On
Genesis 12:1-4a II
Timothy 1:8b-10 Matthew 17:1-9
To the churched and
unchurched[1]
gathered in a church not
built by human hands[2]
First reading
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.
The Gospel
Alleluia,
alleluia.
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 white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to
them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good
for us to be here. If you wish, I will make three tents 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.
----------------
Introduction
Another high mountain
Last Sunday the Devil led Jesus to a very
high mountain and showed him all the glitter of the world’s kingdoms which he promised
to bestow upon Jesus if he would only fall to his knees and adore him (Mt 4:
1-11). This Sunday Jesus is on anther height called
The coin of ecstasy
On Tabor
the apostles saw the Lord’s face shining like the sun, and his clothes resplendent
with light. Out of a cloud they heard the voice of the Lord God. The voice proclaimed Jesus to be a
“beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Mt 17:5). Something spectacular was
happening on that mount. Christians call it a transfiguration. Catholics assign
a special feast day for it on August 6, Feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration.
Psychologists simply call it a religious experience.
With
religious experience there comes the coin of ecstasy. Peter became ecstatic on Tabor. He was
beside himself emoting and exclaiming, “Lord, how good it is for us to be here”
(Mt 17:4)! The experience was so powerful that Peter wanted to dig in
and hunker down on that lofty height forever. “Let’s build three shelters up
here,” he said to Jesus, “one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Lk
A religious
experience on a road
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 a road. As he was journeying to
A religious
experience in a garden
In
the garden of his villa one day, Augustine heard a voice coming from the other
side of the wall. (In a religious experience one hears voices.) The voice kept
saying in a singsong sort of song, “Tolle et lege! Tolle et lege!” (Augustine
wrote in Latin.) “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 a strange
impulse and picked up the Scriptures which lay near at hand. They fell open to Romans 13: 13: “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” (Rm
A religious
experience in a church
St.
Francis (1182-1224) had his religious experience before a very old crucifix in
a dilapidated little chapel of San Damiano in
Jung in
search of
Francis’ religious experience took place in a
church. Where, if anywhere on God’s
earth, should we expect a religious experience with its coin of ecstasy to take
place if not in church? Where, if anywhere on God’s earth, should we expect to
see visions and hear voices 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? Sometimes that does not
happen. Often that does not 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
greatly expected to see visions and hear voices on that very special 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, Jung could neither see nor guess that anything unusual
was happening inside anyone. No one had joy on his face. No one seemed to be
seeing visions or hearing voices.
Finally Jung’s
turn came to eat the bread which tasted flat and to sip the wine which tasted
sour. After the final prayer, no one was heard to cry out, "Oh how good it
is for us to be here!" No one was seen to tarry or linger on in a glow of
ecstasy. No one was heard saying, “Let
us build shelters 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— with faces which seemed to say, `Well, that's
that!'"
Only gradually did
it dawn on Jung that nothing had happened. What he had seen (nothing) was all
there was! The total lack of any religious experience with its ecstasy on the
day of his very first Holy Communion proved to be disastrous; it proved to be
his very last Communion! (Memories, Dreams, and Reflections) 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!"
Amy on
Where,
if anywhere on God’s earth, should we expect to have a religious experience
with its coin of ecstasy if not in church? Where, if anywhere on God’s earth,
should we expect to see visions and hear voices 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 sometimes
does, indeed, happen, and when it does happen, we are, indeed, blessed. It happened one day for the Amy who writes,
My husband and I were in
I so enjoyed the
service. Father was absolutely fabulous, his sermon was out of this
world, the choir was phenomenal, the lector was dynamic and the beauty of your
church was just so stunning. It was a pivotal moment for us, especially for
me. I lit a candle after Mass for our lost baby and I am looking forward with
hope to our family’s future. I know that God has bigger plans[4]
for our family than we even realize, and I know we are blessed.
Unlike Jung Amy can be heard crying out, “Oh, how good it was for us to
have been there!”
To expect
Our
search for Mt. Tabor
If
our Sunday assembly never takes us up to Tabor (and there’s simply nothing we can
do about it) then we should take the pain to shop for a church that will. We take diligent
pain to shop for a good house or a good car. There is nothing wrong (in fact, there
is something quite right) about shopping for a “good
Conclusion
Tabor: not forever and not for itself
The
Tabor high 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 Sunday high forever. We,
too, have to leave Sunday Mass and descend into the valley of our weekday lives. The Tabor high was not for
itself. It was for the great low that awaited the apostles in the imminent death
of Jesus (Lk 24:17). Neither is the Sunday high for itself. It is for all the small
and great lows which await us in the week ahead. The Sunday high is for
assuring us in all life’s miscarriages, as it assured Amy, “that
God has bigger plans for us.”