It's more and more a challenge for me to read Paul's letters and try
to
separate the faith message from his Greco-Roman mindset and the two
millennia
of literal interpretation and atonement theology that also
sprang out of his
conversion experience. A lot of that has to be set
aside before I can hear
the Good News that rings out in today's second
reading, that God calls us to
a holy life. That's the call that Paul
himself heard on the way to Damascus.
It was an epiphany for him, an
insight into reality that sat him down on the
ground, a vision that
spoke to his innermost being and blinded him to all
that he had ever
envisioned before that moment.
The same thing happens
to Abram. He and Sarah had left Ur with his
father and settled in Haran. He's
75 years old, successful but
childless. Then he hears the voice of Yahweh,
the first call that's
recorded in all of our scripture, clearly instructing
him: Leave your
country, your people, your home. Leave security and safety!
Move!
Change! Imagine him running into the tent, Yahweh's voice ringing
in
his ears, calling to Sarah, "Pack up! We're moving!" What did Sarah
say
to that! She'd already moved from Ur to Haran, and now another
trek! "Where?"
she would have asked. And Abram would have told her
that he didn't know, but
God would show them. And so they went. No
wonder we call them our ancestors
in faith. Their lives are filled
with these moments of revelation, angels
predicting Isaac's birth,
Yahweh stopping the hand that would sacrifice their
first-born, more
moves and changes, chats with Yahweh and Yahweh's
messengers.
In the same way our Gospel tells us of the moment when Peter,
James,
and John see, in Jesus--their inspiring Galilean friend--a
powerful
expression of the Divine Presence. Jesus is glowing--his divine
nature
appears luminous; what was dimly perceived before becomes
transparent
to them. They now understand that he is solidly grounded in,
in
intimate relationship with, the Law and the Prophets that form
the
basis of their Jewish beliefs. Then they see the Law and the
Prophets
fade away, with only Jesus remaining. They have an epiphany moment,
a
transfiguration of their understanding: they get a glimpse of what
Jesus
has been talking about; they grasp a new insight into the reign
of God. They
don't know how to respond to this grace, so they suggest
putting up the
festival tents.
We all have these moments: epiphanies, Abraham
moments,
transfigurations. We may call them awarenesses,
discoveries,
revelations, exaltations, spiritual experiences. They are
moments of
insight where God seems to be drawing aside a curtain and showing
the
real nature and meaning of things. The experience is so
different--and
so important--that we have to struggle to find words to talk
about it,
just as the apostles did, just as the scripture writers
did.
This past Thursday as I stood on a sidewalk in the snow talking with
a
friend, he pointed out the bright sunlight and the snow on the
branches
of a spruce tree across the street. I know that moment was
important, and I
know that I'll remember it for a long time; I also
know I cannot yet come
close to articulating its meaning. Those
unpredictable, unforgettable times
of sudden vision: they give us
hope; they make it clear; they comfort us. We
return to them again
and again as time goes on, gaining each time a deeper
understanding of
God and the world and ourselves.
It's impossible to
describe, though we try. And it's impossible not
to communicate it: it shows
in our lives. Like the apostles, we come
to these insights through others--in
our parents, teachers, spouses,
friends, and co-workers.
Lent gives us
time to reflect on these Abraham moments, these
epiphanies, these
transfigurations in our lives. Lent gives us space
to see the Divine Presence
glowing with brilliant light in people, in
our world, in
ourselves.
God speaks, as Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, in ten thousand
places.
We listen.
--
Holy Spirit Catholic Community
Mass at
2086 Brookdale (Interfaith Chapel):
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m.
Sundays at 9
a.m.
Mass at 3535 Executive Parkway (Unity of Toledo)
Sundays at 5:30
p.m.
www.holyspirittoledo.org
Rev. Bev Bingle,
Pastor
419-727-1774
