Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent 2025 (Luke 9.28b-36)
There are times in our lives when the divine realm reaches into our realm and makes its presence known.
I suspect that most of you are here today not because you memorized the Catechism. Or read the documents of Vatican II. Or even Vatican I. I suspect that you are here because at some point in your journey through life, the divine realm reached into your realm and made its presence known to you. It may have been in a profound way, or maybe an even slightly disturbing way. Or it could have been as subtle as a gentle breeze. But I am pretty sure that if you and I could take a moment to share our stories of encounter, well, there would be a smile on our faces, and a warm feeling in our heart.
Most of you who have seen me here know that I love to see the Moms and Dads with their little babies. I usually take time to come over and chat, and – well – especially get to see the baby. And maybe even hold the baby! What you don’t know is that some of my most profound spiritual encounters, those moments when I sense God’s presence around and through me, is when I am holding a baby. It started with my own children, and has continued with my grandchildren. I gaze down at them, asleep in my arms, their head close to my heart, and just love them. Just love them. No words. Just a profound feeling of connection. And I realize that this is how I am loved by God. Just held in God’s arms. Close to God’s heart. And loved. And every time I get to hold a baby like that, I am instantly reminded of those special encounters with God. Those moments when the divine domain broke forth into my simple, non-understanding reality, and touched me.
Your encounters are likely different. But I am sure that the memories of those moments of encounter have served both as an awareness that you are a beloved daughter or son of our God, and as spiritual nourishment for your soul.
Why tell you all this today? Well, our Gospel today tells us about just such an encounter. The transfiguration. And while Luke’s description is very much presented in the words and images of first century Palestine, at its very essence, the transfiguration is all about the divine realm breaking into our realm. Or, as our Gospel says, as “Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as white as a flash of lightning.”
When the divine breaks forth into our lives, that space becomes a sacred space, a grace-filled space. And how we long to stay in that space with God. Just like Peter, James and John, on the mountain top. Or Gary, holding that baby in a timeless moment. Or you, as even now in your heart you are connecting to your encounter with the divine.
But just as Peter, James and John came down from their mountain-top experience, so too do we.
And just as Jesus came down to continue his journey toward Jerusalem and his death, so too do we re-enter our earthly lives – with its joys – yes, but also – with its pains and sufferings, that can make us feel we have entered really, viscerally, into the valley of the shadow of death.
Yet, our journey in that valley, and in the more challenging parts of our life journey, is made somehow less painful because of our encountering of God’s domain breaking forth into our existence. And the realization that there truly is a “something beyond”, a spiritual realm that we catch glimpses of now and then, that reaches down and touches our heart and soul, and reminds us of our destiny.
You see, the transfiguration was not just an event that occurred 2000 years ago. It is an event that continues to occur in every day and age, if we but open our eyes to see it, our hearts to sense it. Because the Divine enters into our world, and the glory of God is revealed when you and I take time to be silently with those who suffer, and need a shoulder to cry on. The glory of God revealed when we hold the wrinkled hands of the elder we take time to sit with. The glory of God revealed when we share the gifts of our time and our wealth with those in need. The glory of God revealed when we encounter Jesus transfigured and really present in the Eucharist we share, the Gospel we hear, and in our gathering as community in God’s name. The glory of God revealed when we allow people to touch our lives.
And the Divine enters into our world, the glory of God is revealed, when you take the time to open your hearts to a greater awareness of God’s presence, to let God’s spirit touch you, and to encounter the divine.