We’re in the middle of Lent!\u00a0 You know, Lent, that 40 day period just before Easter when you’re supposed to fast and abstain from something and give alms and pray.\u00a0 At least that is what us Catholics are supposed to be doing during Lent.\u00a0 I’m resolved to give up beer and TV, for example.\u00a0 That should give me more time to reflect, and a clearer head to reflect with.<\/p>\n
Now, I see where lots of folks from the other Christian denominations were distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday.\u00a0 I helped distribute ashes at a local hospital; and a Baptist minister was there too, helping us.\u00a0 I think they may have distributed ashes here, in fact.\u00a0 And since Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, that means that Lent is something all of us Christians are paying more attention to these days.\u00a0 Since these nice folks from Westminster Towers asked a Catholic to preach at their Ecumenical Service, I thought I would share some perspectives on Lent with you.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now you might ask what the Transfiguration described in our scripture has to do with Lent.\u00a0 Well, first off, did you know that the three people who were transfigured- Jesus, Moses, and Elijah- shared something in common that echoes one of the Lenten themes I mentioned a moment ago?\u00a0 Namely, all three of them fasted for 40 days and 40 nights at some time during their lives.\u00a0 And they all fasted in the same desert wilderness- the region around Horeb. They fasted for 40 days and 40 nights- which is exactly how long Lent is.\u00a0 And all three of them did that in order to get close to God.\u00a0 Fasting has that effect because when you fast, you have a tendency to become more sensitive, more feeling.\u00a0 Fasting opens your senses because you realize that something is missing, you can just feel it, and so, you can be swept into a heightened sensitivity to other things while you are fasting.\u00a0 Fasting will help you to concentrate on God and listen to His message for you.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, as I mentioned, along with fasting, Jesus, Moses, and Elijah got away from people by going into the wilderness to make sure that they could use their heightened sensitivity to focus on God and God alone.\u00a0 There are two classic ways of getting away- going into the desert, and going to the top of a mountain. Let’s focus on the Transfiguration itself for a few minutes because it is an example of going up a mountain.\u00a0 Jesus takes his three most trusted apostles- Peter, James, and John up a mountain- but not just any mountain, a high mountain.\u00a0 Some scholars think it was a mountain nearly 10,000 feet high.\u00a0 That took some time; you just don’t climb a 10,000 foot mountain over night.\u00a0 And you can’t really take a lot of food with you either.\u00a0 So, these guys were in a fast of sorts as well.\u00a0 And so, this was a very isolated place where the Transfiguration took place, days away from civilization.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once there, Jesus is Transfigured.\u00a0 But what exactly does that mean?\u00a0 Well, it comes from the Greek word “metamorphosis”, which implies a change in state.\u00a0 For example, when a caterpillar goes through a metamorphosis, it changes to a butterfly- a completely different manifestation, but the same creature. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
So this means that Jesus changes in some very significant way right before the Apostles’ eyes, but is the same person.\u00a0 We hear “His face shone like the sun; and his clothes became white as light”.\u00a0 In other words, Jesus experiences a metamorphosis to His glorified state.\u00a0 Then, along with Jesus’ change, Moses and Elijah appear in a similar “transfigured” state.\u00a0 And what was the Apostles’ reaction?\u00a0 They were dumfounded- absolutely petrified.\u00a0 And so, in his frightened and confused state, Peter says something stupid about erecting three tents or booths or tabernacles- depending on which translation you read, as if doing such a thing can sustain this incredible and dazzling vision.\u00a0 It is then that we hear these words coming out of a bright cloud, as the voice of God the Father proclaims:\u00a0 “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”.\u00a0 These are the exact same words that God the Father proclaimed out of a cloud when Jesus was Baptized.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Indeed, these three most trusted Apostles took days to climb up that mountain with Jesus;\u00a0 all the while living sparsely.\u00a0 And once there, in an isolated spot, away from everyone and everything else, they had a direct encounter with Almighty God, an experience which was both awesome- because they saw a prefiguring of the Glory of God; but at the same time, an experience that was frightening- hence they fell prostrate in fear.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now before going on, I want to take a few moments to talk about the symbolism in the Transfiguration scene.