Catholic Community of Jeffersonville St. Augustine
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Catholic Community of Jeffersonville St. Augustine & Sacred Heart

Homily
by
Father Thomas E. Clegg

2 Sunday Lent C                     St. Augustine/Sacred Heart               2010

Luke 9:28-36

Religious Writer, Frank Mercandente, tells the following story.

Once, when our children were young, my wife Dee and I had the opportunity

   to take our whole family to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

For added fun, we decided to make it a surprise.

   So, on a cool Chicago morning,

     we woke our five kids and presented them with a packed car

         and a mystery trip.

At first, they thought we were going to Cleveland to see my folks

   (as that was our customary family vacation).

As we drove, they even pointed out scenery they thought they recalled

   from our previous trips there.

After a full day of driving, we stopped at a motel in Tennessee.

   For the kids, the fun was starting to wear off.

As we approached Atlanta the next morning, the children’s patience was—

   shall we say—wearing thin.

Dee and I had planned this surprise in a spirit of fun.

 What we got instead

     was an angry mob in the back seats stamping their feet and chanting

        “CLEVE-LAND…CLEVE-LAND…CLEVE-LAND”

As we thought about it, it made sense.

  Facing this unfamiliar terrain, they—understandably—

     questioned the intentions of their well-meaning parents.

At that moment,

    nothing in their wildest dreams could have been better than Cleveland.

Trying to avert a total disaster, we gave them the map.

   We told them to follow the road south.

Before long, it dawned on them that we were going to Florida.

  And when they finally realized we were going to Disney World,

     All was forgiven.

And then he writes,

The point of the story is this.

    My wife and I wanted to fulfill the dream of our children’s hearts.

The destination turned out to be wonderful…

   the journey, however, was difficult.

Like that families adventure,

    this Sunday’s gospel chronicles a misunderstood journey.

Jesus invited Peter, James and John to join him on an unidentified adventure.

  Initially, the three of them were probably excited

       to have some time alone with Jesus.

With the crowds clamoring for Jesus’ attention,

      with the other disciples always around,

         I’m sure Peter, James, and John were feeling pretty special.

I imagine, however, that their initial excitement

    began to dissipate pretty quickly

     as they stood at the base of the mountain and Jesus said to them,

       We’re climbing to the top.   

With each step they took up that rugged mountain,

    their exhilaration faded to eventual exhaustion .

And so when Jesus went off to pray, they fell asleep.

   They were so caught up in the rigors of the journey,

         they lost sight of Jesus’ reason for taking them up the mountain

              in the first place.

But eventually they woke up,

   And the reality of Jesus in all his glory shone before them.

But even then, they didn’t really understand.

   Peter thought they were to stay there forever—he wants to set up house…

But Jesus’ purpose was much simpler…

   He wanted them to know who he was.

     He wanted them to listen to him.

Like the disciples, we don’t always know where Jesus is taking us.

    Sometimes we might even wonder if he knows where he is going at all.

We are led up spiritual mountains, emotional mountains,

   physical mountains…

       for reasons that often times we just can not begin to imagine.

Many times we ask, “Why am I going through this”

    And very often we don’t get an answer until much later if at all.

And like the children in our story,

   We may not always trust that God has what’s best for us in his mind.

        We may not trust that God wants to fulfill our dreams.

We may not even think God is with us on the journey.

It can be difficult to recognize the presence of God

    when we are scaling some difficult mountain in our life.

This happens because when we are going through that difficult time

    We don’t see God, all we can see is mountain, all we see is the problem.

This Sunday’s Gospel invites us to have courage

   when Jesus takes us down a rocky road or up a treacherous mountain.

We may not know the purpose of the journey, but we know Jesus…

    We know he is with us…

       We know he won’t abandon us.

And deep down we know that we want for us

    the same thing he wanted for the disciples..

         To know who he really is and to listen to him.

And when we commit to the journey…

   When we acknowledge who Jesus is

         and follow him no matter where the path leads,

Then he is transfigured, changed for us…

And the amazing thing is this…

   When Jesus is transfigured for us, when Jesus is changed for us…

       then we too are changed…

we too are transformed.

No matter how difficult the road…no matter how big the mountain…

   We are called to trust that God has our best interests in mind.

     God knows the dreams of our hearts.

He may trying to take us to Disney Land,

    While we, in our anger, clamor for a trip to Cleveland. 

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