2nd Sunday of Lent (A) - Lord, it is good that we are here.

2^nd SUNDAY OF LENT

Mt. 17:1-9

March 16, 2014

GOSPEL READING: The Transfiguration of Jesus

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. “When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid. “And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

REFLECTION: Lord, it is good that we are here.

Few years ago, I had the privilege of joining the summer retreat of our Institute’s International Juniorate held in Algarrobo, a popular place for summer homes by the ocean in Valparaiso, Chile. It's a place where anyone, especially the nature lovers, could actually experience the closeness of the presence of God. We stayed in a cozy, simple summerhouse located on the slope of a hill overlooking the calm ocean and serene white sandy beach, which combines the sea and country landscape. This retreat was totally different. It was the most unique and memorable retreat I ever had. We were the ones who pleasurably and delightfully prepared our daily international cuisine. To attend masses in the nearby churches, we had to make our morning stroll for about an hour while savoring the aroma of pine trees and the cold breeze of the day. Our morning and evening prayers, including our meditation, recitation of the rosaries and spiritual readings were spent either in our own cells or on the beach while enjoying the soothing sound of the waves gently lapping on the shore, of the colorful yachts sailing and of the calls of the birds which creates a peaceful mood. When we had enough time, we also went on trekking and wandering on the rocky part of the beach. A wonderful way of encountering the Lord! Such a good place to stay forever!

         “Lord, it is good that we are here.” Jesus’ transfiguration before the very eyes of the apostles was a special moment in their lives. For the first time, they witnessed the divinity of Jesus in all His glory. Jesus is not merely a human being. He belongs to the sphere of God; He is the Son of God. It was a captivating experience that Peter was overjoyed with the presence of the vision; he even asked to make three tents and settled down with Jesus right there to bask in the glory, to experience the bliss permanently. We can identify with Peter’s sentiments. Peter’s cry of joy often resembles ours when God gives us consolations. As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI says, the Transfiguration reminds us that the joys sown by God in life are not the finishing end of our lines; rather they are lights He gives us in our earthly pilgrimage in order that “Jesus alone” may be our Law and His word the criterion that directs our existence.

         The Transfiguration event happens after Jesus’ predicted His paschal mystery. Jesus’ revelation of His eventual passion must have scared the apostles. Jesus revealed His glory to His apostles to fortify them with inner strength and sustain them during later trials and especially prepare them for the scandal of the cross.

         Jesus led the apostles up on a high mountain by themselves. It was an invitation for a journey away from the world and up back to God. It is the journey within one’s good self, to one’s inner self, and up to God. It is an image of contemplation. But contemplation does not mean isolating oneself from the world and from its contradictions. On the contrary, it leads back to the journey and to action.

To remain within the tent cannot be forever. Peter cannot cling to the pleasure of contemplation. He must come down from the mountain. The Life came down, that He might be slain; the Bread came down, that He might hunger; The Way came down, that life might be wearied in the way; the Fountain came down, that He might thirst; and do you refuse to labor? 'Seek not your own.' Have charity, preach the truth; so shall you come to eternity, where you shall find security (St. Augustine, Sermon 28 on the New Testament). Security is what we want, but we sometimes seek it by trying to get away from the problems of the world. But it is not about fleeing from the world…

         A retreat is just one of the many ways of scaling the mountain to meet God in prayer and contemplation. In as much as we longed to stay in an amazing place such as Algarrobo, we cannot remain there forever. Facing the demands and challenges of our daily life situation is an opportunity of encountering our Lord. Recognizing His presence in our daily trials, temptations, sufferings and joy, hardships and tribulations is an invitation for us to have a deeper faith and trust in Him. It is an experience of the transforming power of His presence that could lead us to an authentic life, towards transfiguration. We who are challenged to continuously scale the mountain in order to meet God, may we never forget the need to come down from the mountain to serve our brothers and sisters with the love of God and with the strength we have drawn from Him. In doing so, we will be able to proclaim every experience we have, whether joyful or sorrowful, “Lord, it is good that we are here.”