\u00a0 Most scripture scholars feel that Moses represents the law; and Elijah represents the Prophets of the Old Testament.\u00a0 And so, the Transfiguration links Jesus and His mission to fulfill the promise for a Messiah in the Old Covenant with the Old Testament covenant as defined by the law and the prophetic message.\u00a0 During the Transfiguration, Jesus meets and discusses this fulfillment with the very people through whom God chose to reveal the Law and prophecies in the Old Testament- Moses and Elijah.\u00a0 The Transfiguration, then, represents a kind of lesson that Jesus shared with his most trusted Apostles\u00a0 He gave them the opportunity to get away from everybody and everything so that they could see how he came in contact with God and discerned his own mission.\u00a0 And so, the Apostles saw Jesus in his own future Glory, the Glory of the only Son of God; and they experienced the awesome power of God the Father.\u00a0 The Transfiguration validated Jesus claim to be God, and demonstrated how one could come to the mountain in isolation, pray, and discern God’s will.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the Apostles didn’t see any of this at all.\u00a0 They missed the point that Jesus was, in fact, the Son of God, and that he was discussing his role in life- to be the Messiah that fulfills the Old Testament Covenant.\u00a0 They missed the point that they needed to reflect in a similar way on their mission in life by going into the desert or up the mountain to encounter God, and listen to His will for them.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
During Lent, we are all challenged to use the 40 days that the Church calendar provides to prepare ourselves for the Resurrection experience that comes on Easter Sunday by fasting and praying; and by reflecting on our lives and our mission in life.\u00a0 The Transfiguration can be seen as an incident in which Jesus shares with us a formula for all of us to follow.\u00a0 First, fasting and preparation; then, the journey to the desert or the mountain; and lastly, listening to God and what his will is.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Our fasting doesn’t have to be difficult.\u00a0 It just needs to be substantive enough to sensitize us;\u00a0 to remind us that fulfilling our wants and desires is not what life is all about, but rather, doing the will of the Father.\u00a0 And our journey to the desert or mountain can be simple as well- the privacy of our rooms or a quiet corner in a garden, for example.\u00a0 It can be any place where we separate ourselves from the distractions of the world.\u00a0 And if we listen, we may just hear, or sense, the presence of God as the Apostles did.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
One way to heighten such an experience is to imagine yourself in the midst of one of these biblical scenes- like the transfiguration we just heard this morning, or John’s story of the Woman at the Well; or a healing story, like the raising of Lazarus or the healing of the blind man.\u00a0 First, read the scripture several times slowly so you are familiar with it.\u00a0 Then, close your eyes, and go through everything the scripture describes as if you were a bystander or participant.\u00a0 And then maybe, just maybe, God will speak to you in some way.\u00a0 A hint, a nudge, a feeling, may come to you that will help answer your prayers whatever it is that you may have been looking for.\u00a0 God is always listening to us when we pray.\u00a0 But sometimes we don’t listen to him because we are looking for different kind of answer.\u00a0 God’s wisdom is a knowing kind of response \u00a0\u00a0Rather than a detailed roadmap on the steps to follow to solve one of our problems.\u00a0 It’s a validation- a warm feeling that things are OK.\u00a0 It’s a vision of something that leads us in the right direction; and it can also be an uneasiness that tells us to look elsewhere.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every year we hear about Lent, and for many of us we start off resolved to make a special effort to get in touch with God.\u00a0 But like New Years resolutions, days, even weeks pass, and before you know it, the opportunity for our self examination and our purification is over.\u00a0 Before you know it, Easter has arrived and we are celebrating the Resurrection.\u00a0 Don’t let that happen this year.\u00a0 Rather, savor the season of Lent.\u00a0 Use it to find out how to make a change in your life to align yourself with the will of God.\u00a0 Then, the Resurrection experience on Easter morning will be one of true joy, knowing that you have made the effort to align yourself with the will of God.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Westminster Tower Ecumenical Service From the Gospel for the 2nd Sunday in Lent Matthew 17: 1-9 Dc. Larry Brockman We’re in the middle of Lent!\u00a0 You know, Lent, that 40 day period just before Easter when you’re supposed to fast and abstain from something and give alms and pray.\u00a0 At least that is what us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[9,10],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}