Second Sunday in Lent, February 28, 2021

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Be still, and pay attention to the presence of God in your life

Mark 9:2–10

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Not to the wise and powerful of this world, O God of all blessedness, but to those who were just like us
did you reveal in Jesus the promise of Your kingdom.
Gathered here, like the disciples on the mountain, we long to listen as You reveal Your promise in Jesus.
Grant us the ability to hear and follow Jesus, Your son.

Companions for the Journey

Adapted from “First Impresssions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Let’s work with the notion of “transfigured.” When is a person transfigured? When some quality comes to the surface; when hidden potential comes to light. The disciples are shown more than the surface of Jesus, more than the carpenter. Jesus’ real identity shines through and he invites us to do the same this Lent. We have been taught to cover up, adapt ourselves, our behaviors and expectations, to suit the thinking of our surrounding world. We fit in, stifle our true identity. What is beneath the surface? Do we really desire to be kind and accepting to others, generous and humorous, more our true selves? Divinity hides beneath the surface, we were baptized into union with Jesus and that has enabled us to perceive and act differently—if only we wouldn’t cover up that life within us. We don’t have to live our lives according to the expectations of others, we don’t have to submerge our true selves. This story is filled with light, except for the disciples who doze in shadows, who have missed the true presence of the One in their midst. The Gospel encourages us today, no matter what we have been told about ourselves, to see the spark of divinity in us, to imagine the possibilities, to open ourselves to others and the possibility of helping to create a better world. We also need a special way of seeing, a special light, to see beneath the surface of our daily lives. Is it possible that the holy resides beneath the routine and daily sameness? We don’t live with rarefied visions on mountains, we live on the flat surfaces, the grind of daily labors and struggles. Because of Jesus, we can see these plain events of daily life as suffused with the light of the Holy One. Resurrection has already begun and our lives are already transformed for those who look beneath the surface, for those who have heard this story of the Transfiguration and taken it to heart. Jesus was transfigured and that tells us that nothing about our lives is ever the same.

At a recent group sharing of this Gospel account, a woman participant tells her own transfiguration story. She was raised in a small town environment. There she knew all her neighbors and people were pretty much alike. She now works at a church with a youth program that does a summer outreach to a soup kitchen in inner city Philadelphia. Last summer she was asked to go as one of the adult leaders. She said that she had usually categorized people into two groups, weeds and wheat. The people she expected to meet at the soup kitchen would assuredly fall into the “weeds” category, she thought. But working in the soup kitchen and getting to know the people from the streets who came in for food and companionship changed her perspective. She says it was her “transfiguration event.” She got to know and like the regulars. She heard their stories and realized that the only thing separating her from their life was income. One man she met used to, “go to work in a three-piece suit.” “The people there were a family, caring for one another,” she says. She learned how they never wasted any food that was given them and would bring leftovers to friends on the streets. This summer she is volunteering to go back again. No one requires her to go, she says she wouldn’t miss it for the world. Now she sees people in a whole new light. That’s the power of a Transfiguration experience.

How will the transfiguration play itself out in Jesus’ life? He will not look different, nor will his clothes always be “dazzling white.” His transfiguration will continue to happen in his acts of ministry to them; people will be transfigured before him. Sinners will transfigure and turn back to God; the poor and outcast will transfigure into royal guests at Jesus’ table; the powerless will be transfigured by God’s power; women will be transfigured and counted as equals; those who sought riches and power at any price, will be transfigured into his detached and gentle followers; and the sick will become healthy; the mute eloquent in God’s praises and the blind will see Jesus resurrected and in a new light.

Will we disciples be transfigured today as well? Will our focus shift from notions of a cozy and removed religion to a more open and inclusive one? Will we see our church more like “tent dwellers” on a journey together, than edifice builders? Will we co-travelers remain flexible and adaptable to the needs we see around us and respond with Jesus’ self-sacrificing spirit? (“What would Jesus do?” Are teenagers still wearing those initialed wristbands, “WWJD?”) We pray that the Transfiguration would rub off on us. We want more of God’s presence to shine through us so that people will come to know God’s goodness and love for them through our daily service in Jesus’ name. We hope that through us, those who feel outside or alienated, will be transfigured also and come to know the God we have come to know through Jesus.

