Transfiguration 2022

Luke 9. 28-36, Transfiguration, EH 2022

What is the role of religion in today’s world? 

By and large, our baptism, confirmation, and a lifetime of Sundays spent in the sacramental life and fellowship of the church has a common aim – for us to grow in holiness. I often sense a resistance in people when holiness is spoken of. Perhaps the meaning of holiness is poorly understood: to be set apart for the service of God is to be holy. Consider; we refer to the chalice and paten as holy vessels: pieces of metal skillfully shaped, then blessed in God’s name – and they are holy.  

And you, sisters and brothers in Christ, fashioned by the Creator, and set apart for God as followers of Jesus? Sunday by Sunday you are blessed in God’s name, and you hold and carry the Holy Spirit of God within. You are holy, and holiness, like the spreading warmth of the sun, is intended to gently permeate every fiber of your being, until you glow in the darkness of the world with the light of Christ.

The Transfiguration story this time around speaks to me of mysticism and religion’s place in the world.

Joan Chittister, OSB, spoke on this topic in a public address, saying: The purpose of holiness is not to protect us from our world. The purpose of holiness is to change the way we live in the world, not for our own sake but for the sake of others. Jesus demands the same thing. For some reason or other, we often miss that point. We are more inclined to want a religion that comforts rather than challenges us. Why? Where did we ever get that idea? 

Where indeed. It’s natural, I guess, Joan. When I am weak, discouraged, or broken-hearted, I just want to be held like a child. And it’s indisputable – God does comfort us. However, God’s comfort is a restoration of our strength, to enable us to continue on; not a retreat into ease and security.

The four friends went up the mountain to pray.

In the Bible mountaintops bring people closer to God – i.e. on mountaintops Moses received the 10 commandments, and Elijah heard the still small voice of God.  The term mountain-top experience has come to mean an extraordinary, unique, ecstatic experience. 

Peter, James and John were graced by seeing Jesus as he really was; hearing God’s voice; the vision of Moses and Elijah  – no wonder they were discombobulated; no wonder Peter wanted to stay on… for those of you who have known a moment of Jesus’ revealed presence - did you want to leave? Will you will ever forget it? 

Eternal rest and light perpetual are for the departed holy ones, not the living. Life on earth reflects a roller-coaster ride more than a snooze in the sun. The last 3 years of Jesus’ life were unpredictable – one minute admired and celebrated, the next minute he was abused and hated. Moses’ life was no cake-walk either.  Elijah was hounded from pillar to post – they all faced trouble at every turn. We might add, they Made Trouble; for they didn’t conform to societies’ norms when conformity troubled their conscience. Moses and Elijah shirt-fronted powerful leaders, preaching/prophesying uninvited; and Jesus constantly challenged authority’s rigid interpretation of God’s laws. 

I believe this mountain–top experience was to Peter James and John what the burning bush had been to Moses – it changed the way they lived in the world. Moses abandoned leading sheep to lead Israel out of captivity. The Disciple’s mystical encounter prepared them inwardly for future leadership roles in the inauguration of the Church. 

Elijah publicly exposed the worship of false gods, warning that it would bring disaster, and a similar undercurrent of turmoil and struggle in Moses’, Jesus’, Peter’s, James’, John’s, and countless Christians's lives since is frequently connected to an inner tug of war between ‘real’ religion, and something less.

Mountain–top experiences embed in the heart an inextinguishable desire for holiness that draws and drives people closer to God. Holiness takes root early in the Christian journey, but without nurture, it cannot flourish, and without an echo of Mary’s ‘Yes!’ to God, holiness’ growth stalls.

No person here would even think of using a chalice for anything except Holy Communion.  The Lenten season reminds us to tend to and cherish the holiness that is ours.

True religion is not defined by pious practices, but as Jesus says, by love. A love that emulates his love, in giving, giving, giving…  

Jesus and his disciples descended into a crowd of troubled people, a world torn by violence, injustice, illness, and death – just like our world. 

Mystical experience; as Joan Chittister said, changes the way we live in the world.  Refusing to condone inequality, violence, abuse of power and the propagation of false images of God is what true religion is about. 

The three disciples were heavy with sleep, but managed to stay awake, to combat their drowsiness in order to pray with Jesus - this time, although not on the Mount of Olives. We too are human, and can’t always get it right, but the ancient promise of hope for a cosmic reign of peace under Jesus’ rule remains our hope.

In Philip Gill’s Pandemic Pilgrimage he writes of Maria Skobtsova, a Russian émigré living in France after WWI. After a series of personal tragedies, she devoted herself to the needs of the homeless. He cites Jim Forrest: She saw that there were two ways to give. The first was on dry land, a legitimate and respectable place to be, where one could measure, weigh, and plan ahead. The second was to walk on the waters, where “it becomes impossible to measure or plan ahead. The one thing necessary is to believe all the time. If you doubt for an instant, you begin to sink.”

Walking on water is totally irrational, but religion doesn’t call us to the rational. Religion calls us to the Beatitudes, to works of mercy, to the casting out of demons; to the irrational love and burning justice of God. 

When we hear of sacrificial lives, brimful of suffering, they seem to be on a different plane than ours.  The astonishing thing is that these folk are consistently profoundly joyful, overflowing with love. Love calls them and motivates them. All they endure is done in love for Jesus; for us. United in love and will with Jesus they want to give themselves away, fuelled by the hope of his eternal presence. Transfigured by a vision of the Son of God, their way of living in the world is changed.

God’s peace be with you.  

Mother Pirrial

Christian GronowComment