“And His clothes became dazzling white”(Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino 1483-1520)
On Top of Mt. Tabor
March 20, 2011, 2nd Sunday of Lent: the Transfiguration of Christ
Genesis 12:1-4a II Timothy 1:8b-10 Matthew 17:1-9
The Lord said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.” Abram went as the Lord directed him.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord.
Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them: His face shone like the sun and His clothes became dazzling white. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will make three shelters here, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
First day of spring
Introduction
First day of spring
Today March 20, 2011 is the first day of spring. It’s also called the Spring Equinox, that is to say, March 20 has 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. This season of spring continues until the Summer Solstice, June 21, 2011. That day will have 15 long hours of light and 9 short hours of darkness. With the increasing light and warmth, our spirits happily emerge from the tomb and doldrums of winter.
A religious experience on Tabor
On the first Sunday of Lent, the account of Jesus’ temptations in the desert is related in all three synoptic gospels. (Mt. 4:1-11; Mk. 1:12-13; Lk. 4:1-13) On the second Sunday of Lent, the account of Jesus’ transfiguration on a high mountain (called Mt. Tabor in Christian tradition) is also related in all three gospels. (Mt.17:1-8; Mk.9:2-9; Lk 9:28-36) On Mt. Tabor the apostles saw the Lord’s face shining like the sun, and His clothes became dazzling white. Out of a cloud they heard the voice of the Lord God proclaiming Jesus to be a beloved Son.The Transfiguration is mentioned also in Peter’s second letter: “My own eyes have seen His splendor and His glory. I was there on the holy mountain when He shone forth with the glory given Him by God His Father. I heard that glorious, majestic voice calling down from heaven, saying, `This is my very beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’” (II Peter 1:16-19)
A religious experience is happening on Mt. Tabor. Christians call it a Transfiguration and Catholics assign a special feast day for it: August 6, Feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration. Not only is Mt. Tabor high, the apostle Peter is also `high.’ He is ecstatic; he is `beside himself.’ He exclaims, “Lord, how good it is for us to be here!” The experience is so powerful that Peter wants to dig in and hunker down on that lofty height forever. He says to Jesus, “If you wish, I will make three shelters up here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Mt 17:4)
A religious experience is happening on Mt. Tabor. Christians call it a Transfiguration and Catholics assign a special feast day for it: August 6, Feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration. Not only is Mt. Tabor high, the apostle Peter is also `high.’ He is ecstatic; he is `beside himself.’ He exclaims, “Lord, how good it is for us to be here!” The experience is so powerful that Peter wants to dig in and hunker down on that lofty height forever. He says to Jesus, “If you wish, I will make three shelters up here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Mt 17:4)
Saul’s religious experience
A religious experience can happen not only on a breezy mountaintop but also in the sweaty valley of the human journey. Saul of Tarsus had his religious experience on the road to Damascus where he planned to arrest Christians. Suddenly a bright light from the sky flashed around him, and Saul heard a voice saying, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:1-22) (That experience converted Saul, the terrorist, into St. Paul, the great Apostle to the Gentiles.
Augustine’s religious experience
St. Augustine (354-430) had his religious experience in the garden of his villa. I n his youth he had strayed off into the teachings of Manichaeism and into the wayward paths of youth, begetting a son out of wedlock. One day in the garden of his villa, Augustine heard a voice coming from the other side of the wall, which kept saying, “Take and read! Take and read!” At first he thought it was the voice of some child playing a game. Then suddenly he was seized with an impulse to pick up the Scriptures which lay near at hand. They fell open to Romans: “Let us conduct ourselves properly, as people who live in the light of day; no orgies or drunkenness, no immorality and debauchery, no fighting or jealousy. Rather, let us take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ, and let us stop concentrating on the flesh and gratifying its desires.” (Rom. 13: 13-14; Confessions Bk. VIII, ch. 12) That experience converted the `rounder’ Augustine into the great bishop of Hippo in North Africa, who by his voluminous writings would teach the Universal Church from the 5th to the 13th century.
Francis’ religious experience
St. Francis (1182-1224) had his religious experience before a very old crucifix in a dilapidated little chapel of San Damiano in Assisi. Praying there one day he beseeched the Lord to tell him what He wanted of him. Suddenly Francis heard a voice from the crucifix, saying to him, “Francis, repair my Church.” He thought the voice was calling him to repair the rickety little chapel. It was, in fact, calling him to become the father of the great Franciscan family which would repair the Universal Church corrupted by the Byzantine splendor and excesses of his day.
Jung anxiously expecting a religious experience
Saul had a religious experience on the road to Damascus. Augustine had a religious experience in the garden of his villa. Francis had a religious experience before the San Damiano crucifix. Where, if anywhere on God’s earth, should we expect to have a religious experience, if not in church? Where, if anywhere on God’s earth, should we be exclaiming, “Oh how good it is for us to be here,” if not in church?
