. This passage shows the hope which Christ brings to each of us.
We are reminded of Abram today who was asked to leave all he knew and loved to take his family to a distant land. All that was promised was that God would bless him and make his name great and a blessing. We also remember from the same book of Genesis that God promised Abram descendants even though he and his wife were well beyond the child bearing years. Abram believed and did as the Lord asked him. He became Abraham who the Lord made the first covenant with.
We then hear from Paul’s letter to Timothy that he is to bear his share of hardship for the Lord. He is reminded that he will do this with the strength of God supporting him. He is called to follow Christ’s teaching in order to fulfill his life. Life is not meant to be about his works but about following Christ in order to gain eternal life with him.
The apostles were being prepared for the day when Christ would not be there, as they got to see the Divine Christ on the mountaintop. Timothy and Abram were called to believe in something they could not see. We are called to be like Timothy and Abram.
This is never something which we are called to do alone, as with all the examples of the readings today God is with them as they follow along his path. The apostles were not perfect in this as the only one of the three who saw Christ transfigured, John, made it to the cross to watch Christ crucified. In doing this he witnessed, along with the others that were there, the cross that he carried all along in order to redeem us from our sins.
He forgave the apostles for abandoning him and still formed his church through them. The one thing that all three readings today remind is of the hope we are to have in Christ. This hope is what can get us through bad times and allow us to see the mercy of God in our lives. It also allows us to see God in our daily interactions and trials.
We will all struggle at times with any number of different things over the years, a difficult sibling or coworker, the loss of a job, the loss of a loved one. How do you get through these difficulties. It is usually from the hope that we have for a better tomorrow. When we have hope we have an easier time dealing with the hard times. We may even see God in the interactions we have during these tough times. We are currently in a stressful time as a nation, we have the seemingly never ending political antagonism, the coronavirus, and many other associated problems that go on around us. We do see the face of God though during these tough times, we see it in the new baby that was born or the wedding we attend or are a part of.
There is a book written by Victor Frankl called “Man’s search for Meaning”. It is a very powerful book and a wonderful reminder of how strong this hope we are called to have can be. Mr. Frankl was a resident of Auschwitz and other concentration camps during World War 2. He became a psychiatrist after the war and wrote this book that relates what he found when he searched for a reason to continue to live during his time in the concentration camps.
What he found from those around him who were there, and it eventually infected him, was that the people who survived the longest, regardless of the trials they were put through, had an unending source of hope in God. This hope allowed him to survive for 5 years in those camps. It also allowed him to see in his practice as a psychiatrist, that those who were the most likely to survive the psychological pain they were going through had this same unassailable hope.
This hope for many comes through Christ. During this Lenten season as we place ourselves more firmly in His presence we need to rekindle in ourselves this sense of hope. We can accomplish this by reading from scripture and attending Mass. We also should take advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation which is offered more often in the form of reconciliation services in the area.
Doing these things will not guarantee a life that is free from hardships, but usually just the opposite. We will still endure hardships, but through those hardships we will be called ever closer to Christ. The goal is to make him so much a part of our life, that we live as he would like us to and to show those around us how to do this. There will still be things in the culture that go against our beliefs, but with the hope in Christ and the everlasting life with him we are called to, we can get past those as well. It may appear at times like the evil in society is winning, but that is what Satan would like you to think. If we have hope and follow Christ’s teaching through scripture and the church we will be on the winning side in the end. You just need to remember one thing that I was told a long time ago. Being a Christian is not for wimps.