Listen to Him

 In This weeks gospel Mark 9:2-10   The transfiguration takes place.  Jesus took Peter James and John up a high mountain so they can be away from everyone. At that point Jesus was transfigured. His clothes shined bright white, while Elijah and Moses appeared. Elijah and Moses spoke with Jesus. A voice spoke from the clouds saying “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him” The  three disciples reacted probably no different then any of us with excitement and also fear.   When they were heading back down the mountain Jesus told the disciples that they were not to speak of what they had just  witnessed until the son of man had risen. 

           I have given many hours of thought as to what may or may not have  happened on top of this mountain.   I love that Jesus was a man like us and we are able to relate to him in some ways. We know he dealt with temptation just as we do. He wept, he suffered like most men. Obviously Jesus is much more than a man,  but during his time on earth with us he still had a very human experience. Knowing this makes me wonder if Elijah and Moses appeared to Jesus to give him the guidance and support the he may have needed to move forward with the next part of the “mission”   Did they appear to him to let him know that he was about to enter a season that required more faith than ever? It seems very possible.  Jesus goes  up the mountain into solitude , possibly looking for some answers and…What does  God do?  He sends the prophet Elijah and Moses to give him the strength to move on. It doesn’t seem that far fetched. 

      I have had times in my life when I needed answers and I’ve gone into prayer, hoping for an answer or some kind of sign from God.  Have you ever needed a prayer answered? Have you ever been a situation that only God can get you through?   I’ve been there a few times in my life and without fail... the Lord has carried me through. I don't always get exactly what I want, but I do have my prayer answered. I believe that there are times when we need to step away from the world and be with the lord in  deep prayer.  I think in those quiet moments we can hear and see what God has planned for us.  I think that the guidance and support that we need from the lord shows up when we make the effort to get away from it all.  Thats when the lord shows up no different then Elijah and Moses did on the mountain. The world is filled with distractions and its  all too easy to lose sight of the lord.   It’s too easy to get caught up in our daily routine.  We forget about our relationship with the lord and it’s importance.  We forget how important it is to build and work on our relationship with God. My experience has been that my relationship with the lord deepens when I close out all the noise of the world and open up my heart. I find that extremely hard to do when we are in middle of work, or dealing with family pressure and a pandemic. Luckily, the Lenten season and  this gospel provide us with a reminder of how to get closer to God. No, different than Jesus, we can also seek solitude. We can  go into prayer.  We can ask for answers and most importantly like the voice from the cloud says.. “we listen to him”. The transfiguration is  a great reminder that the lord can shine brighter than ever in our lives if we take the steps to see and hear him. 

-Anonymous

The Arc of the Moral Universe

 

Everything is going to be fine in the end.  Or, as Martin Luther King, Jr. much more eloquently said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”.  Life has its ups and downs, but the end of our story is predestined and good.  

This week’s Gospel demonstrates these ideas.  The reading is short, so let’s quote it in whole, “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.  He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.  After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: ‘This is the time of fulfillment.  The kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel.'” 

What a whiplash between good and bad this is.  Jesus is baptized: awesome!  Jesus is tempted: terrible!  Jesus announces the good news of the gospel: awesome again!

Isn’t that life?  Ups and downs.  Joy and sorrow.  I can’t tell you the number of days where I've woken up in a great mood, ready to take on the world, only to be heartily discouraged by breakfast.  Or sometimes vice versa.  And sometimes those cycles lasts far longer than one day.  

But, as St. Paul reminds us, God works all things for good.  That doesn’t mean that life is always happy, of course.  Horrible things have happened and will happen in the future, I'm sorry to say.  And sometimes a person's entire life story, including their death, can be just awful.  Sometimes (I'll speak for myself here), I can find no meaning at all to our sufferings.  

But nobody's life is outside of God's plans.  And nobody's story ends with the second date on their tombstone.  Each of our stories merges with the Kingdom of God and therefore ends well.  

What's my point?  Keep the faith, and know that your struggles are an essential part of a very long story, a story that is destined to end well.  Jesus is with you every step of the way.   

Also, enjoy the good moments of this life without worrying too much about the bad moments which may come.  And if you figure out how to do that really well, please let me know how you did it.     

God bless you.

- The Older Brother 

 

I DO CHOOSE

Mark 1: 40-45  (Gospel Reflection for Sunday 2.14.21)

Maybe you have heard the remark, “He was treated like a leper?”  This remark has its roots in history for those afflicted with what we know now as Hansen’s Disease.  In biblical times, if you were unfortunate enough to have leprosy, you were required to live apart from the mainstream and in small communities of other lepers.  “He was obliged also to live outside the camp.” (LK 13:45) Most believed that the leper was spiritually and physically unclean. Their condition was believed to be a curse from God, and they were shunned by their neighbors.

Although we have found a cure for Leprosy, the stigmatization of others who are different continues.  Through no fault of their own, maybe they were born with Downs Syndrome, or without a body part, or someone who limps because one leg is shorter than the other, or, or, or.  We find much wrong with others, don’t we?  In earlier life,  I found myself also behaving this way, falling into this sin of impulsively in harshly judging those who did not fit my definition of normal or acceptable.  God forgive me for this,  for it was Jesus who eventually got my attention and schooled me in compassion, empathy, and love.  I am both ashamed and grateful at the same time.  Another great paradox of the Christian journey and in some ways I remain self-righteous.

Fast forward to 2020  when the world was suddenly infected by the rogue Co-Vid.  Too many good souls were taken because of Co-Vid and outright refusal to accept medical science and because of a lack of moral leadership.  And I am angry because of this.  The ignorance and self-righteousness forced a country to bury hundreds of thousands of their loved ones.  Their lack of leadership and longing for power and control forced our communities to follow the lepers into the hillside caves for many months.  For now, the toll is incalculable.  In essence, we became the lepers of 2020 fearing that we would infect a loved one or ourselves becoming infected by another. How many lives might have been saved is the question?   Perhaps, now we can relate to the biblical lepers?  Maybe now, God is giving us an opportunity to look at the sinful sides of ourselves? The sides that are not of Light, but that of darkness.  The sides that promote dissention, detachment, and disharmony – the evil that has been a part of all mankind since the beginning.

As Jesus prepares to take the sins of all mankind onto Himself,  we find Him approaching a leper.  His heart was filled with compassion and the love for all was the benchmark of His presence (then and now).  As I look back into 2020, I have witnessed countless acts of sacrifice and selfless love that mimic our Lord’s life.  They continue to this day.  These who act like Christ are the essential workers who stock the food shelves, pick up our garbage, deliver food to the homebound, medically treat the sick and dying, bury the dead, celebrate the Eucharist, counsel those in need and just being good neighbors to others.  The list is growing, showing us the truth about most people.  They are good!

As I reflect about this Gospel and upon the last year, I am challenged by those saints around me that decided to choose yes.  I am not certain how much time is left for me, but I am certain that I will follow all those who respond “Yes” to God and try my best to walk in the footsteps of His son.    The Pilgrim

 

Giving the Lord a Break

Mark 1:29-39 (Sunday Gospel 2.7.21)

In this week’s upcoming Gospel, we find Jesus touching the hand of Simon the Zealot’s mother-in law who lay gravely ill in her bed. After exorcising her illness, she immediately was healed.  Afterward, word spread in the village and the townsfolk brought their loved ones who were broken and sick to be healed also.  And so, it was done.

Like yourselves, I am fully acquainted with exhaustion, but I often ponder just how drained the Lord was after performing such miracles. Is it even possible to relate to His condition?  Am I being sacrilegious by trying to identify with his condition?  I am not sure of the answer to these questions, but what I do related to is the toll it takes on myself by trying my best to live in some type of accordance with the Gospel.

Throughout the New Testament, it is apparent that Jesus needed to get away from everyone periodically.  Sound familiar?  He disappeared in the darkness of the morning, seeking prayer in the silence and solitude of the hills and mountains. In this account, it did not take long after He left to pray when he was discovered by His disciples.  They told him that a growing crowd of people were needing Him.  What remains apparent in the Gospels, is Jesus’ consistent response to someone in need.  He never excluded or refused anyone God’s graces, even when exhausted.  From His departure from the desert to His death on the Cross, He worked hard. I must admit that I feel sorry for Him and say to myself, “Wow, the Lord cannot seem to get a break at times, why can’t they just give Him some space?”  It was obvious that Jesus knew the importance of praying to His Father by disappearing into the night.  It was then that He found refreshment and the energy to carry on His mission.

Recently, I ran across a great prayer written by Cesar Chavez who led his people out of the desert of civil rights abuses and was an American labor leader for the Latino community.  He wrote, “ Show me the suffering of the most miserable, so that I will know my people’s plight,”  It appears that all worthwhile goals takes hard work. 

Brother and sisters let us be reminded that we too must carry out the noble mission of Jesus, Cesar Chavez and many others who follow in the footsteps of Our Lord.  We seek clarity and truth from God alone.  Perhaps getting up a wee bit earlier tomorrow to follow Jesus into the hills and to pray alone.  Maybe you might want to take a different approach?  Rather than asking for something, ask the Lord what you can do for Him this day.  Yes, it is an exhausting time to live now and we all need a break, but the promises put forth from God will be out ultimate reward.  There will be time to rest, but for now “let’s get to work.”

The Pilgrim