Now Jesus is resurrected and we have heard the full story. His transfiguration was no momentary flash-in-the-pan; no “fool’s gold.” His presence in our lives doesn’t always shine through nor is it obvious. But his life has taught us that if we look more closely we will see him in his many disguises, in the poor and those who are part of our daily lives. What a surprise! He is also present and transfigured before us as we hear his word; forgive and embrace one another in peace and then receive his sacramental presence in the Eucharist. Like the disciples, we have been led “apart” by ourselves with him whenever we participate in a liturgical celebration. Now we return to where we will also find him, in his clever disguises in our daily lives.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • Do you think the Transfiguration impacted Jesus’ own understanding of his relationship to God or how he was to live his life?
  • Do you think that Jesus had dramatic experiences of God on a regular basis throughout his life? Can we?
  • How will this transfiguration play out in Jesus’ life? Will he look or act different after the transfiguration?
    Was, it instead, a transfiguration moment for the disciples, when they saw Jesus for who he actually was?
    How long did the peak experience stay with them?
    How long do our peak experiences, insights stay with us?
  • Like the disciples, do we have to be startled, amazed or very frightened to realize the presence of God in our midst?
    What are some of the possible ways to be aware of God in all things?
  • From Jude Siciliano, O.P.:
    Have you ever had an experience that changed your outlook on life for the good?
    Did you see God’s hand in that experience?
  • When is a person transfigured? When the hidden potential of a person comes to light? Or when we are transfigured enough to see the hidden potential in another or in a given life situation?
  • What is the role of prayer in making us aware of God’s presence in our lives?
    Which prayers work best for me?
    Which types of prayers get in the way?
  • “Truly, Yahweh is in this place and I never knew it…This is nothing less than a house of God, a gate of heaven!” (Genesis 28:16–17) Jacob’s sentiments could be ours. What does it take to see the presence of God in our midst? What are the distractions that keep us from doing so?
  • For the most part, the “real” Jesus stays hidden from us. Every once in a while his presence in our lives becomes visible. What are some of the disguises Jesus wears? (The poor, the immigrant, the addict, the filthy homeless person, my irritating sister-in-law?)
  • I ever experienced events that impacted MY relationship with God? Was I always aware of the significance of these events at the time?
  • What does the Transfiguration suggest to me about how God might be trying to be present to me? Am I ready for the change in my life that might result from such an experience?
  • I look back on the last several days. Have I seen the spark of divinity in myself or in others? Did I notice it at the time, or only realize its import after the fact?
  • Can I cultivate a special way of seeing, to go beneath the surface of my daily live and see the Holy that resides between the routine and the sameness?
    How much of my life is on autopilot?
    Is there so much noise and rush in my life that I have no time for prayer and reflection?
  • Has there ever been a time when I experienced a personal transformation or transfiguration?
    Have I ever had a “mountain top” experience when I felt God was close and spoke a word to me?
    What effect did that experience have on my life?
  • Like the disciples, do I sometimes wish to prolong some peak moments in order to avoid the real work of living my life?
    Which do I prefer: dramatic, transformational experiences, or the quiet daily living out of my relationship with God?
    What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style:

“We had the experience but missed the meaning. An approach to the meaning restores the experience in a different form.” (T.S. Eliot)

Finding God in all things is a big part of Ignatian spirituality. But finding God in the boring parts of life is easier said than done. Here are five ways (aside from the Examen) to find God in all things.

