AS THE WORLD SPINS, THE CROSS STANDS FIRM

“Jesus took Peter, James, and John
 and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,
 and his clothes became dazzling white” - Mk 9:2

In today’s Gospel, Jesus takes His closest companions up on a high mountain and reveals Himself to them in all His glory. They also experience the Holy Spirit’s presence in the cloud and hear the voice of the Father saying, “This is my beloved Son; listen to Him.” The apostles were “exceedingly afraid,” but evidently so enthralled that Peter wishes to prolong this moment: “Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths!” 

Much has been written as to why Jesus chose to reveal Himself in this way to his closest friends. Some speculate that this event balanced out the shock of Jesus’ first Passion prediction and served to strengthen the faith of these Apostles. We can only imagine the strength the memory of this event must have given them later when they lived through the days of Jesus’ passion and death. 

We do know that Jesus gave those He loved a glimpse of His true identity. These men had come to believe that the Jesus whom they walked with daily, the man who had dirty feet at the end of the day and wore simple clothes truly was the Messiah. They had this faith, but in a sense His true identity was partially hidden: “He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye, no beauty to draw us in” (Isaiah 53:2). So what a gift to them to be chosen to see his glory!

While we cannot compare ourselves to Jesus’ glory, there is a sense in which each of us also contains a glory which can remain hidden to the eyes of those around us.  In our fallen world, how often do we pass over or misjudge those around us?  How often are we ourselves misunderstood or not seen for the beloved son or daughter in Christ that we truly are?

I am blessed to work in marriage ministry here at Holy Cross and love meeting the couples who have come here to be married.  Because of the crisis in marriage and family in our culture today, and also because of the Church’s rich teaching on marriage, it is an enormous responsibility to try to communicate to our engaged couples the lofty call of Catholic marriage. 

In marriage, one of the greatest joys and challenges is to see and help bring out the true identity of our spouse, beyond the sometimes bothersome habits or inevitable sins. For those of us who are married, at some point we were given a “Mount Tabor” vision of our spouse: we were given a glimpse of their true identity and glory. It is important to keep and nurture this vision in our hearts, but we soon find that without the grace of God, it is impossible. In these difficult moments, we must lean into the grace of the Sacrament of Matrimony. We can learn the value of humility, true repentance and the grace of the Sacrament of Confession. We can pray for God to give us His love for our spouse, and we can ask Him to renew our memory of our spouse’s “true glory.” 

Please join me in praying for all married couples at Holy Cross, but especially for the couples in our Pre-Cana Cohort who will be married this year.    

 -Elizabeth Brown, Marriage Formation Coordinator