GEN
15:5-12, 17-18
PHIL
3:17 – 4:1
LUKE 9:28b-36
One week down, five more to go on our 40-day Lenten
journey.
Our readings this week focus on the divine
revelation of God’s covenant promise to His people and our response to it.
Usually, our response is doubt and anxiety instead of belief and peace.
Life is a long journey. Sometimes we get lost along
the way. Sometimes we experience doubts and anxiety about God’s promise to us
about our destination. Many of us carry baggage of our sinfulness on this
journey of life. Our creator and our Church want us to spend this Lent
reflecting on our sinful baggage and take steps to leave it behind as we change
our ways.
In the
first reading, we find Abram (he’s not Abraham just yet) hearing from God that
he won’t be without an heir. In fact, God tells him his descendants will be as
numerous as the stars.
But that answer to the childless and old Abram is
doubted. So he is told by God to offer the primitive covenant ritual.
As one bible scholar says, “Cutting the animal in
two and walking between the separate pieces bound the parties in covenant. If
they failed to keep the terms of the covenant, they were cursed to share the
fate like that of the split animal.”
Abram’s response to God after this encounter is
born of faith and in trusting God completely he is relieved of all doubts and
anxieties.
Notice how Abram’s deep sleep is a prelude to a
divine intervention, not too unlike the three disciples waking up to Jesus
talking to Moses and Elijah.
In our second reading, we hear the words of St.
Paul convincing the people of Philippi not to buy into the Roman culture or any
of the strange teachings being presented by Jews and others who were trying to
convince the Philippians that the only way to follow Christ was to be
circumcised like the Jews.
The imperial Roman cult at the time was to worship
Emperor Caesar as savior and Lord. St. Paul is reminding them to look to Jesus
and follow Paul’s example.
For the Philippians, it means giving “their primary
allegiance not to Rome, but to heaven, not to Caesar but to Jesus – and to
trust that Jesus would in due time bring the life and rule of heaven to bear on
the whole world.”
And he’s telling them to not be so worried about
earthly things. Do we sometimes get
caught up in worrying about earthly things? How much money is in my bank
account or IRA? Can I buy that new car? Will
I get that promotion at work? Do we sometimes show more allegiance to our
favorite political candidate than to Jesus?
Then,
there’s the Gospel of Luke. It’s the Transfiguration. God is showing the
disciples something important. Jesus has just explained to the disciples his
future Passion and that true discipleship means denying oneself and carrying
one’s cross.
In the Transfiguration, God is “foreshadowing of
the glorification of the resurrection.”
The Exodus Jesus, Moses and Elijah speak of is
death.
This experience will help the early Christian
community get its sea legs and pick up the pieces after Jesus’ crucifixion,
death and resurrection.
Death is such a hard topic. But we all will
experience it sooner or later.
Life is a tough journey, one fraught with pain and suffering
as we carry our own crosses toward our promised land, carry our own
sinfulness. God wants us to let it go
and return to Him with all our hearts and souls and to love each other as we
love ourselves.
I’m reminded of another journey many Christians
take that lasts about 40-days. The El Camino journey to Santiago de Campostella
in Spain. Some in our parish have walked
the Camino.
How many of you have seen the movie: “The Way?”
If you haven’t, and even if you have, it’s a great
movie to watch as we venture on our Lenten journey. The movie is sort of a metaphor for
life. We’re all on a journey. We all
encounter people we don’t like along the way. We all have to learn to get along
despite our differences. We each carry
our crosses, our sinfulness. We all have to learn to share the journey
together.
God is reminding us of His covenant promise to us in
all of today’s readings. God is reminding us not to be filled with anxiety and
despair, but peace and hope. God is telling us all to listen to His “chosen
Son.” Are we listening?
One of my favorite scenes from the movie is when
the four arrive at the highest point on the Camino de Santiago, what’s called
“Cruz de Hierro” or the Iron Cross.
“Since the 11th century … the cross has been a key feature on the
Camino de Santiago. Pilgrims traditionally carry a rock with them from the
start of their journey, before leaving the rock at the foot of the cross. The
rock symbolizes the sins that the pilgrim has committed, and the act of leaving
the rock is supposed to absolve them of the sins.”
Many
will say a prayer as they lay the rock on the stack of thousands of rocks
leading up to the cross of Jesus. In the movie, one of the characters read the
following prayer:
“Dear Lord: May this stone, a symbol of
my efforts on the pilgrimage, that I lay at the feet of the cross of the
savior, weigh the balance in favor of my good deeds that day when the deeds of
all my life are judged, let it be so. Amen.”
What
rock of our sinfulness do we need to lay down at the cross of our Savior? Pride?
Judgment? Lust? Greed? What sin are you working on freeing yourself from on
this 40-day Lenten journey?
My
sisters and brothers, lay it down and be free. No need to carry around excess
baggage on this journey we call life.
A
few weeks ago, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, we had a memorial service
for a longtime homeless man who died recently on the streets.
His
name was Rudy. He believed in Christ, but carried a heavy cross -- the cross of
addiction, the cross of homelessness for over a decade, the cross of
estrangement from his family.
About
50 of his friends, many of them homeless, gathered to say their goodbyes to
Rudy. It was beautiful.
During
the eulogy, we went around the room to hear his friends speak about their
buddy. Rudy was loved by so many for his cantankerous attitude and his
abundance of generosity.
It
was a holy experience listening to them share their stories of Rudy.
During
the service, ICOLPH School principal Kimberlie Kilroy and new music teacher
Lindsey Hittmierer sang a number of songs, included was a magnificent acapella
version of Ave Maria that brought down the house.
Yes,
we don’t usually hear applause after a song in Church (only at the end of Mass
sometimes). But our homeless friends don’t know that. And they were so
appreciative of the beauty of the singing for their friend’s service that they
responded in the only way they knew how -- by applause.
Jesus
was present with us in the room that day, consoling Rudy’s friends and wiping
away every tear with today’s covenant promise to us all. (Here's a link to Julie Muhlstein's article on Rudy's memorial in the Everett Herald)
As
believers in Christ, we, too, hope to one day experience the glory of the risen
Lord when we are raised up on that last day.
A
good friend wrote this recently about the Transfiguration and the power of
prayer:
“The prayer that empowers is not about
persuading God about one’s own holiness, but about being open to receive the
transforming Presence that reveals definitively the nature of God and who Jesus
really is. It is the power that enables the transformation of the mind and
heart that goes by the name “repentance.”
So,
as you are on your journey, lighten your load this Lenten season. Spend some
time in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and work on your relationship with our
Lord and savior. Ask Jesus to help you carry your cross. Pray daily and don’t
forget to give alms to those less fortunate that you.
I wish you a Buen Camino, a good
journey.