2nd Sun of Lent B, Feb 28, 2021; Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Rom 8:31b-34; Mk 9:2-10
My good friend, Fr. Frank Candalisa, was born in Hawaii. On several occasions, over our 22 years of friendship, I have gone to Hawaii, with Fr. Frank, for his family reunion. On two of those occasions, following the family reunion on the island of Oahu, we also spent a week on the island of Maui.
The first time we were on Maui we tried to drive to the top of a mountain called Haleakala. Unfortunately, there had been a hurricane that passed north of the island, which was causing lots of rain to create small flash floods across the mountain road.
Since I grew up here, an area below sea level, I wasn’t about to risk that mountain road under those conditions. About 8 years later we went to Maui again and it was the perfect weather to chance the road to the top of Mount Haleakala and it was worth it.
At one point, on the road, I drove through a cloud and I emerged looking at blue sky above and to my right and the clouds below me. I felt an exhilaration that took my breath away, which, along with the altitude, made me very anxious, maybe even a little afraid.
Perhaps, that is what Peter, James, and John were feeling, in today’s Gospel. Scripture says that they were up a “high” mountain, when, amazingly, Jesus is transfigured right in front of them, with his clothes becoming dazzling white. Not only that but Moses and Elijah both long dead suddenly appear and start talking with Jesus.
That, definitely, could leave you with your mouth hanging open in awe and wonder. Of course, that wasn’t the end of it. God starts speaking out of the clouds, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Can you imagine? If that had happened to me, as I drove through that cloud on the mountain road, the shock might have taken me over the edge, literally, and down the mountain the fast way.
What a privilege for Peter, James, and John to witness Jesus being transfigured and revealing himself in his heavenly glory, seeing two of the Jewish peoples’ most honored leaders and prophets out of history, and having God himself put the icing on the cake by letting these Apostles know just who Jesus really was, God’s only Son.
Maui’s Mount Haleakala is almost 2 miles high, 10,023 feet at the summit, and the view from the top is heavenly. But we can’t live up on the mountaintop as majestic as it might be. We have to come back down to reality, like the Apostles did, because the world still needs us and Jesus’ mission continues.
Like the Apostles, we can contemplate just who Jesus really is in our lives, and maybe this Lenten season we can strive, all the more, to do all that Jesus taught us and to imitate Jesus’ example, of loving, giving, forgiving, showing compassion and mercy, and reaching out to all those in need.
If we can do that, then, who knows, someday we might just find ourselves in heaven, shining on the mountaintop with Jesus.