Gen 15:5-12,17-18; Phil 3:17-4:1; Luke9:28-36
The Collect prayer at the opening of today’s Mass speaks of “spiritual eyes made pure.” What’s that? I’ll tell you! Who of us has not had the experience of standing in awe under a night sky? By the way, I noticed when I moved to Harrodsburg last August that there are many more stars in the sky here than in Lexington! Looking up at the sky filled me with awe. Experiences of awe like this draw us beyond ourselves. They make us aware of the greatness of God. That’s spiritual sight – “made pure.” These experiences fill us with a sense of peace. They strengthen us for our return to the city, to our preoccupations, to the “earthly things” St. Paul mentions today in Philippians.
This experience is what happened to Abram, Peter, James and John in their in-between spaces, between heaven and earth. In the Gospel Jesus encounters Moses and Elijah, and he is transfigured on the mountain. Notice, away from the city, Jesus is enveloped in the Presence of God. Moses and Elijah speak to him about his coming death back in the city, Jerusalem. Why? To strengthen him, no doubt. Peter, James and John, seeing this, are also strengthened in their faith, against the day they will see Jesus die. They hear “This is my Son. Listen to him.” Our experiences of Presence that lead us beyond ourselves may not be as dramatic, but we do have them. Our task is to pay attention to them. “Listen” as God says to Peter, James and John. We must pay attention to God communicating to us. This happens to us often in nature, and it happens sacramentally in the Eucharist. God’s Presence descends and Christ’s Body and Blood strengthens us for carrying our daily crosses: sickness and disease, professional or family struggles, strained or broken relationships, hopes unfulfilled.
Today’s readings encourage us to set time apart during Lent to go ‘to the mountain’; that is, to the in-between spaces where we see and feel God’s presence.
Can we sense the Presence of God, in our continuing winter in the city, our Jerusalem, strengthening us for whatever cross we carry? These readings tell us that God is both on the mountaintop with us and here, giving us something greater: here on the altar of sacrifice. Listen to Him.