On Ash Wednesday, we mentioned briefly some points from the Lenten Message of Pope Francis for this year 2023. His message was centered on today’s Gospel. As such, I would like us to meditate a little in depth on the two paths He pointed and the one path of the Eucharistic Revival the Bishops of the US have given us for these three years. Pope Francis noted: “So that this transfiguration may become a reality in us this year, I would like to propose two ‘paths’ to follow in order to ascend the mountain together with Jesus and, with him, to attain the goal… 1) We need to listen to Jesus; 2) … Do not be afraid.” And we add, 3) The Eucharist as the Ongoing Transfiguration.
The Path of Listening The first path the Holy Father calls us to undertake this Lent is the path to listening first to Jesus and then to each other. Why is it important to listen to Jesus? He alone has the words of eternal life. He alone is the truth, the way, and the life. How can we listen to Jesus? First, by meditating on His Word. We live in a world of too much information but very little transformation, too much data, but little processing. Somewhere I read that “reading without reflection is like eating without digestion.” With the blessing of the internet, the Holy Father noted that we no longer have the excuse of no access to the Word of God. He pleaded: “If we cannot attend Mass, let us study its daily biblical readings, even with the help of the internet.” I cannot tire to add, let us study the entire bible and catechism with Fr. Mike Schmitz’s The Bible in a Year / Catechism in a Year. Second, the voice of The Church is the voice of Jesus nowadays. To obey the teachings of the Church, especially when we do not understand, is a great sign of a beloved daughter or son who loves the Church as Mother, believing in all that she teaches because she believes in her. A third way to listen to Jesus is through the voice of conscience. St. John Henry Newman describes conscience as “the aboriginal vicar of Christ,” who tells us what is good and should be done and what is evil and should be avoided. However, we must let conscience be formed by the word of God and the teachings of the Church. A stubborn conscience is no longer conscience but private opinion! A fourth way to listen to Christ is through the crosses He allows us to carry especially during this season of Lent. How insightful was C. S. Lewis when he observed in his book, The Problem of Pain, that “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” From the cross of Jesus, we can say every cross we bear echoes the message of His cross as an opportunity to love and save souls. The fifth way to listen to Jesus is through listening to others. During the synodal hearings it was powerful to see how respecting another even when you totally you disagree with them was greatly emphasized.
In a word, to listen to Jesus, we must learn to listen with our hearts and not our heads. The heart has two ears and those are love and meditation. Scriptures reminds us that God alone sees the heart, that God dwells in our hearts. The point is that our hearts belong to God. The heart’s way of listening is contemplating like Mary who kept all these things in her heart. Not only are we called to listen with our hearts, we are called to pray with our hearts, for the prayer that proceeds from the heart reaches God’s heart (Lk 2:19). For instance, no one can pray the prayer Jesus taught us this week, “The Our Father,” and despise or discriminate against another.
The Path of Courage In the Gospel we are told that when the disciples heard the Father’s voice, “they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and do not be afraid.” Sometimes we are afraid not only of our crosses, but sometimes we are afraid of our greatness. We come from an infinitely great God who has great plans for us. He has loved each and everyone of us into existence like Abraham to be a source of blessings to others. However, we must do the one thing Abraham did in order to be the channel of His blessings – the courage to obey God’s commands even when we do not understand. The first reading concludes with this powerful phrase: “Abram went as the Lord directed him.” In all we do, let us always invite the Spirit of God to direct us. He is the spirit of wisdom and courage.
Jesus was transfigured not for Himself, but to give hope to His disciples when the cross came. The transfiguration was not meant to be an experience of complacency – we have arrived, but rather a foretaste, an empowerment to come down and share the Good News. In the words of Pope Francis, “Let us go down, then, to the plain, and may the grace we have experienced strengthen us to be ‘artisans of synodality’ in the ordinary life of our communities.”
Where does our courage come from? In the Gospel, we are given a clue. Notice, that though Jesus was able to hike the mountain of Tabor by Himself, He rather did so with three of His core disciples: Peter, James, and John to teach us a great lesson. Courage comes from being surrounded by love. In community, we can do more than we can do just by ourselves. I could never have been able to put together an office desk by myself but with a brother friend it was possible. Our earthly pilgrimage is like hiking a mountain. It is easier to do it in community than in isolation.
The Path of the Eucharist Every Sunday we gather for Mass is a transfiguration experience. Like the disciples we come to this mountain of God, the Altar, to be strengthened as we go the plain of life to engage our daily activities. This fact was imbedded in my memory during my last visit to the Holy Land in 2019. We arrived the site of the Transfiguration when Mass was going on and precisely at the consecration. It dawned unto me that isn’t every Mass the transfiguration, where Jesus is transformed in the form of bread and wine as food for our journey, to nourish and strengthen us! What’s more because in the Eucharist there is certainly something greater than the transfiguration here? What’s more is that not only are we given a foretaste of the glory to come, we are united with Jesus in a new way like a “new incarnation” at every communion we receive. No wonder the song, “O Bread of Heaven,’ captures powerfully this truth when it says, “Each loving soul by thee is fed, with Thy own Self in form of bread.” St. Matthew recounts that “when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone.”
As we receive Jesus in the Eucharist today, may we see no one else but Jesus in our family members, in our friends, our colleagues, and all strangers. May our prayer therefore be: Lord Jesus, transfigure our hearts to love as you love, and our eyes to see as you see so that in seeing others we may see no one but You Jesus in all we meet and serve. Amen.