That does not always happen. Karl Jung, the father of modern psychology, writes about the day of his first Holy Communion. Because of what he had been told, he was anxiously expecting something very special to happen on that occasion. The day finally dawned, and all peeled into church. In familiar robes his father, who was the minister of the celebration, stood behind the altar and read the prayers. On the white altar cloth lay large trays filled with small pieces of bread. (The bread came from the local baker.) He watched his father eat a piece of the bread and sip the wine. (The wine came from the local tavern.) Then he passed the cup to others.
Jung writes that all were stiff, solemn, and seemingly disinterested. Though he kept looking on in suspense, he could neither see nor guess that anything unusual was happening inside anyone. No one had joy on his face. After the final prayer, no one was heard to cry out, "Oh how good it is for us to be here! Let us build shelters up here and hunker down on this height forever.” Instead, Jung writes, "All peeled out of the church with faces that were neither depressed nor illumined with joy. Their faces seemed to say, `Well, that's that!'’” When the sun set on that long anticipated day of his first Holy Communion, Jung found himself exclaiming, "Oh, how bad it was for me to be there!" The day of Jung’s first Communion proved to be his last Communion; he never took Communion again. (Memories, Dreams, and Reflections)
That does not always happen. Karl Jung, the father of modern psychology, writes about the day of his first Holy Communion. Because of what he had been told, he was anxiously expecting something very special to happen on that occasion. The day finally dawned, and all peeled into church. In familiar robes his father, who was the minister of the celebration, stood behind the altar and read the prayers. On the white altar cloth lay large trays filled with small pieces of bread. (The bread came from the local baker.) He watched his father eat a piece of the bread and sip the wine. (The wine came from the local tavern.) Then he passed the cup to others.
Jung writes that all were stiff, solemn, and seemingly disinterested. Though he kept looking on in suspense, he could neither see nor guess that anything unusual was happening inside anyone. No one had joy on his face. After the final prayer, no one was heard to cry out, "Oh how good it is for us to be here! Let us build shelters up here and hunker down on this height forever.” Instead, Jung writes, "All peeled out of the church with faces that were neither depressed nor illumined with joy. Their faces seemed to say, `Well, that's that!'’” When the sun set on that long anticipated day of his first Holy Communion, Jung found himself exclaiming, "Oh, how bad it was for me to be there!" The day of Jung’s first Communion proved to be his last Communion; he never took Communion again. (Memories, Dreams, and Reflections)
Shopping for a religious experience
It is right and just to expect a Mt. Tabor experience in the practice of our religion. Never to expect a religious experience, or to feel no disappointment when one never happens, is to join that blah congregation which peeled out of Jung’s church with faces “which were neither depressed nor illumined with joy” but which simply seemed to say, “Well, that's that!” It was that disappointment with the lack of religious experience in the established churches which gave rise to Pentecostalism -- a movement within Christianity which places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through baptism in the Holy Spirit. Pentecostalism is perhaps the other extreme of the spectrum: instead of expecting no religious experience at all, it perhaps expects too much.
If our church never takes us up to Mt. Tabor (and there’s simply nothing we can personally do about it) then we should go shopping for a church that will. We take diligent effort to shop for a good house or a good car. There’s nothing very wrong (in fact, there’s something very right) about shopping for a `good church.’ That’s a church which takes us up to Mt. Tabor, and sets us exclaiming, “Oh how good it is for us to be here! That’s a church which has us determined to come back next Sunday. If our Sunday assembly never does that, then we should vote with our feet.
If our church never takes us up to Mt. Tabor (and there’s simply nothing we can personally do about it) then we should go shopping for a church that will. We take diligent effort to shop for a good house or a good car. There’s nothing very wrong (in fact, there’s something very right) about shopping for a `good church.’ That’s a church which takes us up to Mt. Tabor, and sets us exclaiming, “Oh how good it is for us to be here! That’s a church which has us determined to come back next Sunday. If our Sunday assembly never does that, then we should vote with our feet.
Conclusion
Tabor: not forever or for itself
The high of Mt. Tabor was not forever; Jesus and the apostles eventually had to get down from that lofty height and descend into the valley of real life. (Mt. 17:9) Neither is the high of Sunday Mass forever; we have to leave church and descend into the valley of our daily lives. The great `high’ of Mt. Tabor high was not for itself; it was for the great `low’ that awaited the apostles in the imminent death of Jesus. The great `high’ of Mt. Tabor was for the great `low’ of Mt. Calvary which lay ahead.
Neither is the Sunday `high’ for itself; it is for the `lows’ which lay ahead in the week ahead. Blessed is that church which sends its congregants pealing out of Sunday service, invigorated to take on the `lows’ that await them in the week ahead. Blessed is that church which sends it congregants forth, determined to return next Sunday to be reinvigorated to take on another week.
Neither is the Sunday `high’ for itself; it is for the `lows’ which lay ahead in the week ahead. Blessed is that church which sends its congregants pealing out of Sunday service, invigorated to take on the `lows’ that await them in the week ahead. Blessed is that church which sends it congregants forth, determined to return next Sunday to be reinvigorated to take on another week.
