Homily for
February 18th, 2017: Mark 9:2-13
Few incidents in the gospels are so
difficult to speak about as the one we celebrate today. The Transfiguration is
a mystery. Not that we can understand nothing about it; but that we can
understand will always be less than the whole. The gospel writers use symbols to describe the mystery. Today
we have time to speak only about one: the cloud.
Repeatedly in Holy Scripture the cloud
symbolizes God’s presence. During their desert wanderings God’s people were led
onward by a cloud. Mt.
Sinai
The voice from the cloud repeats the
words heard at Jesus’ baptism: “This is my beloved Son, on whom my favor
rests.” Here, however, the words are addressed not to Jesus, but to his
disciples. The concluding words, “Listen to him,” remind us of Moses’ prophecy: “The Lord your
God will raise up a prophet from among you like myself, and you shall listen to
him” (Dt. 18:15).
The Transfiguration is a mystery
because it opens a window onto a world beyond this one. For a brief moment, the
veil between time and eternity, between earth and heaven, is lifted. Jesus’
friends catch a glimpse of the invisible, spiritual world of God. The
concluding words, “Listen to him,” express the significance of the mystery for
Jesus’ friends, ourselves included.
We, the friends and followers of Jesus
Christ, are the company of those who listen to his words. Jesus does not grant
to us, any more than he granted to Peter, James, and John, the continuous
vision of his glory. We live not on the mountaintop of great spiritual
experiences, but in the valley of life’s ordinary duties. There we do not look
for dazzling visions from beyond. Instead we listen for Jesus’ voice.
Jesus speaks to us in many ways: in
the Scriptures, in the teaching of his Church, through the circumstances of
daily life. He speaks to us in the promptings of conscience, and in the needs
of those whom we encounter along life’s way.
For a moment, before the descent of
the cloud, the three friends of Jesus see their friend and Master transformed
beyond anything they could have imagined. The Transfiguration is a
manifestation of Christ’s divinity, from a moment breaking through the veil of
his humanity.
Today the Lord God is still speaking to
us the words first heard by those three friends of Jesus on the mountain two
thousand years ago:
“This is my beloved Son, on whom my favor rests. Listen to
him.”
No comments:
Post a Comment