"THEY WERE OVERWHELMED WITH GRIEF."

Homily for August 11^th: Matthew 17:22-27.

          “They were overwhelmed with grief,” we heard in today’s gospel. The words come toward the end of chapter 17 in Matthew’s gospel. The previous chapter records Peter’s confession, “You are the Messiah,” and Jesus’ response: “You are Peter/Rock, and on this rock I will build my Church.”  The following chapter 17 starts with an account of Jesus’ transfiguration. For a brief moment Peter and the brothers, James and John, see the Master whom they love, and who up to that point they have known as a man like themselves, as utterly unlike themselves. He shines with heavenly light and his friends hear a heavenly voice saying, “This is my beloved Son, on whom my favor rests. Listen to him.” This causes Jesus’ three friends to throw themselves on the ground, “overcome with fear.” The encounter with God in Holy Scripture is never routine or ordinary. Always there is a feeling of awe, which is a heightened kind of fear. To reassure them Jesus speaks words which he will repeat later: “Get up. Do not be afraid.”

          When they have come down from the mountain on which these things happened, the father of a young boy who is ill with what we would call epilepsy throws himself down before Jesus and begs him to heal his son. Jesus does so at once. Then come the words with which our gospel opened: “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” 
          “Raised on the third day” is beyond the understanding of Jesus’ friends. All they can comprehend is that the Master whom they love will be killed. They have been on what we would call an emotional roller-coaster. The descent from the heights they have been on is traumatic. No wonder that they are “overwhelmed with grief.” Jesus remains calm, however, and in command. In the following chapter 18 of Matthew’s gospel, he continues his ministry of teaching.

          Jesus is with us always, especially in times of panic and distress.