248-542-8720 | info@stvincentferrer.net
28353 Herbert Street, Madison Heights, MI 48071

Reflection March 5, 2023

Reflection March 5, 2023
March 02, 2023
in
490

From The Pastor

The Transfiguration of Jesus has a direct connection with the Temptation we reflected on last Sunday. The Transfiguration is the revelation of the glory of the Divine nature of Jesus seen through his human body. It is a transcendent moment for both Jesus and the three disciples. Why? The glory of Jesus is most fully realized on the Cross. The Cross is an image of the ravages of sin as well as the beauty and truth of redemptive love. Why is this glory? On the Cross, we are seeing Jesus in the fulness of Divine love in action. The nature and mystery of the transcendent God is seen in the freely given love of Jesus for the redemption of humanity and all creation. This is the great paradox of Christianity. Suffering is glory. Death is new life. In Jesus, we see the perfect and total self-giving of God out of love for all God has made.

The connection with the temptation of Jesus is his humble willingness to suffer the tension and deception of the Evil one. The purpose of this encounter is not only to defeat the lies of the Devil against human weakness, but to reveal the ultimate victory over evil through the surpassing love of the Cross. The death of Jesus is only completed through the resurrection that prepares our passage to the glory of heaven.

We note again that Jesus suffered these temptations in his human nature no different than you or I. Being fully human, Jesus had a personality and an emotional temperament that formed his self-awareness in the way he related and interacted with others. Like the rest of us, as an infant and growing child, Jesus developed emotional habits in response to the life around him. He had likes and dislikes, good moods and bad moods, maybe even a temper tantrum or two. As he grew into an adult, he had to align these emotional habits with the maturing awareness of his Divinity. The temptation in the desert was the pinnacle of this experience. It was for Jesus a purification that further united his human and Divine nature as one. Jesus becomes more fully aware of his oneness with the Father in the unity of Divine love.

After the call of the disciples and a time of public ministry, Jesus becomes increasingly aware of what is to come. He begins to reveal his mission to suffer, die, and rise from the dead. The disciples are afraid of these words and reject them. To soothe their fear, Jesus takes the leading disciples up the mountain to pray. Through the Transfiguration, Jesus reveals his glory to these chosen disciples. For Jesus, this is a Divine experience of affirmation. For the disciples, it was confusing and fearful.

At first awed by the vision, the disciples are soon terrified as they hear the voice of the Father. Calmed by the word and touch of Jesus, they are forever changed. Jesus is confirmed as Christ and Messiah. Through the vision, it is now a time of transformation for the disciples. More than a powerful friend, they are convinced Jesus is truly the Anointed of God. Their journey of conversion and yielding to the way of Jesus takes a huge step forward.

For the disciples, this was a kind of desert experience where they are tested to accept this revelation of Jesus. Now it is they who must surrender early ways of knowing and understanding the ways of God against sin in the world. Any mature Christian must have a desert experience that confronts the emotional habits of life that revolve around self-made happiness, security, or preservation of a selfish ego. This is what terrified the disciples, and well it should. We all have an emotional program for life that secures our sense of self. It is normal and necessary. The Christian life calls us to die to the self I have made to discover the peace of the Christ self that is within each of us.

This is why the disciples were so terrified. Not that the image of the glorified Christ was scary, but that the same transformation was to happen to them, and to every human being who has hope in the glory of heaven. This is the lifelong work of conversion, personal maturing, and yielding to the greater good of self-giving love. The Divine nature is within each of us through the grace of Baptism in the reception of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Christian life is to discover and yield to the Spirit. This is what it means to die to the self I have made and realize the joy and freedom of living in the model and example of Jesus.

For the active person of faith who is committed to a prayer life, this process begins to happen naturally. Like becoming parents. If you really thought about all the work and self-sacrifice, you would likely take pause, but once the child is born love takes over. Selfishness shrinks, and the joy of mature love becomes the normal pace of life. Following Christ is the same. Through Christ we are destined for glory. We need not wait for heaven. The glory of God can be seen in those who have learned to surrender the self I have made to become more the Christ-self we are intended to be. In doing so, the glory of Christ is more readily seen in us.

Father John Esper

Share

Recent Sermons