As we commemorate the 2nd Sunday in Lent today, our Gospel presents us the transfiguration of Jesus. A transfiguration is literally a change in form or appearance: that’s the literal definition of that word. We might wonder why Jesus’ transfiguration occurred and what purpose it served. The transfiguration served to strengthen the faith of some of Jesus’ disciples shortly before his passion and crucifixion. We look forward to the mountaintop experiences we have in life, don’t we. They exciting, wonderful, and transformative. Often, we don’t want them to ever end. Perhaps compared to those mountaintop experiences, something that is part of our everyday lives does seems to commonplace and mundane, not having the same level of excitement. However, Jesus and those apostles were not meant to remain on the mountain forever. They had to come down to confront the reality of their lives. I too love the mountaintop experiences, such as when I go on pilgrimage. The joy I feel in my heart when I go there is like nothing else. However, it is special because it is not an everyday occurrence. It is something that I have to work for and sacrifice for. Sometimes it is tough getting through our days. Sometimes our days seem boring or seem like drudgery. Those mountaintop experiences can energize us and renew us and help us keep going on our journey. They can provide inspiration for us.
Parishioner Patrick Fields is going to talk to us about Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk who lived in a monastery in Kentucky, Merton certainly had some great mountaintop experiences in his life, but his everyday life as a monk is what sustained him. Born in 1915, he lived a very worldly life completely apart from a life of faith as a youth and young man. It was though reading philosophy as a student at Columbia University in New York that first attracted him to Catholicism. Feeling called to be a priest, Merton was turned down by the Franciscan when he was honest with them about his past. Merton would go on to become a Trappist monk, becoming famous for many popular books he had written. He also pursued a dialogue between the religions of Asian and the Catholic faith. He life came to a premature end when he had a freak accident while attending a conference in Thailand in December 1968. Merton’s conversion and transformation speak to us on our own Lenten journey. Here is a great quote from Thomas Merton for us to ponder this Lenten season:
“The truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture.”
No comments:
Post a Comment