Second Sunday in Lent....The Transfiguration. We have The Historical Rabbi Jesus choosing to take His "Three Amigos."....Peter, James, and John on a mountain trip. Those who have negotiated mountain climbs have to admit there is always a little change.From the struggle we are blessed with a gift. That is true also of the psychological mountains, valleys, and hills we have been chosen to climb. We must always keep in mind, we have been chosen, from all of eternity, to make these climbs. WE also have been prepared ahead of time for this adventure.What we are blessed with is not, as St.Paul writes, for ourselves, but for those chosen to make the journey with us. That is everybody we meet and sometimes encounter.
Rabbi Jesus has revealed to His Apostles the brutal reality of His coming journey where He will encounter death. So as not to leave them without hope, on the Mount Of Transfiguration, His deepest reality is revealed to the, now, further scared Apostles. The Historical Jesus wants to offer hope to those closest to Him. On the Mountain is revealed who Jesus is, a revelation coming from His depths. The Divinity shone through the human trappings, as it does with us as well. The same reality that shone through Jesus is the same reality resting, hidden away within our depths, to be revealed in and through the garments of human reality. Ever wish for an easier way ?.Then nothing worthwhile ever comes to us without pain . As Bonhoeffer said,"There is no cheap grace'. There is not One Spirit to dwell within the depths of The Revelation of Our Father's Mercy, and another spirit of lesser quality reserved for the rest of creation, that includes all human beings. The Creator God does not play favorites. We are all :the beloved Sons and daughters of our Prodigal Mother/Father.
Lent is a time when we again make the desert journey into an even deepening honest relationship with ourselves, as "spiritual beings immersed in the human condition", with all of creation, and with The One Who has initiated the call. Our beginning is in the realm of The Spirit, eternal. We are never going to understand the mystery of who we are, Who we have been called to be, and Who has done the calling. Lent is given to us for a sincere preparation for the revelation of The Paschal Mystery. We will spend 40 days and nights being lead into a new and deeper connection with The Paschal Mystery as it is revealed to and through our honest, and deepest reality. Then one author has warned "Human beings can deal with so much reality." The after that .......
We will come face to face with what has been hidden as it were we encounter, be with, our "wild beasts". Jesus had the ministering of angels to help him through. That means the strengthening reality of The Divine somehow entered the reality of that sacramental desert journey of forty days, in initiation of those 40 Years of courtship and transformation. We must at the tough, rough spots on the desert trail keep before us that we are the beloved. We are loved right now, just as we are, we do not have to change a thing for the love of The Beloved for the beloved. It is an infinite, unconditioned, unlimited, and unrestricted love. A love way beyond the abilities of human words to communicate.What was the answer ? The Eternal Word "emptied Himself of His Divinity' so as to enter into the deepest human reality, death . In and through His death is revealed the mercy-filled love when we all must be given to make This Desert Journey in 2024.
I sincerely hope you will embrace the following words of another Celt,Irishman, Patrick Kavanagh " When love awakens your lifeline the night of your heart, it is like the dawn awakening within you. Where before there was anonymity, now there is intimacy, where before there was fear now there is courage, where before there was awkwardness, now there is a rhythm of grace and gracefulness,; where before you were jagged, you are elegant and in rhythm with yourself. When love awakens in your life, it is a rebirth, a new beginning".
That Love is always lays deep within each person. Your own personal experience of what happened on your unique mountain top, allows The Spirit to burst through and ,The Christ within, shines like a light, for the current darkness. There is however a blessing and a curse that must be faced, and that is ANGER......... (to be continued)
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