사순 제 2 주일 Fr. Don Webber 신부님 강론

Tricia Bishop wrote an opinion piece in the Tribune last week, “Returning to Normal”. The point she made was
that we don’t want to rush back to ‘normal’. Too much has happened
that has changed our lives the past twelve month. “It’s very easy to imagine a
return to exactly what we had before — in-person-only school,
rush-hour backups, booming business travel. And, of course, the American
standard of going to work while ill (and maskless).” We should change our
attitudes as we move out of this pandemic. We didn’t wither and give up; we
evolved as the threat increased: wearing masks, keeping a distance, sanitizing
our hands, working at home, online education, using social media to communicate
with a loved one in the ICU, warp speed to discover a reliable vaccine, etc.
Maybe we need to take some of these atypical behaviors and carry them into the
future. For example, using wrap speed to cure cancer or diabetes, working at
home when a child is sick, wearing masks during the flu season, providing
everyone access to the internet and bolstering the capacity of broadband
infrastructure for all. The pandemic has reminded us that life is fragile, no
matter what age we are. Our old normal will be changed by a new normal as the
light at the end of the tunnel become brighter.

I know, a long introduction! What’s the point? The strange experience of the
Transfiguration described in the Gospel took place very soon after Jesus had
been recognized by his disciples as the Messiah. Now, Mark tell us, “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James
and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves.” What happened six days before.

In the previous chapter of Mark, Jesus asked the
apostles, “Who do you say I am?” Peter said, “You are the Messiah.” Jesus
knows their ‘normal’ idea of the Messiah was
incorrect. So Jesus told them that he (the Messiah) would be rejected by their
political and religious leaders and made to suffer and die before rising the
third day. It is clear that this came as a terrible shock to the disciples.
Their vision of the Messiah was of a glorious, victorious king defeating all
the enemies of Israel. The idea that the Messiah would be rejected, made to
suffer and die at the hands of his own people was simply unthinkable. It was a
total contradiction of the whole concept of the Messiah as Savior King. Jesus
was attempting to change their ‘normal’ idea of the Messiah as Savior King to a ‘new normal’ image of the Suffering
Servant. We know the apostles didn’t accept or understand
this ‘new normal’ until after the
resurrection. Even when they heard the voice of God, “This is my Son, the
Beloved; listen to him!”, they didn’t listen. They continued
to look back at their old knowledge about the Messiah rather than looking
forward to the new vision Jesus professed. They could not let go of what they
considered ‘normal’.

The disciples had a fleeting glimpse of the divine
beauty of Christ and did not want to let go of it. Beauty always attracts; it
calls out to us. Yet, Peter and the others had to let go of this precious
experience; it was only ever intended to be momentary. They would receive it
back in the next life as a gift. For now, their task was to listen to Jesus.
That is our task too. We spend our lives listening to the Lord as he speaks to
us in his word and in the circumstances of our lives; we listen to him as a
preparation for that wonderful moment when we see him face to face in eternity
and we can finally say, ‘it is wonderful to be here’, without the need to let go.

Don’t forget the invitation to
pray for our faith community here at Korean Martyrs Catholic Church. We
maintain a physical distance for the health of ourselves and one another. But
spiritually we are close together in our prayer for one another. Please offer
one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be each day of Lent. We offer the
good will of these prayers by letting go of them into the loving hands of God
to bless those in most need.

Fr. Don, cp