I’ll never hear
the Gospel account of the Transfiguration Mark 9:2-10 without thinking of two
really funny stories shared with us many years ago when Kevin and I went to
Mass at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Rochester, New York, the parish where my
parents were married.
The Readings that
day were those we have today about the Transfiguration. A religious sister in the community gave the homily,
and included in it a great anecdote about a couple who came to her to receive ministry
and informed her that they used to belong to “The Church of the Disfiguration.” She found that to be very interesting, and all
of us thought it was a hilarious misnomer.
It got me
thinking, though. That would be kind of
a fitting name for a parish since we, the people, who make up the body of
Christ on Earth, are indeed all disfigured to some extent, due to our own
sinfulness and turning away from God.
Fortunately our Church isn’t focused on the darkness of sin and
suffering (which I tend to be sometimes), but rather is built upon and springing
forth from God’s gifts of forgiveness, mercy, and salvation.
Later on, the
priest celebrating Mass that Sunday shared an even funnier memory before we
began the Liturgy of the Eucharist. When
he was growing up, one Lent his Italian grandfather recounted to the gathered family
members in broken English what Jesus said to his disciples when they were
descending the mountain, “No tell o’ vision ‘til the Son of God come!” This rather rough summary of Mark 9: “As they
were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had
seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead,” led to a new Lenten
sacrifice unintentionally imposed on everyone in the priest’s family. And with
that, the priest added, “None of us could watch TV for the rest of Lent.” The Gospel reference was lost, but Grandpa
made quite an impression by declaring that there would be no television until
Easter.
What aspects of
your life is God asking you to sacrifice on the altar in order to grow closer
to Him?
