We might wonder why Jesus has to leave this mountaintop if
he already made it up there, why he needs to return to the mundane life back on
earth, to return to his journey to his death on a cross. Jesus left this mountaintop experience of his
transfiguration where the light of his divine identity made him more brilliant
that anything that exists on earth.
Jesus returned to the jealousy of the scribes and the Pharisees, to the
inner-politics that was going on in Israel and in the Roman empire, to the
struggling belief and arguments among his group of disciples.
Although Jesus was fully divine, he also came to earth as
one of us, which is why he had to leave that mountain to return to humanity, to
be with us, to fulfill his destiny and the will of the Father. Jesus did not come to lord his identity over
us, but rather to come as a servant, to journey to the cross, to his death and
resurrection. Jesus faced his fears, his
brokenness, his loss, in coming down that mountain, in being in solidarity with
us.
On that mountaintop, the disciples saw a cloud come over
Jesus, casting a shadow over him. Out of
the cloud came this voice: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” As I was talking to the adult religious
education class a couple of weeks ago in the parish hall, we were noting that
there is no longer a sense of respect in our world today that we even had
twenty years ago, not the same level of respect for God, not that same respect
for our fellow human beings. Think of
the awe, wonder, and respect that James, Peter, and John had for Jesus when
they witnessed his transfiguration on that mountain. If we could all capture that sense of awe,
wonder, and respect for God as a part of our Lenten journey, to have it carry
over into our lives even when Lent is over, then we would have gained something
very precious in our lives indeed.
When we enter God’s house here in the Church, in our
beautiful parish buildings here in Yazoo City and Belzoni, do we feel God’s
presence, just like the disciples felt God’s presence on that mountaintop? When we knelt down at the start of mass today
in the procession in silence, did we feel a sense of awe and wonder as God was
in our midst? And if not, what can we do
to capture that sense of awe and wonder?
Is there something missing in our lives or in our hearts that keeps us
from feeling God’s presence in this way?
What should inspire us and deepen our love and respect for
Jesus, is in our knowledge that whatever dark periods we have gone through in
our lives or are currently going through, no matter what struggle and
sacrifices we are undertaking, we know that Christ has been there before
us. And we know that Christ is there
with us uniting his struggles with us.
No matter where we are on our Lenten journey, whether we feel like we
are on a mountaintop, or whether we are lost wandering around in the desert,
Christ is with us.
Tomorrow, we will have a group of priests traveling to Yazoo
City for our community reconciliation service.
This is an important part of our Lenten journey, an essential part of
our Lenten disciplines. We invite all of
you to come, to be in God’s presence in this way, to reconcile with God and
with our brothers and sisters in the ways that we are called to do so. There are many facets to our Lenten
journey. Please make the sacrament of
reconciliation part of your Lenten experience of God.
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