Connecting in faith

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today connect us to the trust in God that marked the Faith of the Ancients

Trust in God

as related in the Letter to the Hebrews.

 * [11:6] One must believe not only that God exists but that he is concerned about human conduct; the Old Testament defines folly as the denial of this truth; cf. Ps 52:2.

The Transfiguration of Jesus in the Gospel from Mark is a theophany that integrates Jesus with the Law and Prophets of the Hebrew Testament.

 * [9:9–13] At the transfiguration of Jesus his disciples had seen Elijah. They were perplexed because, according to the rabbinical interpretation of Mal 3:23–24, Elijah was to come first. Jesus’ response shows that Elijah has come, in the person of John the Baptist, to prepare for the day of the Lord. Jesus must suffer greatly and be treated with contempt (Mk 9:12) like the Baptist (Mk 9:13); cf. Mk 6:17–29.

Mary Fairchild writes that Faith Is the Key in Hebrews 11:6.

 Welcome to Verse of the Day! The Old Testament people mentioned in the Hall of Faith did not know a messiah. They died centuries before Jesus Christ was born, yet they held to the promise of a savior and the hope of heaven. Even though they did not know Christ, they were rescued by him. Their faith carried them to heaven.3

Kyle Lierk looks out on the landscape of his life. He is able to trust that God is on that playground waiting to be found even when he cannot see God’s presence.

 In many ways, that belief in what cannot be seen is the first step.  A shift from an “I’ll believe it when I see it” mentality to one that says “I’ll see it when I believe it!”  For me it has been helpful to stop thinking of the landscape as something akin to the childhood books “Where’s Waldo?” that imply that God (or Waldo, in this case) is hiding in some specific spot “out there”, but to recognize that God is to be found everywhere!  This was what St. Ignatius of Loyola was getting at when he encouraged people to “find God in all things” and it’s what Jesuit paleontologist and geologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin meant when he wrote, “God is not remote from us.  He is at the point of my pen, my pick, my paintbrush, my needle -- and my heart and my thoughts.”4

Don Schwager quotes “The transfiguration of Jesus,” by Jerome (347-420 AD).

"Do you wish to see the transfiguration of Jesus? Behold with me the Jesus of the Gospels. Let him be simply apprehended. There he is beheld both 'according to the flesh' and at the same time in his true divinity. He is beheld in the form of God according to our capacity for knowledge. This is how he was beheld by those who went up upon the lofty mountain to be apart with him. Meanwhile those who do not go up the mountain can still behold his works and hear his words, which are uplifting. It is before those who go up that Jesus is transfigured, and not to those below. When he is transfigured, his face shines as the sun, that he may be manifested to the children of light, who have put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12). They are no longer the children of darkness or night but have become the children of day. They walk honestly as in the day. Being manifested, he will shine to them not simply as the sun but as he is demonstrated to be, the sun of righteousness." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 12.37.10)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Hebrews 11:1-7 urges us to exercise our faith muscle today as we strive in prayer for the things in our lives and in our world that aren’t yet the way God intends them to be.

 “Lord, I know you want your people to be one. But I see brokenness and division within my own Church and among all Christians. Help us, Lord, to see your presence in one another. Help us to see our common ground and strive to grow closer to you each day. No matter how deep the divisions are, I believe that you can bring us together in unity as you work, unseen, in each person’s heart.”6

Friar Jude Winkler explores the psychology that shows we have stopped trusting each other. Faith requires trust beyond what we think is possible. Friar Jude describes the Transfiguration on Mt Tabor as a theophany encouraging us to hold out for moments of clarity that offer a fuller understanding.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that without a sense of the inherent sacredness of the world—of every tiny bit of life and death—we struggle to see God in our own reality, let alone to respect reality, protect it, or love it. The consequences of this ignorance are all around us, seen in the way we have exploited and damaged our fellow human beings, animals, the web of growing things, land, water, and even air.

If Christianity would have paid attention to the teachings and example of Jesus and Francis of Assisi, our planet—“Mother Sister Earth,” as Francis called her—would perhaps be much healthier today. We have not honored God’s Presence as the Christ in the elemental, physical world. We made God as small as our own constricted hearts. We picked and chose, saying, “Oh, God is really only in my group, in baptized people, in moral people, etc.” Is there that little of an Infinite God to go around? Do we have to be stingy with God? As Isaiah put it “the arm of God is not too short to save!” (59:1). Why pretend only we deserve God, and that God is not for other groups, religions, animals, plants, the elements, Brother Sun, and Sister Moon?7 

Trust in God is the foundation upon which we can see and act on the spiritual enlightenment that comes as gift of the Spirit.

References

1	(n.d.). Hebrews chapter 11 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Retrieved February 23, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/hebrews/11:1
2	(n.d.). Mark, chapter 9 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved February 23, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/mark/9:2
3	(2018, May 14). Faith Is the Key - Hebrews 11:6 - Scripture of the Day - ThoughtCo. Retrieved February 23, 2019, from https://www.thoughtco.com/faith-is-key-hebrews-116-day-114-701617
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved February 23, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 23, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). Saint Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (Memorial) - Mass Readings and .... Retrieved February 23, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/02/23
7	(2019, February 22). Daily Meditations Archives — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 23, 2019, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2019/02/