Dear People, what a great feast to start our relationship on as a pastor and his people. Today in the Gospel, Jesus selected three of His disciples to go up the mountain and witness the Transfiguration. Did He specifically choose these or were they the only ones willing to go up? That is a question I don’t want to explore too much because it might mean that St Andrew was too lazy to attend such a great event. In case you are unaware of this, I have a great love for my patron saint. For whatever reason, it was those three who were there to witness the glory of God and God the Father telling everyone who His Son was and it prepared the Apostles for His death. It got John ready and maybe it was the reason why Peter repented when he realized what he had done. The point of the Transfiguration was to prepare the Apostles for what was to come.
Why do I believe that this is a great Gospel and Sunday to start our journey as pastor and parishioners?
For this reason: the Eucharist is our transfiguration and it will help us through each moment of our lives, if we allow it to. We must go up though or we will stay down. Unlike the first Transfiguration, we are all invited to go up and be drawn into the Eucharistic presence of the Lord at this Mass. The Word was meant to prepare us, the confession of our sins, this homily are meant to prepare our hearts, to free them to climb the mountain of the Lord and be transformed ourselves. In the Mass today, at the Preface, at the part is where the priest says, “The Lord be with you,” and you reply, “And with your spirit,” and then I will say, “Lift up your hearts to the Lord,” and you will say, “We lift them up to the Lord,” that is the moment brothers and sisters where we are meant to leave this earth, focus on God, leave off disciplining your children, your judgements, your unforgiveness, and rise to the pinnacle of your faith. We must pray for this moment, thank God for this moment, cherish and savour this moment, because God is preparing to touch down on this altar to take you to Himself. Don’t discipline your children, discipline yourself to adore and be transfigured. If we miss this moment we are like the Apostles that missed out and did not see that it was good for them to be here. You see, if we start making the Eucharist the source and summit of our lives, then the rest will be transformative. Hard, but it will bring grace. God has invited each and every one of us up the mountain today. Will you and I walk away unaffected, untransformed, or will we pray to have the eyes of our faith opened?
If we gather to be transfigured then we are here for the right reasons. I came here to help you to become great saints and you are here to help me to be a great saint and that starts with the power and grace that comes from Jesus. That comes from accepting the King of kings and Lord of lords. That comes from bowing down to one God. We are not to bow down to our unforgiveness, our lust, our anger, our greed, our jealousy. We are here to bow to God and let Him change us. This will only happen if you let Him change you and transform you and you ask for it. You and I will only ascend if we ask for it. We will only love God more than these false idols if we ask to, and we will only be transformed by grace if we say, “Please, God, I have no hope apart from you.”
As Peter said, “It is good to be here, Lord,” I agree, it is good to be here and we should be like Peter and ask to make it our home so that He can live in our heart. Lord, may I make a tent in my heart for you so that you have a place to dwell. Cast out my false idols. Lord, you be my King, I have only one Lord.