Homily for the Feast of the Transfiguration August 6, 2018
Fr. Albert St. Peter’s, New Iberia
“We possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
Once in college, I was on a silent retreat looking for some answers. Wandering around the grounds, I was a little anxious, which sometimes happens when you’re alone with yourself and no distractions for a while. I wanted something to focus on, something to do or read that might bring a little peace. And then I found it. I walked into the church which was completely dark. Something was different. I could see nothing, but I sensed something. Then, slowly, I realized it wasn’t completely dark. There, in the distance, the sanctuary lamp was quietly burning away, throwing its feeble light into the darkness. As I stood there longer and longer, I could see it more and more: A lamp shining in a dark place.
Look at our sanctuary lamp. It’s lit, but can you really see the light well? In total darkness, that light becomes clear, becomes the only thing you can see. And its testimony that God is present here becomes all the stronger. That’s what Peter is talking, describing his experience on the Mountain at the transfiguration, connecting it to the prophetic message, to listening to Jesus and the Father told him then and tells us now.
We look for light, meaning, peace. Ultimately, we look for God. But, we often struggle to see him because there are too many other lights and distractions. Then comes the darkness, the trial, the loss of what we hold dear and we have two choices: be consumed by darkness, or let the darkness cause our eyes to focus on the light that has always been there.
In a subtle paradox, this bright revelation of Christ and the voice of the Father are tied to the cloud casting a shadow on the disciples. There are many clouds that cast a shadow in our life and we are tempted to be discourage. But Peter is telling us, Christ is telling us not to focus on those clouds, those shadows. Instead, fix your attention on Christ, listen to him, know that the prophetic message is reliable.
In those shadows, fix your attention on it. Let the darkness of the world be a contrast by which you can recognize the brightness of God all the more clearly. In time that same light will rise in your hearts and you will learn to say in good and bad, rejoicing and in pain. “It is good that we are here because you have put me here, you are here with me; That is good indeed.”