May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
Today we are continuing our Lenten journey as we join the
Lord Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem.
About ten days ago we received the invitation of the Lord to repent and
believe in the Gospel. Last Sunday we
were invited to make our confession of faith in the goodness of God and our
confession of confidence in divine power.
Today, our prayers and our readings draw our focus to the divine
promise.
In our reading from the book of Genesis, we hear of the
covenant that God made with Abram. To an
old man who had no children, the Lord promised to make his descendants as
numerous as the stars in the sky. To
Abram, who at the invitation of God had left his homeland in the Ur of the
Chaldeans, the Lord promised a new and fertile land as his inheritance. In response to the promises of God, Abram
offered sacrifice. Confirming his promises
to Abram with a covenant, the Lord God received the sacrifice unto himself.
In our reading from the letter of St. Paul to the
Philippians, we hear the divine promise of our heavenly citizenship and of our
transformation in Christ Jesus. We hear
the invitation to imitate the apostolic way of life and rely in every moment on
the promises of God, as St. Paul has shown us.
We are invited to embrace the cross as our glory, believing that the
edge of the land of promise is a place on Calvary hill. As believers in the divine promise, we claim
our place as citizens of heaven which was promised to us in our baptism and in
our profession of faith. Offering the
sacrifice of our daily crosses, we await the day of our transformation in
Christ and the full revelation of the glory of God.
In our reading from the Gospel today, we join with Peter,
John and James on a holy mountain.
Invited to the mountaintop by the Lord Jesus, these three chosen
apostles are present for the miracle of the Transfiguration of the Lord. As Moses had once gone up the mountain to
receive the law of God, the Lord Jesus goes up the mountain to pray. In prayer to his Father, the glory that is
his as the Eternal Son was revealed in the presence of these disciples. And in the light of glory, both Moses, the
giver of the law, and Elijah, the prophet of the Lord, appear with the Lord
Jesus. The promise, however, that Moses
and Elijah bring, is that the Christ will suffer in Jerusalem. Moses and Elijah, speaking of the exodus that
he would accomplish in Jerusalem, promise that the Lord Jesus will lead his
people to the land that was promised long ago.
They, who are the representatives of the law and the prophets, are the
receivers of the promises made by the Lord God to the people of Israel. With the law and prophets, the apostles
Peter, John and James, are witnesses to the declaration of the Father that
Jesus is the beloved Son of God.
What was promised to Abram as countless descendants and a
land of promise is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus and in the members of his body,
the Church. Conformed to Christ in
sacrifice and in sacrament, it is the footsteps of the baptized children of God
that make all of creation holy ground and the land of promise.
And dear brothers and sisters, all that the law and all that
the prophets foretold, the apostles beheld, on that holy mountain. And what the law and prophets foretold, and
the apostles beheld, by the grace of God, we receive. On this holy altar, veiled in the simple
gifts of the earth, the promised revelation and participation in the glory of
the Lord is offered to us.
As we now approach the holy altar of God, let us claim our
citizenship in heaven as we imitate Christ on earth. Let us embrace our own cross as a promise of
the glory that will be revealed. And let
us profess, with St. Peter, “Master, it is good that we are here.” Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church, Monroe, NC
