Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Mountain

You Fill-in the Blanks

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The story (I believe) calls each one of us to examine what mountain we must climb to see God’s glory.  I trust you have been using our assigned Lenten Lectio book.  So you are hearing daily about protection with a blue ribbon as you climb your Lenten mountain.  You can call the mountains whatever you will – it’s your personalize mount to climb: hurdles, challenges, enticing temptations, near occasions of sin, quirks of personality, Lenten resolutions, pet peeves….  Some days they are like just a little pebble on our path that we kick aside.  Other days, they can be like a grain of sand inside your shoe – no bother when you are sitting still but the instant you start to move it quickly makes itself felt.  Other days, they are like boulders we can’t move with a backhoe.  Everyone’s mountain is different; but, to witness God’s glory, we must climb our “mountains.”

When we reach the mountaintop, we must stay alert, have the insight to know that we are at the top.  The disciples could have missed Jesus’ transfiguration if they:

  • had been too busy taking in the view
  • gloating over their status or talking about those left behind
  • wondering about what was on the agenda for tomorrow
  • how long were they going to be up on this mountain anyway
  • would there be time to finish what they had started when Jesus summoned them
  • bickering over who was going to get to use the walking stick going down the mountain
  • and, who’s going to provide the fish for tonight’s supper?

You fill in the blanks…you know what it is that keeps you from seeing God’s glory.  What causes you to miss the “small miracles,” the “everyday transfigurations” in yourself, in each other, in nature.  We need to thank God when we get to the top of the mountain; but we can hardly stay there.  There are more mountains to climb.  While you are at the top, if only for an instant, don’t miss the transfiguration.

Jesus did not become “more God” that day on the mountain.  I don’t think the change was so much in Jesus, as it was in the disciples.  They were ready.  They had climbed the mountain.  And their eyes were open to witness the miracle of the moment.  Transfigurations we sometimes call “miracles” are all around us IF we but have the eyes to see.

  • Miracle of God’s graciousness when a person holds a door open for another
  • Miracle of God’s loving-care when a chair is vacated to give another a seat
  • Miracle of God’s inclusion when we make space at table
  • Miracle of God’s mercy when a mistake is not challenged in public
  • Miracle of God’s hospitality when an open invitation is extended
  • Miracle of God’s steadfastness when day after day we gather for communal exercises
  • Miracle of God’s perseverance when we come through tough times – individually and as a community
  • Miracle of God’s humility when reconciliation occurs
  • Miracle of God’s generosity when we give from our need
  • Miracle of God’s compassion when an offer is extended before the other has to ask
  • Miracle of God’s humor when it rains on our picnics
  • Miracle of God’s artistry in the beauty of nature that surrounds us
  • And always, God, thank you for the miracle of tomorrow: the gift of a new sunrise, a new slate, a new beginning.

Make your own litany of miracles.  God is already there, is here.  Jesus invites us up the mountain and leads the way.  We just need to open our eyes to witness the transfiguration.

Reflection By Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
Mark 9: 2-10   [Vigil of the Second Sunday in Lent  3.16.19]

 

 

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An Unspeakable Event

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First Reading  Genesis 12:1-4a               Second Reading 2 Timothy 1:8b-10
Gospel   Matthew 17:1-9

Let’s set the scene: there is a mountain, there must have been clouds since we hear a voice come from out the clouds … then, there is Jesus. Three special friends, a face shining like the sun, clothes dazzling white, a voice from a cloud!   Something powerful is occurring here. And, it’s more than the disciples can comprehend.  They knew Jesus was someone special.  They’d known Him as a teacher, a healer, even a prophet… but that did not capture His full identity. Peter gets it “You are the Christ, the son of the living God!”    But his human understanding did not grasp the full meaning of what he said.

Peter recognizes that Jesus’ dazzling appearance in the presence of Moses and Elijah is significant–“Lord, it is good for us to be here!”   His suggestion to build three booths, or dwelling places sounds like an attempt to capture the moment, to preserve for safekeeping this frightening experience.   Imagine Peter (the extrovert par excellence) , jumping up and down with his hand in the air, like a child desperate to give the right answer, but who cannot quite get it right because he does not fully understand the question.

In his attempt to make sense of the magnificent transformation taking place before his eyes, Peter tries to talk it out, to speak words for the unspeakable event.  While he is still speaking, a bright cloud overshadows all of them and a voice interrupts: “This is my Son, my Beloved; in whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

A stunned silence follows.  The four-some turns to go back down the mountain.  And Jesus asks them to tell no one what they experienced UNTIL He has been raised from the dead.

There are times when it is best to be quiet.  Times when we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves. There is more going on than what our physical eyes can see or understand. We have entered a mystery that can neither be defined nor discussed, only experienced.

There are moments like that in every life. Lovers gazing at each other see more than just another person. They have been brought face to face with the mystery of love. Parents and grandparents will recall when they beheld for the very first time the new baby in the family.  They see more than a baby. They are face to face with the mystery of life.  We’ve all seen a little child squealing with excitement. It is more than excitement. That child has come face to face with the mystery of deep joy. Recall a time you made a confession, formal or informal, and experienced the forgiveness of God or another person. It was about much more than words, past behavior, and the memory of estrangement. You came face to face with the mystery of grace.  And, many of us have been with a dying confrere, or parent, or friend.  We waited and watched for the person to be carried into new life. We came face to face with the mystery of death.

These are the moments of transfiguration. Each one of them is distinct, unique, and unrepeatable.  Yet they are somehow the same. Each one is so transparent, so real, they glow with the light of God’s presence. They are moments of pure grace. We cannot make them happen. We can only be there when it does happen. Thus, the importance of simply living in the present moment where everything around us seems to fall away.  It is a moment of pure, complete presence.

That is what happened to Peter, James, and John on the mountain.  They “looked up and saw only Jesus.”  This was as much their transfiguration as it was Jesus’. They didn’t just see the light they were absorbed into the light!

Jesus did not become something he was not before that night on the mountain. He was always filled with the glory of God. He didn’t become something new; but the disciples did.  In a flash of insight they saw the world with God’s eyes.  For, you see, transfiguration is not so much about what we see as it is about how we see. As long as we see only with our physical eyes, we will always be looking for something … looking over the fences of our own reality for that greener grass on the other side of the fence.

~ Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
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