Archive for March 4th, 2023

Encounter Him & Return

March 4, 2023

2nd Sunday of Lent
Fr. Victor Feltes

What a grace for Peter, James, and John to see the Transfiguration of Jesus. Can you imagine? It was like a preview of the glory we all hope to share in heaven. Jesus shared other special times with Peter, James, and John. Earlier in the gospel, we read that Jesus only allowed Peter, James, and John to be with Him in the house of a synagogue official whose daughter he raised from the dead. These three apostles were also with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Before the Transfiguration, Jesus told His disciples that He must suffer greatly, be rejected by the elders, the chief priest, and the scribes, be killed, and be raised from the dead in three days. They did not want to believe Him because they thought they could protect Him. Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan! You are thinking not as God does but as human beings.” The disciples had to learn that Jesus was not an earthly king, as they were expecting. They needed the special graces from Jesus so they could continue to follow Him and believe in Him. During the Transfiguration, God the Father said, “Listen to Him.” He revealed His glory to the disciples in order to strengthen them for the passion and death of Jesus Christ.

Let us review the events of Jesus’ Passion and Death, Peter denied Jesus three times. James, like the rest of the disciples, ran away. John was the only one who continued to follow Jesus during His Passion and Death on the Cross. He stayed with the women who followed Jesus. After the Resurrection and Pentecost, Peter, James, and John became great witnesses to Jesus. Peter became the first pope and was later martyred. James was killed by King Herod for witnessing Jesus. John wrote the fourth gospel in the bible, the Gospel of St. John.

How many times in your life have you let Jesus down or disappointed Him? We do this many times because we meet Jesus every day in our lives. The most intimate way we meet Jesus is when we receive Him in the Eucharist. It is the time when we are the closest to Jesus. We meet Jesus in the readings from the Bible as they touch our hearts. The Bible is not just about reading the life of Jesus, it is also about listening to His words. He is speaking to us about our lives. We meet Jesus in a very special way in all the sacraments.

Baptism makes us sons and daughters of God and heirs of heaven. Confirmation makes us the temples of the Holy Spirit. By the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God brings us, sinners, back to the path of holiness. By receiving the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick in Faith, we are spiritually, and, if God wills it, physically, healed but most importantly our sins are forgiven. The Sacrament of Marriage unites a man and a woman together for life according to His laws. In the Eucharist, we receive Christ’s Soul and Divinity into our body. With Holy Orders, a man becomes a Priest, an altar of Christ, and by the Power of the Holy Spirit, offers the Sacrifice of the Mass and serves as a shepherd of Jesus’ sheep.

We can share experiences like those of Peter, James, and John when we spend some extra time with Jesus in prayer during Lent. Maybe, we may want to fast for one day, taking only water, thus releasing spiritual energy, which in turn, can lift our thoughts to a higher level.

Posted in Homily, Repentance, Sunday Homilies, The Apostles, Transfiguration | Leave a Comment »

Our Mountaintops & Valleys

March 4, 2023

2nd Sunday of Lent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Jesus went up a mountain to preach his Sermon on the Mount. Later, after feeding more than five thousand people using five loaves and two fish, he withdrew up a mountain alone for prayerful solitude. Today, Jesus leads Peter, James, and John up a high mountain by themselves to witness his Transfiguration. So why mountains? What is it about mountain heights which make them the preferred setting for so many biblical events?

Three themes occur to me: First, mountains remove people from the ordinary. They are remote places removed from everyday life. Second, mountains offer a greater perspective. A mountaintop can allow someone to see for many miles. And third, mountains elevate us. Mountaintops are not only literally higher but symbolically closer to heaven as well. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to the top of Mount Tabor to give them an extraordinary experience, to give them a deeper vision into himself, and to give them strength for their trials ahead.

The Mass prefaces celebrating Jesus’ Transfiguration say:

“After he had told the disciples of his coming Death, on the holy mountain he manifested to them his glory, to show, even by the testimony of the law and the prophets, that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection.”

“He revealed his glory in the presence of chosen witnesses… that the scandal of the Cross might be removed from the hearts of his disciples.”

The disciples had not imagined that the Jewish Messiah, God’s Holy Anointed One, would be gruesomely murdered. The Transfiguration helped prepare them to understand that Christ’s suffering was a part of God’s salvific plan. They also came to realize that Jesus’ teaching, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me,” would involve sufferings of their own. The apostles’ memories of beholding Christ’s miracles and glory and their ongoing relationship with their Risen and Ascended Lord strengthened them through their trials.

You and I will face trials as well. As St. Paul tells Timothy in today’s second reading: “Beloved: Bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.” What have been the spiritual mountaintop experiences of consolation in your life? Remembering these moments gives us spiritual strength in hard times, and Jesus Christ walks alongside us through all our dark valleys.

Yesterday, I encountered the story of a man about my age named Mike. Not long ago, Mike was diagnosed with a cancer so advanced that he had back operation which removed one of his vertebrae. Mike is married and has two sons around middle school age. Though previously a somewhat lukewarm Christian, he began “searching for the understanding of the LOVE of Jesus.” Here is the amazing thing: Mike writes, “This last several months, with a few nudges from God, I have been overwhelmed with Jesus’ love. It’s been so powerful that the pain and uncertainty of the cancer have taken a back seat to it.” If he continues to carry this cross with Christ, no matter what happens, Mike is going to be OK.

Our spiritual mountaintop moments are extraordinary experiences that give us a greater perspective and draw us closer to God. But also remember the great consolation that Jesus Christ, our good and loving Lord, remains with us in our dark valleys as well.

Posted in Homily, Hope, Jesus Christ, Redemptive Suffering, Salvation History, Sunday Homilies, Transfiguration | Leave a Comment »