Homily for Transfiguration, Year A
Fr. Albert
St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia
Darkness. Do you know darkness in your life? In the world? Surely the answer is yes. Loneliness, boredom, lack of direction, restlessness, confusion, heartbreak – darkness. But, Scripture tells us repeatedly that Christ is the light of the world and that we are to be children of the light. Still, who here does not sense the darkness in their life, shadows hiding in their own heart? Each of us needs light, more light. And Peter, the first Pope, tells you how to do that.
“Be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” What is this “lamp in a dark place?” And the “morning star?” The lamp is the “prophetic message that is altogether reliable.” The word of God. The morning star? It is Christ himself, who is the Word of God. So, how do we conquer the darkness in our hearts? By paying attention to the word of God until the morning star, Jesus Christ, rises in our hearts.
How often do you look to the word of God in times of darkness? Do we not rather reach out for something a little more familiar and comfortable? Food, drink, something fun… these are all good things but they won’t get rid of the darkness. Even worse, we usually prefer to sin than to pray, to sink into a pit of worldly pleasure or virtual oblivion – we’d rather escape the darkness than try to bring light.
But Peter’s exhorts us, “you do well to pay attention” to the prophetic message. Focus on it like a “lamp shining in a dark place.” Paying attention – it’s not easy. Some of you are struggling to do that right now. A sickeningly colossal amount of time and money are dedicated to the one purpose of getting your attention. Trillions of dollars, millions of hours of labor, and some of the brightest minds the world has ever seen all conspire to take your attention and keep it. Flashy images, catchy music, and targeted messages are all designed to prevent you from having to exert any mental effort at all. The right product or message with the right design will grab your attention like food for a dog – no human thought required, just instinct.
So, actually having to choose, to will to pay attention to something is a bit of a forgotten skill. Before you can choose what to pay attention to, you have to choose to not pay attention to countless other things.
Peter’s example of the lamp tells us something. A lamp in a dark place. I started by saying darkness is bad. Darkness like sin and loneliness is bad, but there’s also the good kind of darkness. The kind we want in order to sleep, or in a romantic setting. If you take a lamp and put it outside on a sunny day, will turning it on make any difference? Will you be able to focus on that lamp, to “pay attention” to it? But inside, with no windows and no other lights, when the lamp is on, where is your attention?
Begin by placing yourself in a setting where you can pay attention to the lamp. Regularly turn off the television, the computer, the cell phone – the light from those screens might be catchy, but it is a light that will leave you dark. Then, pay attention to the prophetic message. And what is that message? The Bible?
Sometimes, our sadness or depression or anxiety can really be solved simply by reading Scripture, by looking to that light until the star rises in our hearts. Sometimes, but not always. That’s because the “prophetic message” Peter talks about is not just the bible. Yes, the bible is the “word of God,” but it is it is not the whole of it.
The Second Vatican Council teaches us that “there exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring… form one deposit of the Word of God.” Both Scripture and Tradition are two connected ways to reach the same goal, Jesus Christ. And Peter even tells us that. He doesn’t just quote the Gospel, but stresses multiple times that he was there on the mountain. Peter, James, and John saw the Transfiguration. That point is more important to him than the fact that the Transfiguration is written down in the Gospel. The word “tradition” comes from Latin. It literally means “to hand on.” Peter starts with the point that he is handing on what he received from God. He only mentions Scripture after that.
The Word of God, ultimately, is Jesus Christ. The way we reach Jesus Christ is through two equally important and necessarily connected realities: Scripture and Tradition. The Apostles on the mountain see Moses, a sign of Scripture, and Elijah, a sign of the prophetic tradition. They pay attention to this and, in the end, they look up to see “no one but Jesus alone.” We fix our attention on these two aspects of the word of God until the morning star rises in our hearts. That morning star is Jesus Christ, and He is the only light that can truly vanquish the darkness of sin, despair, or existential boredom.
So, admit there is darkness, but do not forget about the lamp! Take the time to turn off the false lights of technology, pride, entertainment, and pleasure. Make the choice to pay attention, to spend mental energy on understanding the lamp, the light of Scripture and Tradition. That includes Mass and the other sacraments, but more than that. Tradition cannot exist alone. Three Apostles saw the transfiguration, it takes three bishops to ordain a new bishop. Tradition requires community. If you do not belong to a community, a group in the Church, then your lamp is not plugged in. Prayer groups, bible study groups, men’s groups, women’s groups, accountability partners. Every Catholic needs a few religious friends to pray with, talk about the faith with, and to hold them accountable for those sins and habits they can’t shake by themselves.
Follow the Church… follow Christ up the mountain away from distraction. Focus on the light he has given us. Persevere in prayer, the sacraments, and Catholic community. I promise you, on my very life, that the morning star will rise. That star is the beloved son of God, in whom the Father is well pleased. Listen to him.
