The Transfiguration -Wanting More 18th Sunday OT Yr. A St. Mark Parish OV August 6, 2017
A friend invited me over for dinner at a Cuban restaurant recently. I learned so much from this experience; the food, the culture and most especially we had an interesting conversation around pastoral counseling which has been his area of specialty and practice in the last 30 years. The most profound moment for me that evening was; a San Damiano Cross he gave me before we went our separate ways, as my Ordination gift. You may recall that Sacred Tradition has it that St. Francis of Assisi was praying before this Cross in Assisi when God spoke to him; God commissioned him; “Francis Rebuild my Church.” I would like to recommend that when you visit Italy stop by and pray at the Basilica of St. Clare in Assisi before the San Damiano cross. The reason why I share this experience with you is that, this pleasant experience left me “Wanting More.”
Wanting More Friends, today I would like to invite you to think for a moment about those times in our relationship with God and one another that leave us Wanting More. We may have had dinner with a friend or family member that we have not seen in a long time, and our conversation may have been so phenomenal that we just don’t want the experience to end; we want it to go on, and on, and on. Others might have the same experience while watching a favorite TV series; you love the storyline and just don’t want the season to ever end. When it does end, you desire more and start wondering, “When will the new season begin?” We could even be longing for our next vacation experience. Many couples will even tell you they desire more of their honeymoon experience. This desire for The more, is indeed a reality.
The 'More' Friends, this desire for the more applies particularly to spiritual things. Sometimes God speaks to our hearts or acts in our lives in a very unique way that leaves us Wanting More of God. This was my experience when I was getting ordained as a priest 2 months ago. My heart was filled with inexpressible joy that I sobbed the whole time. These moments that leave us Wanting God more are called the Moments of Grace, Moments of Revelation, moments of Illumination, moments of breakthrough, moments when God speaks, or peak moments. They are Cherished moments.
The Sacred Realm Notice that Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a very high mountain; the mountain symbolizing the sacred realm, the Place where God himself dwells. Did you notice that Peter’s words to Jesus “It is good that we are here; if you wish, I will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” were born out of his desire of wanting more? What Peter was saying was. “We have had a very nice time together and You have given us the privilege of partaking in the Divine Life, and we are very grateful that you have given us a glimpse of what life will be like when we get to heaven. Now we know that there is something beyond this passing world, of time and space, please could we just continue to stay in this mode?” Peter thought that by building tents they might be compelled to stay. Peter, James and John experienced their own Moments of Grace, Moments of Revelation, moments of Illumination, moments of breakthrough, moments when God spoke to them, or their peak moments. This was their most cherished moment which left them wanting more.
Psalm 133 I may have told you before about when the Seminary sent us over to spend 10 weeks in the Holy Land last year, one of my favorite sites was the Church of the Transfiguration. It turned out to be my favorite site because of the way in which God spoke to my heart about unity. I am talking about Psalm 133, “How good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.” When I shared my experience with some of my classmates who happened to have studied at the Conception Seminary in Missouri, they told me that they had a tradition of singing this Psalm 133 “How good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity” everyday as part of their pre-lunch prayer and ritual. And so together, we sang “how good and how pleasant” on the Mount of the Transfiguration. This experience also left me wanting more,
This was my moment of Grace;
This was my moment of revelation,
My moment of illumination,
My moment of breakthrough.
My peak moment when God spoke to my heart.
Our Response As I was writing my homily, I just thought that Peter, James and John at the Transfiguration may have also been singing Psalm 133. We all have these moments. I think some good questions to ask ourselves are
How do we respond to our moments of Grace?
How do we respond to our moments of Revelation?
How do we respond to our moments of illumination?
Today’s Gospel gives us a template for what our response should be.
Listen to the Voice of Jesus We should listen to Jesus always. Notice what our Gospel passage says, while Peter was still talking about his idea of making 3 tents, Behold a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, and a voice came from heaven saying. “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased listen to him.” Friends, Listen to God. We are called to be people who ask what God wants not what I want. I would like to take you back a little, to the book of Genesis. Recall how Adam and Eve were sent out of the beautiful verdant Garden of Eden into a place of exile where they fell into complete dysfunction because they did not listen to the voice of God. The garden turned into a desert for them. “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased listen to him.” We are called to be people who ask what God wants not what I want. Listening to God is like the little app on my I phone because I do not know the Tucson area very well I rely on my app to take me everywhere. I could choose to follow the voice of the app or simple ignore it and get lost. Similarly, we could chose to listen to God’s voice and be saved or ignore it and be lost. God speaks through a thousand ways to us daily through Sacred Scripture, through the Church, through our conscience, through situations, through our friends and family. How are you going to respond to your moment of Grace, moment of illumination, Special God moment? Listen to God. God Bless You.