The Transfiguration of Christ (2017)
Fr. Martin Fuchs´s sermon on 12th March 2017, Prague, Czech
republic
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2nd Sunday of Lent
In the name of the Father, and
the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
The
Transfiguration of Christ reminds us of the essence of life, of our goal, of
heaven: to seek God, our union with God.
Here on earth, union with God
is already possible in a very special way: with the Holy Communion.
The most Blessed Sacrament
contains God Himself, the source of grace, while all the other sacraments are
subjected to the Holy Eucharist and confer only certain graces. The Holy
Eucharist is like the sun and the other sacraments are the sun’s rays.
The Holy Church has the task
of leading all the faithful to communion with Our Lord, and therefore it is not
a mere coincidence that the Church makes the Easter communion a serious
obligation:
“Every faithful of both sexes
should – after they have reached the age of reason – confess all sins to their
priests at least once a year. They should pray the imposed penance and receive
reverently the sacrament of the Eucharist at least at Easter time, unless they
intend not to receive it for a certain period of time according to the advice
of their own priest….” (4th Lateran Council)
“Amen, amen I say unto you:
Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not
have life in you.” (John 6:54)
But we should not only go to
Holy Communion, we should have a good Holy Communion, so that we can bear a lot
of fruit. As it is with all the sacraments, the lack of fruit does not depend
on the sacrament, but on us, on our preparation. With this in mind, I want to
explain the holy Gospel of Mount Tabor for a good reception of the Holy
Communion:
Jesus takes three disciples to
Mount Tabor
There are His preferred
disciples. The Holy Gospel often mentions these three apostles together: Peter,
John and James.
They are present when Jesus
raised the daughter of Jairus, when Jesus was on Mount Tabor and when He was in
the garden of Gethsemane.
The Gospel tells not only
their good qualities but also their sins: the sharp rebuke when Peter wants to
know nothing of suffering, when he doesn’t want to have his feet washed, when
he denied Our Lord and when he cut off the right ear of Malchus.
Jesus rebuked the sons of
thunder (Boanerges) (John and James), as they wanted to call down fire on a
Samaritan town and also told off of their mother Salome who wanted to sit both
sons next to God in the kingdom of heaven, one on the right and one on the left
hand side.
The fact that they fell asleep
in the garden of Gethsemani was not very great!
However, we can in every one of these three apostles
see an attribute that we should have when we go to the Holy Communion:
Peter was the one who confessed the divinity of Jesus
and the one who loved Him with all his heart. Saint Peter is an example for the
divine virtue of faith. (Mathew 16:18)
James was the first martyr of
the apostolic college. His body was later transferred to Santiago de
Compostela. He is an example of the divine virtue of hope.
In Saint John, we find a pure
heart that was able to truly love Our Lord. He is an example of the divine
virtue of charity.
When the Saviour appeared to
the disciples after the resurrection at the Sea of Tiberias, it was Saint John
who first of all recognized the Lord. “It is the Lord,” he said.
A pure heart recognizes the
Lord. And Our Lord reveals Himself to a pure heart.
So we must bring these
qualities when we receive Holy Communion: faith, hope, and love.
He bringeth them up into a
high mountain apart.
If God reveals Himself, then it happens in silence,
away from the world. Moses received the Ten commandments on Mount Sinai, Elias
got a vision on Mount Horeb and when Jesus gave the heart of His teaching, it
was on a Mount as well, the so-called Sermon on the Mount.
Today it is the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and
later in the history of the Church, there will be saints who receive special
graces on mountains: for example, Saint Francis of Assisi on Mount Alverna – He
fell into ecstasy and received the stigmata after having implored God’s will
and prayed for suffering.
We must leave the world behind us as well, when we
want to have communion with God. We must abstain from worldly things: observe
the fast before Holy Communion:
No solid food and no alcoholic drinks 3 hours before,
and no non-alcoholic drinks 1 hour before receiving Holy Communion. There are
exceptions for ill persons, of course.
And he was
transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments
became white as snow. And behold there appeared to them
Moses and Elias talking with him.
They talked to him about the future events in
Jerusalem, about His suffering and His death.
Moses and Elias had prepared the people in the Old
Testament for Jesus Christ by the law and the prophecies – especially His
suffering and death was predicted.
In the state of supreme happiness Moses and Elias
talked with Jesus about the suffering. This should encourage us to talk to the
Saviour about His suffering, about our suffering, about our worries. “Soul of
Christ, sanctify me… Passion of Christ strengthen me.”
Then Peter began to speak to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us
to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tents, one for thee, and one
for Moses, and one for Elias.
These three tents or cottages are a picture of the
three tents or cottages in the Catholic Church: The tabernacle, the pulpit, the
confessional.
As Moses and Elias prepared the people for Christ, so
the pulpit and the confessional prepare the people for Christ, present in the
tabernacle.
These are the central tasks of the pulpit and the
confessional: to prepare the people for Christ in the Holy Communion; to teach
the Ten commandments and through penance to prepare the faithful for the Holy
Communion. That’s why the Ten commandments are normally fixed on the pulpit.
After having committed a mortal sin, an act of contrition is not enough to go
to the Holy Communion, we must first go to confession.
And as he was yet
speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the
cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.
We should hear him. He alone has words of eternal
life! We should say with Samuel: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”
We should consider also the words of Our Lord, when he
spoke to Martha: “Your sister Mary has chosen the better part.”
Samuel and Mary, they wanted to listen to Our Lord.
Let us listen to God, let us listen to His voice!
And the disciples
hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and
touched them: and said to them, Arise, and fear not.
The first act we should do when we return to our place
after receiving the Holy Communion, should be an act of worship. “Lord, you are
the Most High, to whom everything is subject, my thoughts, my words, my
actions, all that I am and that I have.”
And they lifting
up their eyes saw no one but only Jesus. And as they came down from the
mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no man, till the Son
of man be risen from the dead.
Why had He imposed silence? Because these secrets are
only for God loving people. (1 Kor. 2:6) Why did He take the three and only the
three up to Mount Tabor? Because the law of the Old Testament wanted to fix a contract
by two or three witnesses. (Deuteronomy 19:15)
We must return to our families as God loving people,
as people who have their eyes open for heaven.
The Holy Gospel of the Transfiguration should help to
give us a better disposition. It should encourage us - even if we fall again in
a mortal sin – to stand up and go on.
Saint Peter was not immune after Tabor to remain free
from mortal sin. It was a short time after Tabor when he betrayed his Master.
We can fall again as well – despite the Holy Communion.
Let us not remain on the floor! “Lord, you know, that
I love you!”
May today’s Gospel help us towards good Easter
confession and Easter Communion! Amen.
In the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.