Mar. 17, 2019 3rd Sunday Lent C
Mar. 17, 2019 3rd Sunday Lent C
“I’m not afraid of death, father,” a parishioner told me from her hospital bed. “I had a near death experience and was led to a bright light in the tunnel. Now I’m not afraid of dying.” Her experience is similar to that of other folks who had a near death experience. She had received a vision of hope and now her confidence and trust in God are unshakeable. We all need a vision of hope to give us confidence and trust to face the trials of this earthly life without being discouraged and afraid.
Why did Jesus allow Peter, James, and John a glimpse of his divinity at Mount of Transfiguration? The Transfiguration revealed his perfection of life in heaven. Jesus knew that his betrayal, passion, and crucifixion awaited him in Jerusalem. He knew that his disciples needed the hope and confidence to sustain them as they headed toward Jerusalem. The glory they beheld was the glory that Jesus wanted to share with them. They needed to hear the voice of the Heavenly Father through the cloud urging them to listen and ponder all that His Son was going to say to them. The disciples would remember this Voice of the Father later on when they encountered hardships of following Jesus.
Abram also received from God a vision of hope that awaited him-- a promise of descendants as numerous as stars in the sky. His hope against hope prompted him to begin an arduous journey of moving his family, livestock, and possessions 1,500 miles across the barren desert over the course of months. “We walk by faith, not by sight,” St. Paul said to the Corinthians, and the faith of Abram was precisely in obeying a command from a God that he could not see, putting his trust into action by walking to the promised land.
I often hear folks ask, “How do I know that I’m on the right path? I pray, I go to Mass, and I try to live right. But I’m disoriented and confused by the hardship I’m facing. Am I going the wrong way?” St. Paul was familiar with hardships while staying on the right path of God. He wrote to the Christian community in Corinth who were going through terrible trials and tribulations with this encouragement: “We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10) We are like fragile jars made of clay, yet we hold in these jars the indomitable Spirit of God who provides the grace to persevere through suffering and hardships. The hope that the Holy Spirit instills in us is a vision of our happy life in eternity with God when He calls us from this life. Until the moment God calls us to Himself, we strive to live joyfully in God’s love and mercy, sharing generously with our neighbors what we have received from God.
There is also a possibility that when we feel our life is disoriented, that certain aspects of our life may be out of balance. Counselors typically ask basic questions: “Are you getting enough sleep? Are you eating right? Are you getting some physical exercise? Are you under heavy stress?” We should also ask ourselves, “Have I put all of my hopes on someone or something instead of God?” When our hope is misplaced or we are excessively attached to someone or something, we do not have peace. Peace comes when we realize that God who loved us and created us, wants us to make choices in our daily life that draw us closer to Him. While persons and things of this world are created out of God’s goodness, if we do not prioritize our desires first on God, we may attach ourselves to someone or something that cannot fulfill the hole that only God Himself can fill.
The Transfiguration of Jesus reminds us that our guiding hope and happiness lies in Jesus alone. Jesus asks us to follow Him. If we have stopped following Him because we were lured away by someone or something, then “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full, in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.”
“I’m not afraid of death, father,” a parishioner told me from her hospital bed. “I had a near death experience and was led to a bright light in the tunnel. Now I’m not afraid of dying.” Her experience is similar to that of other folks who had a near death experience. She had received a vision of hope and now her confidence and trust in God are unshakeable. We all need a vision of hope to give us confidence and trust to face the trials of this earthly life without being discouraged and afraid.
Why did Jesus allow Peter, James, and John a glimpse of his divinity at Mount of Transfiguration? The Transfiguration revealed his perfection of life in heaven. Jesus knew that his betrayal, passion, and crucifixion awaited him in Jerusalem. He knew that his disciples needed the hope and confidence to sustain them as they headed toward Jerusalem. The glory they beheld was the glory that Jesus wanted to share with them. They needed to hear the voice of the Heavenly Father through the cloud urging them to listen and ponder all that His Son was going to say to them. The disciples would remember this Voice of the Father later on when they encountered hardships of following Jesus.
Abram also received from God a vision of hope that awaited him-- a promise of descendants as numerous as stars in the sky. His hope against hope prompted him to begin an arduous journey of moving his family, livestock, and possessions 1,500 miles across the barren desert over the course of months. “We walk by faith, not by sight,” St. Paul said to the Corinthians, and the faith of Abram was precisely in obeying a command from a God that he could not see, putting his trust into action by walking to the promised land.
I often hear folks ask, “How do I know that I’m on the right path? I pray, I go to Mass, and I try to live right. But I’m disoriented and confused by the hardship I’m facing. Am I going the wrong way?” St. Paul was familiar with hardships while staying on the right path of God. He wrote to the Christian community in Corinth who were going through terrible trials and tribulations with this encouragement: “We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10) We are like fragile jars made of clay, yet we hold in these jars the indomitable Spirit of God who provides the grace to persevere through suffering and hardships. The hope that the Holy Spirit instills in us is a vision of our happy life in eternity with God when He calls us from this life. Until the moment God calls us to Himself, we strive to live joyfully in God’s love and mercy, sharing generously with our neighbors what we have received from God.
There is also a possibility that when we feel our life is disoriented, that certain aspects of our life may be out of balance. Counselors typically ask basic questions: “Are you getting enough sleep? Are you eating right? Are you getting some physical exercise? Are you under heavy stress?” We should also ask ourselves, “Have I put all of my hopes on someone or something instead of God?” When our hope is misplaced or we are excessively attached to someone or something, we do not have peace. Peace comes when we realize that God who loved us and created us, wants us to make choices in our daily life that draw us closer to Him. While persons and things of this world are created out of God’s goodness, if we do not prioritize our desires first on God, we may attach ourselves to someone or something that cannot fulfill the hole that only God Himself can fill.
The Transfiguration of Jesus reminds us that our guiding hope and happiness lies in Jesus alone. Jesus asks us to follow Him. If we have stopped following Him because we were lured away by someone or something, then “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full, in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.”