  • Micro-Awareness—This is not just trying to be aware of the present moment, but rather letting each small action you take become your primary purpose in the moment. If you let something as simple as pushing the power button on your computer or walking up the stairs be done with intention and awareness (rather than letting routine get the best of you), you’ll find a new holiness in those mundane tasks.
  • Journal—Writing down the experiences of your day as well as your thoughts and feelings is a kind of Examen, but oftentimes the act of writing uncovers unseen moments of God’s presence you initially missed.
  • Do something the “old fashioned way”—Technology and fast expectations can often close the door on our awareness of God. For a change, walk to someone’s desk instead of calling, hand-write a letter instead of e-mailing, walk to the store instead of driving, or take the train instead of flying. The change of pace may give you a more meaningful interaction or experience. And slowing down lets you acknowledge God’s presence more easily.
  • Listen—When was the last time you really listened to someone without trying to think of what to say next? You’ll be surprised what you hear if you actually listen—to a friend, to the natural sounds around you (try turning off the radio when you drive), or to your own conscience. God speaks when we pause long enough to listen.
  • Say “God is here”—Practice saying “God is here” the next time you are irritated by someone, feel overwhelmed by obligations and tasks, feel bored and listless, feel ignored. In fact, make a point of saying “God is here” several times a day so that you get in the habit of simply noticing the presence of God in your life. Sometimes saying “God is here” is the best way to snap into an awareness that God dwells not just within you but alongside you in every moment, mundane or grand.
A Meditation in the Augustinian Style:

Father Garth Stanton wrote a reflection that invites us to see that we are truly God’s beloved:

Our brother once had a cloud overshadow him up on a mountain.
The message was simple—an affirmation that he was the beloved.
There is no “more”, there is no “less” in God. Can we not see that we are also the beloved?
Do not be frightened. Dare to be loved that much. Pour out your heart on a mountaintop.

As a response to this reflection, write your own letter to God, telling Him all that is in your heart.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style:

“The Sacraments”

I once spoke to my friend, an old squirrel, about the Sacraments—
he got so excited

And ran into a hollow in his tree and came
back holding some acorns, an owl feather
and a ribbon he had found.

And I just smiled and said, “Yes, dear,
you understand

Everything imparts
His grace.”

—St. Francis of Assisi

What mediates and imparts a sense of God's presence in your life? Pray your gratitude and joy.

Poetic Reflection:

Thomas Merton was a mystic who spent much of his time in solitude in a small hut on the grounds of the Abbey of Gethsemani, in Kentucky. This poem by Thomas Merton, reflects on the blessings of silence and attentiveness, and the poem by Denise Levertov that follows it reflects on Merton's theme and the distractions we humans fall prey to.

Merton tells us that even the stones speak, that they know who we are, and that they can tell us our own True Name if we can be still enough to hear them. The only way you can Listen to the stones of the wall which try to peak your name is to let go of who you think you are (avoiding the superficial answers to that question as the poem poses) and fall into the stillness where all things are burning. For this is the fire that will set us free. In silence we learn to PAY ATTENTION. WOW! (Commentary adapted from R. Housden in Ten Poems to Set You Free).

”In Silence”

Be still
Listen to the stones of the wall.
Be silent, they try
To speak your

Name.
Listen
To the living walls.
Who are you?
Who Are you? Whose
Silence are you?

Who (be quiet)
Are you (as these stones
Are quiet). Do not
Think of what you are
Still less of
What you may one day be
Rather
Be what you are (but who?) be
The unthinkable one
You do not know.

O be still, while
you are still alive,
And all things live around you
Speaking (I do not hear)
To your own being,
Speaking by the Unknown
That is in you and in themselves.

“I will try, like them
To be my own silence:
And this is difficult. The whole
World is secretly on fire. The stones
Burn, even the stones
They burn me. How can a man be still or
Listen to all things burning? How can he dare
To sit with them when
All their silence
Is on fire?”

Poetic Reflection:

This poem, by Denise Levertov, a former Stanford professor, captures our all-too-frequent obliviousness to the presence of God Merton spoke of in the previous poem:

“On a Theme by Thomas Merton”

“Adam, where are you?”
God’s hands
palpate darkness, the void
that is Adam’s inattention,
his confused attention to everything,
impassioned by multiplicity, his despair.

Multiplicity, his despair;
God’s hands
enacting blindness. Like a child
at a barbaric fairgrounds—
noise, lights, the violent odors—
Adam fragments himself. The whirling rides!

Fragmented Adam stares.
God’s hands
unseen, the whirling rides
dazzle, the lights blind him. Fragmented,
he is not present to himself. God
suffers the void that is his absence.

Closing Prayer

We especially pray for all those in need of your guidance and your comfort at this time.
[Pause to recall the names of those you want to pray for.]
We pray for a world in need of your call to serve others and the natural world.
[Pause to recall the issues you want to pray about.]
Give us ears to hear and eyes to see.