March 8, 2009: Second Sunday of Lent (B)

On how many occasions do you say, "Oh, I was suppose to tell you something...but, now I forgot what I was suppose to tell you." This is the perfect occasion to use the word, 'senior moment.' Although we don't have to be a senior to have memory lapse, when we are put on a spot to remember something, our brain refuses to cooperate. So I'm going to create a senior moment for all of us here. How many of you remember what the priest said to you on Ash Wednesday as he put on ashes on your forehead? .......... (senior moment in progress)

After Ash Wednesday school mass, a 4 year-old Mater Dolorosa Pre-K student went home to her grand parents. Her paw-paw asked her, "So what's that on your forehead?" She replied, "It's Ash Wednesday, and it's ashes." Her paw-paw then asked, "What did the priest say as he gave you the ashes?" She replied, "God bless America!"

What really did the priest say? "Turn away from sin, and believe in the Gospel."

Somethings we cherish and will remain always in the back of our minds. We keep photos, letters, and things that remind us of that. At the beginning of my seminary, one of the religious sisters told us, "Make sure you remember the time when God powerfully entered into your life. When you face challenge or even doubts about what you believe, these memories of God's intervention will help you go through it." It was a very good advice. It's not easy going through 6 years of seminary. In my case, I kept a special rosary as a reminder. It was a rosary that I took to Medjugorje 7 years ago. While I was there, I was inspired by Blessed Mother to give up my work as an engineer and give seminary a try. On my way back from Medjugorje, I noticed that my rosary chains which were silver in color has changed to goldish color. I kept that rosary to remind me that Blessed Mother and Her Son were supporting my priesthood. It's only been 9 months since my ordination. But their constant presence is comforting. I'm sure you have an experience like that a long time ago or even recently. Have you made an effort to remember that moment, to help you through the tough times?

In today's Gospel, Peter, James, and John received such a memorable experience. For the first time, they saw Jesus in his glory--his clothes became dazzling white, he was surrounded by Elijah and Moses, and the Voice spoke from the cloud saying, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." What a moment to remember! How we would love to have an experience like that! But this was not for a show but for a specific purpose. Jesus tells them not to tell anyone of what they saw until he has risen from the dead. And they wondered to themselves what rising from the dead meant. They did not know what was coming to them. In a short while, they would face threat of death and enough fear that they would abandon their beloved master and let him be crucified all alone. In their hiding place where they probably grieved the loss of their master, have they remembered the glory of Jesus' Transfiguration? Have they forgotten so quickly?

There are experiences in our life that overshadow even the most memorable and glorious events. These memories we'd rather not remember and would rather forget. I'm sure for the diciples, the humiliating crucifixion of their beloved master was one of them. How about us? All of us have a place in our heart where we stuff all our bad memories, all of the evil done to us, and evil done by us. It's an ugly, dark place hidden so deeply within us that it seems beyond God's healing reach. A good metaphor for this place is a shack. Right now there is a book by William Young called, "The Shack" that many of us may have read. I want to tell you ahead of time that you're not going to read this book for the correctness of Catholic theology. It's not written by a Catholic, and it's not the Catechism. However, it is a fictional attempt to respond to some of the most perplexing questions that we face as people who believe in Jesus. One of the quotes says, "Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets." How true that is! This secret, whatever it is, makes us believe that no one can understand us and no one can help us--even God.

At this lonely, dilapidated shack we cry aloud. "If you were All-Good, All-Powerful, and All-Loving God why did you let me suffer! Why did you let this awful experience happen to me? Why did you take my loved one? Why did you just stand in the sideline and watch as if you didn't even care? Why! Why! Why!" With such perplexing questions in our heart and with God so mute and deaf to our cry, we sometimes drift into isolation. We leave the Church, or we grow apart from our family. In this shack, we become forgetful and experience a serious senior moment. We forget all the moments that God broke powerfully into our life to remind us that He was there. He never left us. He was present all along. "Where," we ask. If you are here at this mass, Jesus has one very powerful reminder for you. "Take this all of you and eat it. This is My Body, which will be given up for YOU."