ABOUT THE SHARER:

SR. MARIA ANNABELLE MURILLO, OP is a member of the Congregación de Religiosas Misioneras de Santo Domingo. She is a student of the Institute of Preaching.

KEYWORDS:

Transfiguration, Cycle A, Lent,  OP Sisters, Contemplation, Recognition, Challenge, Retreat

Finding God in Contemplative Attentiveness

by Sister Eppie Brasil, OP

When was the last time have you experienced being kissed by the breeze? If you have never felt that, come to RICA! Yes, I mean it. But you have to be quiet and be still to notice and to experience. That is the only way to become aware that you are being kissed by the breeze.

St John of the Cross, the great Carmelite Mystic (1542-1591), experienced so much beauty and so much suffering, too. He never separated the two. He called it loving attention or attencion amorosa. When we are attentive to what we do, what we say, where we are going, what we are hearing, tasting, feeling… we join the mystical and poetic way of life. I had the wonderful opportunity to sit in the place where St. John of the Cross wrote his beautiful poems in Segovia, Spain. I saw what he saw on that lovely spring day. I also felt the surging of joy within as I watched the sun rise in the hills in the hazy morning fog. The snow-capped mountain lets me breathe the crisp air of the morning. I was transported through time, when I sat, where he sat in the mountain ledge, feeling the soft breeze caressing my face. It was indeed an experience that made me realize I can find God in contemplative attentiveness.

Contemplation is described in the book, The Cloud of Unknowing, a 14^th century treatise as: "The awareness of God, known and loved at the core of one’s being.” When we seek this awareness, every moment is an experience of God found in tears and in laughter, in joy and in sorrow, in beauty and in the ugly. We accept them all as part of God’s creation and divine plan.

As we face all the megatrends in our century, trends like urbanization (the need to live in the urban areas) and mobilization (the need to be always on the go), we are called ever more deeply to respond to the call to be mystics in the world today.  The great theologian, Karl Rahner (1904-1984) writes that with the breakdown of cultural Christianity in the West, "the devout Christian of the future will either be a 'mystic', one who has experienced something, or he will cease to be anything at all." 

Jesus has gifted us with His presence. He is risen from the dead.  Jesus is alive! Jesus invites His disciples to touch Him, see Him, and feel Him; to listen to His words, “Peace be with you”! He showed them how He enjoyed the taste of baked fish! In a word, he sanctified the senses. He is alive. He invites us to be alive, too!!! To see, smell, hear, taste, feel. To be aware, alert, attentive, alive! This is what contemplative attentiveness means. Be alive. Notice, look, observe, experience.  Taste and see, how good our God is.

As I walk around Regina RICA, I am filled with awe by the gifts of color I see, sounds I hear, different aromas of herbs and flowers I smell. (That includes the smell of horse, carabao, duck, chicken and sheep dung); I delight in the green and blue neck feathers of the peacocks, the black belly of the sheep, the sheer energy of our Labrador, Sam and Carla. Contemplative attentiveness is very simple. It is accepting the heat and the cold, the comfort and discomfort, the music and the noise, the big tree and the small shrub, the concrete building and the nipa hut… just stay still, pause awhile and discover the blessing of being attentive to the gift of the now.

Our Lady on top of the hill, (tawag ng mga tao sa kanya “ ang malaking Virgen sa taas ng bundok”) shows us how to be attentive and how to be a contemplative. Mary kept and pondered all things in her heart. Be still, be!

The gift of AWARENESS will teach us contemplative attentiveness. It is a new way of living where we seek to:

         A ccept our dark side, dark moments, dark moods

         W aste time for God

         A llow events to happen, God has plans for us

         R enew our dedication to a new way of living

         E xperience God in the ordinary as well as in extraordinary events

         N urture our spirit, the society, our self, the soil

         E nter in loving relationships

         S eek solitude

         S pend time in silence

___________________

About the Sharer

Sister Eppie Brasil, OP is a prayer companion. She teaches contemplation as a way of life. She is the founder of the Dominican Sisters of Regina Rosarii and Regina RICA in Tanay Rizal.

Keywords: OP Sisters, Contemplation, Silence, Still, Awareness, Mystic