10am School Mass
12pm
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| (wife's feedback notes for final draft) |
One night, an old man had a dream. He was walking along the beach with Jesus
side by side. As the old man looked behind
him, he saw two sets of footprints in the sand.
One belonged to him, and the other belonged to Jesus.
Jesus told the old man that the footprints in the sand
showed how he walked with the old man throughout his entire life. The old man smiled. However, he then noticed that there were
times in his life where there was only one set of footprints in the sand.
He said to Jesus, “Lord, I noticed that there was only
one set of footprints during the most difficult times in my life. But you said that you would always be with
me. Jesus replied, “My precious child, in
those difficult moments of your life, when you see only one set of footprints
in the sand, it was then that I carried you.”
I.
This popular story is called “Footprints in the Sand.” It was written by an anonymous author. I’d like to use it to highlight that the passion and crucifixion leads to the
Resurrection. Easter comes after
Good Friday. They cannot be separated. Our first reflection is the Cross. Our second is a brief reflection on the
Resurrection.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to
undergo agony, crucifixion and death. His
passion is what we will celebrate at the end of our 40 days of the discipline
of Lent. But for now, today, Jesus consoles
the Cross we carry with his Transfiguration.
He shows us that all suffering will eventually end with the glory of
Easter joy. All our sorrow and medical illnesses
in this life is but a blink of the eye compared to an eternity of divine
happiness, what is called the Beatific
Vision, the face to face vision of God, where we will see God as he is. But we must first endure the Cross. God takes what is evil and transfigures it
into something more glorious than the evil that it was before. In the Second Reading, St. Paul wrote to Philippians:
“He will change our lowly body to
conform with his glorified body.”
So, it wasn’t just Christ Jesus that was strengthened by
this heavenly vision of Moses and Elijah.
He had Peter, John and James with Him to strengthen them for the
suffering of the Crucifixion. They who
would later experience the agony in the Garden and the scandal of the
crucifixion would first be strengthened beforehand with a foretaste of Jesus Christ’s glory after his crucifixion. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus’s face changed, and
his clothes became dazzling white. He
gives strength during the dark moments of our life, just as he did for Peter, John and James.
II.
Second, to drive this point even closer to today, for the
second main reflection about the consolation of the Resurrection which comes
after the Cross, in my own life about 10 years ago, I was laid off work with a
dozen employees in a company that was downsizing. The day I was told I lost my job, I had just
discovered that my wife was pregnant with our third child and she had to finish
grad school that year or be kicked out of school. Also, around this same time I was in my first
year in the permanent deacon program and thought, “Oh boy, maybe God doesn’t
want me to be a deacon.” To make a long
story short, as I look back 10 years ago, I see that this Cross at work and
ministry and school was meant for some greater good. Among other lessons I learned, perhaps God
wanted me to share this so that families, especially husbands, would know that everything is going to be okay because God is in charge.” Even though this very difficult trial
happened, my family still served the Church and contribute to the parish, even
with things going on in our lives. He was
carrying me, even when it felt like God was not with me. My suffering, when united to the Cross, was
my little gift to God. Jesus’ death on
the Cross gave birth to the salvation of souls.
It was His finest hour. In this
darkest moment of family life, it too – as confirmed by my spiritual director –
was ironically my finest hour. What
about you, dear brothers and sisters?
What Cross have you carried or are carrying now? How can it be transfigured into your finest
hour? As Michael O’Brien wrote in the
novel, called Father Elijah, “If we
have taught you to carry your Cross, then we have taught you well.”
Finally, better yet, here is a final reflection on the
lives of the saints: We celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (tomorrow since Sunday takes
precedence over a saint’s feast day), the patron saint of our Diocese. St. Patrick too experienced a type of Transfiguration moment of the
Cross and Resurrection at the same time.
He was originally from England and sold into slavery in Ireland around
the year 400. He eventually escaped
slavery and after being ordained a priest and bishop (and I believe he was also
the son of a deacon) returned to Ireland, the very same place that sold him
into slavery when he was younger. As a result,
Ireland eventually converted to the Catholic faith and sent out missionaries
all over the world for 1600 years. Amazing!
This is similar to Joseph the Dreamer in the Old Testament. The Patriarch Joseph with his dream coat was
sold by his older brothers into slavery in Egypt, but later he rescued God’s
people. In the kid’s video called Joseph: King of Dreams, starring Ben
Affleck and Mark Hamill, Joseph was imprisoned.
In this video, during his darkest hour, he would sing, “You know better
than I / You know the way / I’ve let go the need to know why / For you know
better than I / I’ll take what answers you supply / You know better than I.” Our
Cross is a kiss from God, who knows better than I do.
III.
In closing, the Feast of the Transfiguration reminds us
that the Cross leads to the Resurrection.
With suffering and hardship come glory and victory. With Lent and Good Friday come Easter. Whether this be the Patriarch Joseph or St. Patrick’s
life many centuries ago, or Christian family life and work today, or an old man
with a dream of Jesus carrying him along the beach during the most difficult
times in his life, may the Transfiguration remind us that, through it all,
Jesus carries us in our darkest hour. He
has a plan, a plan for our greater good.
He is the Light in our darkness, the Light that
overcomes the evils of our world; he is the Lord who is our Light and our Salvation. Amen.
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