The Feast of the Transfiguration

Today marks the Feast of the Transfiguration.  This passage from the Gospels is one of my all-time favorites.  As someone who ministers in educational settings, each year I am hit with 1/4 of the community leaving with everyone saying, "Can't we just stay here, just like this, for forever?"  My response to this is to pray with the Transfiguration.Here is a portion of a Gospel Reflection I offered at the end of the school year at a high school.  Note:  the school was on a hill, hence the references to "on the hill"


So here, we have Peter, James and John on a mountain with Jesus.  And they have a beyond incredible experience!  I mean, Jesus is transfigured.  He turns white, there are bright lights everywhere, and then from a cloud comes the voice of God.  Talk about a great experience.

Peter then begs Jesus to let them stay on the mountain. I have to say, I totally identify with Peter in this moment.  Here they are, on this beautiful hill, having a wonderful experience, and then it has to end.  

Haven't many of us felt this way about leaving this hill?  Right when it is getting really good, when we have it all figured out and are enjoying ourselves, Jesus tells us it is time to leave.

But looking at it this way is missing the point. The whole purpose of the transfiguration is not what happens on the hill---- it's what happens after the experience on the hill.         

The whole purpose of this high school isn't what happens on this hill.  It's what happens after the experience on the hill.

Isn't that what faith, integrity and truth are all about? These aren't values that matter only on the hill. In fact, they are values that matter the most once we leave this hill. 

What happened to the disciples in the transfiguration was transformative.  This year has been transformative for me.  I imagine it’s been transformative for many of you too. 

Jesus calls us to look at what this transformation means for us. Seniors, now that you are leaving, what does living a life of faith, integrity and truth mean for you?  How will you allow yourself to be shaped by the friendships with your classmates?  How will you continue to see God around you once you leave the hill?  This is the true question of the transfiguration.         
           How will you continue to see God around you?

And this message doesn't just apply to the seniors.  It applies to all of us--- how will we as the FSHA community continue to see God around us?  
How will we continue to experience God? 
How will we continue to be a community that is FIT--- a community of faith, integrity and truth? 
The good news is that there are endless replies to this question.

We all have this community to support us, a community that continues to show us God’s love.

 This community will continue to love and support all of us as we respond to Jesus’ call and journey down the hill. We’ve all been transformed while at this school.  The question that lies before us today is what we will do with this transformation.

Liturgy on Fire- Literally

Earlier this week, I preached at Lucernarium*, a night prayer liturgy.  Joining this liturgy in this capacity is always an honor.  The liturgy is planned by students, yet it is also led by students in the role of the presider and cantor.

This particular service was one that by all external measures went awry, but from my perspective, was pretty incredible.

For starters, I was
incredibly frazzled.  To say that my day was crazy was a huge understatement.  Easily one of my Top 10 hardest days ever.  I arrived much later than I would have liked, and definitely not in the mindset that I would like.

Still, we began the liturgy with a sense of peace.  The cantor, presider and myself lit our candles and began the prayer service.  In the middle of the responsorial psalm, I smelt burning.  A lot of burning.  Not just a little spark, but something was on fire.  I looked next to me and the paper wax catcher was on fire.  Not just a little fire, but really, the whole thing was consumed.

As my liturgy training has engrained in me, we addressed the issue (my pet peeve is when people pretend something didn't happen, when it obviously did), the Rector assisted by grabbing the candle and taking it to the sacristy.  I tried to step on the smoldering paper on the floor of the chapel, praying that my TOMS did not catch fire as well.  We appeared to be in the clear.

Then the lector got up to read the first reading, on which I had prepared my sermon: Isaiah 7. This was the Solemnity of the Annunciation and I was ready to relate Isaiah, Mary and the students' lives.  Only the lector did not read this reading (it was set to the daily reading, not the Solemnity).  My internal monologue went something like this:

Um, this is the Acts of the Apostles, not Isaiah.  My entire reflection is on Isaiah.  ENTIRE.  It's ok, I'll just preach on the Acts instead.  But I don't know what this reading is about.  I need to listen.  OH NO. I keep freaking out instead of listening.  Listen, Annie, listen.  AHHHH.  THE READING IS OVER.  I'm up NOW.

