Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: March 17, 2019
Dearest Parishioners and Friends,
The 2nd Sunday of Lent occurs this weekend. Each year on this weekend the Third Reading at Mass is taken from one of the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This year, it’s from Luke, chapter 9, verses 28 to 36.
The Transfiguration is one of my most favorite Gospel scenes. Perhaps part of that is because the traditional site of that wondrous event is one of my favorite places: Mount Tabor, in Galilee. I’ve always found it to be one of the most beautiful venues in the Holy Land. A magnificent garden set amid the ruins of a medieval Benedictine monastery sits in front of a beautiful “two-level” church, built in the 1920s, on the top of a lush mountain; the views of Galilee from the mountaintop are spectacular. Like most of the sacred places in Israel the site today is in the care of the Franciscan religious order.
But the Bible’s text is far more important than a place, for wherever we are we can be inspired by God’s Word, and often in new ways. This year has given me a new insight or two, and so I thought I’d share them with you, because some of them seem to apply particularly well for us in Lent:
The main point is the great similarity between the scene of the Transfiguration and the later scene of the Agony in the Garden (Lk 22:39-46). Note the following similar elements: in both episodes Jesus goes up a mountain to pray. Both times He takes with Him three disciples, Peter, James and John. On both occasions, Jesus’ appearance is transformed: He is glorious at the Transfiguration, but atrocious in the Garden of Gethsemane (perspiring blood in verse 44!). In both scenes heavenly figures appear to comfort him: Moses and Elijah on Mount Tabor and an angel on the Mount of Olives.
But that’s not all. Both at the Transfiguration and during the Agony in the Garden, the disciples who came along with Jesus fall asleep. Once they awaken, they seem not to understand the true meaning of the event. Jesus tries to teach them. At the end of both episodes, Jesus is reunited with His disciples.
Those kinds of similarities between one glorious scene and one horrible one cannot be accidental. It seems clear that St. Luke intended to emphasize the resemblance between these two episodes. Why?
I think the answer lies in focusing upon the Lord’s disciples, for they represent us. Sometimes we think life is so ordinary; at those times we can become unaware of the presence of God. Plus there are times of challenge and suffering in our lives that tempt us to think God actually has abandoned us, that He is no longer with us. Yet if we look closely, in good times and in bad, really the Lord doesn’t desert us. He is always there. We’re the ones who fail to notice the presence of God. When we notice Him, then everything is changed –transfigured – for us. We can find meaning even in sacrifice and suffering, like we do in Lent. And the glory of the good times is infused with a sense of God’s reality.
Remember, we’re meant to find the Lord both in Lent and at Easter. We’re to recognize His love for us not just when it’s easy or when we want to: His love for us is constant and eternal. We who believe must cultivate a constant awareness of this, to combat our sinful tendencies and strengthen our faith.
Yours in Christ, the Son of God,
Rev. Paul D. Counce
