He had taken with Him the three most capable of understanding His death and future glory. And they slept - Luke 9:32 - as they would do later in Gethsemane. On awakening they perceived the glory of Christ, as Peter is the first to speak: "Master, how good it is that we are here! Shall we make three shelters, one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah?" - Luke 9:33 -

This is one of the reactions of the Church to the glory of the Priest-Victim. (The other will be at the foot of the mountain.) Peter wanted to make that glory permanent. Why bother going on preaching the Kingdom of God for it is now in its glory? What chance do the Romans have against such a glittering success? Why the nonsense about going to Jerusalem to be crucified?

Let us have a glorious Priesthood without that inglorious Victim-hood! No more pain! No more enemies! No more struggle! Moments come in the history of the Church where, like Peter, the Church wants glory - no penance, no combat, no more lashes under God's correcting Hands. Some followers of Christ want only raptures, but no more harassing details. It is the cry of drug addicts; the short trip, O Lord, not the long haul; an Easter without a Good Friday. Instant glory! Life is a long honeymoon! And these words about capturing glory without a Cross were spoken in the same scene where Our Lord discoursed on His death.

Of such talk about a Crossless Christ, a victim-less priesthood, the Gospel interestingly records: "But he [Peter] spoke without knowing what he was saying". - Luke 9:33 -

Now we come to the second term of the descent - first from Christ to the Church, and second from the Church to the world. Our Lord now takes them down the mountain: - Mark 9:9 - from the heights to the depths; from the ecstasy to the pain. The vision gives way to the valley. There is work to be done. On the top of the mountain they looked around; there was nobody to be seen but Jesus alone. - Mark 9:8 -

While mortality remains, the vision must fade, as Wordsworth reminds, "into the light of common day". First Communion, the day of profession, the hour of ordination - these are not chained to the spot. Disaster comes from any attempt to give permanence to the temporary. No use for married couples trying to recapture honeymoons, or to regain the thrill of a great experience in music or the sight of a beautiful face. It was God's love and harmony and beauty that shot through these moments, not the reality of the moment.

So the Lord takes them down into the valley where there is a demoniac son and a distraught father symbolizing all the ills to which human flesh is heir as well as all the social problems that tear at the heart of modern man. On the mountain, we see the Word; in the valley we see the Word made flesh. The place of spiritual privilege, such as before the tabernacle, is close to the place of suffering: the needs of mankind.

As the Lord and the three................

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -