March 5, 2023 (Second Sunday in Lent)

by Fr. Bob Glynn, S.J.

[This text is an automatically generated transcript.]

I know this will come as a surprise to many of you. But I was something of an unusual child. And, I mean, I looked normal and let you think I acted normal. But I had high anxiety from the time you can have high anxiety I had massive anxiety. My parents didn't seem to know this. I think they were the sources for some of this massive anxiety. But But I was I hate these kinds of things. And my mother would think she said no, he's kind of odd. She said, He loves to go to the dentist. Now, this was not true. I did not love to go to the dentist. I hated the dentist the man was a sadist. Okay. I love going to the dentist office. Now there is a distinction because at the dentist office was something that we never had at home called Highlights magazine. Now those of you who are of a certain age know that these were only available in doctors and dentist offices. Okay. And I just adored the Highlights magazine.

Alright. The magazine was stupid. I'd be truthful, but it had two features that I adored. One was can you find this item in the scene and so you'd have some scene of a blizzard and people standing out stupidly with skiis and things like that, you know, and then there was a squirrel hidden in the woman's you know, ponytail. I love this. I could find all these hidden things so fast. I was very delighted with myself. Then the second thing they had was this thing where you looked at the picture, and there were really two pictures in it. But you could spot one and then you tried to spot the other now I was exceedingly good at this one. exceedingly good. I would timed myself because I was so fast at it. One and then two, you know, you know this thing is this picture like you know of the woman who's a socialite, and then if you look at the other way, it's a peasant woman with a huge nose and things like this. And I just adored this.

Now what I discovered when I went to school, was of course everybody had to go to the dentist so everybody had seen Highlights magazine. It was like watching certain things on television. And I was shocked because not everyone could see these things. I think most people could find one. But lots of people couldn't find both of them. Some people pretended they could find both of them, but you knew they were lying. You will know it from looking at them that they were lying. But that was his kind of sense. And then if you couldn't find both of them, you somehow felt like an idiot because everybody else could see it. And you know, for me, I you know I still like these little games today. I must admit.

Today's Gospel is all about seeing things and not seeing things. And it's a very interesting little passage to toss out as lob our way during Lent because you think okay, you know, we're good Catholics, we really want to suffer during Lent and this one is really too upbeat. You know, and it's a very interesting one because it has certain characteristics about the way that we look at things that are most important to note. First off, Jesus will take only three of his disciples. They did I hope we know that this only three of them went not the big 12 Nine of them were at home doing something. Okay. The other three are taken with Jesus. Why? Well point one I would think is he was preparing them for something. And these three alone, were somehow ready for whatever it was, at some level to they leave the place where they are. And also Jesus doesn't just do this outside to know here guys, I want to show you something. Okay, look, right here. I am glowing. It isn't that they go far away from all the sources of distraction, and anything else that could keep them up to whatever it is from seeing what he has to show them. Then something happens and we think okay, it's great. You know, everybody sees Jesus and they're bright like then we see Elijah and Moses and the disciples collapsed on the ground and it's all over. Now, that's tends to be what we see, but there's something far more important happening here. Okay. It's not that they just see this thing. Something dramatic is happening in the lives of the disciples where they are. And then these disciples, because they are the ones that Jesus knows, can somehow be open and ready for this. Now, in trying to understand this, I am greatly helped by one of my favorite novels. Death comes for the archbishop by Willa Cather now will account there was a Protestant. She was a Protestant who converted from one form of Protestantism to another we won't hold it against her. Right, but she had a very Catholic sacramental sense. And in this book, The Death comes for the archbishop. It's about Archbishop Lammy, the French arch Archbishop, first Archbishop of Santa Fe. And there have been a number of miracles and wonderful things, healings and things like this that have happened to Santa in Santa Fe. And is his faithful sidekick kick at Father Francis. I think her father Joseph says to him, what can be happening here? What is this all about? Is this just magic? I'm making up what he said because I don't remember exactly. Alright. It's what the archbishop says in reply. That's very important. And he says to him we're there is great love. There are always miracles. One might almost say that an apparition is human vision, correct divine love and continues. For example, Joseph, I do not see you. As you are. I see you through my love for you. Now, this I think is what happens at the Transfiguration.

That Peter, James and John are there and in a moment, they have been freed from all the things that keep them from seeing clearly. We know what they are. Their desire to be the greatest just said that the left hand and the right hand to walk on water to be the best friend of the powerful Messiah who will save the world. In this one moment, they are just in darkness, and they are emptied of all those things that get in the way and their vision is not transformed by themselves. But by God's great love for them. And in this great experience of God's love, not impeded by any other distraction, desire, selfishness, in this moment when they do not look at themselves. They actually look with divine eyes. They see the risen Lord. They see the resurrection before the crucifixion. They encounter what God's limitless love is like when not nailed to a cross, how it exceeds any expectation and their response is the response we know of true faith. They are held in awe. This is more than they can understand. But they can feel it deeply. It moves them to their knees in humility before the risen Christ in God's deep, unlimited love. Now we say oh well that's all very well for James, Peter and John. It never happens to me. There's a reason for that. And the reason is that I do not want myself to be emptied out. I want to hold on to all these things and I want to spend a good amount of time looking at me. And when my eyes are on me, they cannot be transformed by divine love. They cannot be corrected and vision cannot see what God calls me to see. And the church therefore gives us this season. of lens this season where with God's help, because it's Jesus who leads Peter, James and John to the mountain they don't get there by themselves. Hey, with that help, I can be emptied out. Well, I've never felt that. Well I have I have felt it at times in my life. Every person here is allowed to feel that is called to feel that, in fact is commanded to feel that to command what it is to see was vision transformed by divine love to see life as a miracle to see the possibility of an eternal joy, a magnificence that I cannot comprehend. And I cannot hold to limits. When we do that, when we actually live our Lenten faith, and we let that focus on me drop away. We are in fact called to vision internally that changes our hearts and holds me dear. That vision of the risen Christ.