(Second Sunday of Lent (C): This homily was given on March 8, 1998 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Luke 9.)

"What was; what is; what will be--do you see the connection?"

What was; what is; what will be--do you see the connection? The apostles didn’t. Jesus did; so did Moses and Elijah.

This is something that we learn from the Transfiguration of Jesus--the event that heard about in today’s gospel reading from Luke 9. This important episode in the life of our Lord occurred just a short time before his passion and death--and that’s a very significant fact. Here Jesus takes Peter, James and John--the leaders among the apostles--up Mount Tabor and is transfigured before their eyes. He’s joined by two great men of God from the Old Testament: Moses and Elijah. (One footnote here: When pilgrims to the Holy land ascend Mount Tabor today, they do so in old Mercedes-Benz taxis. The drivers are wild-eyed, Mario Andretti "wannabees." They take you up a narrow road, with several hairpin turns on it, and rarely slow down. When I was on my way up a couple of years ago, I thought for sure that I was about to see Moses and Elijah any second! I hung on for dear life and prayed the whole way up. So did everyone else in the car.)

But anyway—why were Moses and Elijah chosen to meet with Jesus on this occasion? Why not Adam and Eve? Why not Noah? Why not Abraham or Isaac or Jacob or King David?

It’s because Moses represented the Law: the Law that God had given to his people on Mt. Sinai. And Elijah represented all the prophets, whom God had raised up to prepare his people for the Messiah. God had used the Law and the prophets in the Old Testament to get his people ready for Jesus, and Moses and Elijah witnessed to that fact by their presence at the Transfiguration.

What did they talk about? Well, happily, the Bible tells us the general theme of their conversation. St. Luke says in verse 31, "They appeared in glory and spoke of his passage, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem." "His passage" means "his death." That’s what they spoke about. However, regarding the particulars of the discussion, Scripture, unfortunately, is silent. But I’m convinced that when Moses spoke to Jesus he referred back to the giving of the Law, and when Elijah spoke he referred back to what he and the other prophets had done in their ministries. And so Moses probably said something like this: "Yes Jesus, I led God’s people out of slavery in Egypt all those years ago. But I know that all that was just a foreshadowing of what you’re about to do by your death and resurrection. You will set people free--not from pharaoh--not from an earthly tyrant--but from sin and hell (which is much more important!) I was chosen to give the people the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law, but I now understand that all that was only a foreshadowing of the full truth that you’ve given the world in the Sermon on the Mount and throughout your 3 year ministry."

And I can just imagine what Elijah said: "Jesus, I’ve come here today to testify that all the prophets of God: yours’ truly, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos--we were all raised up by God to prepare the way for you! Our prophecies (and especially Isaiah’s) were designed to prepare the world for the sacrifice that you’re about to offer in Jerusalem."

What was; what is; what will be: Moses and Elijah saw the connection! And that’s my point! They understood how their work in the past was a preparation for what Jesus was doing in the present, and for what he was about to do in the near future through his passion and death.

The apostles: Peter, James, and John--did not understand any of this. Consequently, when Jesus did suffer and die, they weren’t able to handle it. They were full of confusion; and, for a time, they lost their faith.

I think that one of the greatest challenges of life is to see the connection between what was, what is, and what will be. On the negative side, that means being able to see the connection between our past sins, our present problems, and the future negative consequences our sins will have in our lives if we don’t repent. Have you ever known someone who seems to make the same serious mistake over and over and over again? I have. That’s usually because they don’t see the connection between what they’ve done in the past, and their present situation. Take the alcoholic, for example, who drinks, gets into a minor car accident, refuses to admit he has a problem, and then gets into another accident in which he kills an innocent child. Or how about the person who’s emotionally devastated by a breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend--a breakup that was made more painful because they were having sexual relations? And then, instead of learning from past mistakes, the person immediately plunges into another relationship--making the very same mistakes and committing the very same sins! Unfortunately, things like this happen all the time--there’s no sense of a connection between what was, what is, and what will be.

And on the positive side: do we see a connection between our past, our present, and what God wants us to do in the future? God has a plan for each and every one of us. That’s a fact. The challenge is to discover it and follow it--because that’s what will bring us the greatest fulfillment in this life and the greatest reward in heaven. On that note: in a couple of hours, I will be heading off to New York City. Early this afternoon, Brian Sistare, and eleven other young men, will be taking their first vows as Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Brian’s been in novitiate for the last year, preparing for this important step in the process of his becoming a fully-professed Franciscan. I mention him this morning because he sincerely believes that this is the life that God has prepared him for. But it’s not a coincidence that he has this belief. He believes this because he has learned from his past--even from his past sins. Brian is a devout young man right now; but (as he himself would tell you) he wasn’t always that way. For a long time he was a wild, uncontrollable young man. But when he gave his heart to the Lord, he was willing to face and admit his mistakes. And that has helped him to discern what God wants from him now and in the future. He has learned from "what was", and applied those lessons to "what is", for the sake of "what will someday be." (And by the way, we really shouldn’t call him "Brian" anymore. He’s taken the name "Brother Juniper Mary" as a Franciscan. That new name is a sign of his new life as a servant of Christ, and so we should start calling him by that designation.)

"But, Fr. Ray, I don’t always see the connection in my life between what was, and what is, and what will be." Well, join the club. That’s why we have to PRAY--daily! Believe me--Peter, James and John would have understood the Transfiguration much more fully if they had only taken the time to pray about it, and meditate on what they had seen and heard that day on the mountain. But, if you read the rest of Luke 9, you get the impression that they were more interested in arguing than they were in praying. Luke tells us that shortly after this they and the rest of the apostles got into a big, verbal fight about who was the most important in the group! Is it any wonder they weren’t prepared for Good Friday?!