So, for the first time in my life, I preached off-script.

I am typically quite attached to my paper when I preach.  I tend to be an external processor, which is not a good trait of a preacher, so I tend to stick to the script pretty strictly.  But here, I had no choice.  And honestly (and to no surprise to other preachers out there), I think what I said was much more suited to the community than my prepared remarks.  It was truly a sense of the Holy Spirit guiding me.

From an outsiders point of view, this liturgy was probably a bit of a mess.  But from the inside, it was an incredible experience of people gathering together, somewhat clumsily, to worship God together.  And isn't that what liturgy is all about?  The work of the people, when done authentically, has an inherent element of clumsiness.  We didn't let the desire for perfection overpower what we were there for: praising God as a community.

*If you want a sense of Lucernarium, I recommend this video of Luce at Moreau Seminary.

A Relevant Church, aka a Church That Takes the Gospel Seriously

In my piece The Church Young Catholics Want, I discussed the need for the Church to take seriously the experience of the faithful.  This turned out to be one of the most debated, as well as misunderstood, points.  I am not shirking responsibility on this one.  I assumed that people were on the same page as I was, which is probably the most dangerous thing a writer can do.  I didn’t take people along on my thought process or explain the teachings of Vatican II, paving the way for misunderstanding.  What I hope to do here is to bring the teachings of the Church into this conversation, as they are essential to this discussion.

Here’s why I think it is dangerous for the Church to render itself irrelevant:

-The Gospel is Always Relevant.  The Gospel always has something to speak to culture.  If the Church is irrelevant, that means the Church has strayed from the Gospel.  There may be some who think it is impossible for the Church to stray from the Gospel.  Given that the Church is made up of humans, there remains a possibility that we prioritize issues over the Gospel.  The Gospel needs to remain at the forefront of our work as a Church.  As long as we do this, the Church will be on the right track.

-Gaudium Et Spes, The Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World.*  Gaudium et Spes is unequivocal in its call for the Church to engage the world.  Simply reading the first few sections brings this to light (but read the whole thing.  It’s excellent, really).  Here are some of the passages that bring this home.

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. GeS 1

 THE OPENING LINE!  Is there anything more beautiful?! 

Hence, giving witness and voice to the faith of the whole people of God gathered together by Christ, this council can provide no more eloquent proof of its solidarity with, as well as its respect and love for the entire human family with which it is bound up, than by engaging with it in conversation about these various problems. GeS 3

I love that this calls for conversation.  Engaging with the world is crucial.

To carry out such a task, the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. Thus, in language intelligible to each generation, she can respond to the perennial questions which men ask about this present life and the life to come, and about the relationship of the one to the other. GeS 4

I swear, this is one of the most incredible statements I’ve ever read.  Bravo, Second Vatican Council, Bravo.

Gaudium et Spes demands that we read the signs of the times and respond accordingly.  It calls the Church to take human experience seriously.  In taking experience seriously, we are not necessarily validating what is out there, though that obviously can happen.  Rather, the aim is to look at culture through the lens of the Gospel and respond accordingly.  We need to critically engage the world.  This is not only what many of the Catholic faithful are yearning for, it is also what the Church is calling us to do.

Seeking a relevant Church does not mean throwing out the Roman Catholic Church and rebuilding from scratch to create a trendy gathering that tells people what they want to hear.  It does not mean striving to be cool above all else, or even at all.  It’s quite the opposite in fact.  It means using things like tradition, scripture, social sciences, prayer and community to thoughtfully engage the world.  From this context, the Church can speak powerfully to what’s going on in the world.  At our best, the Church does this and does it well.  And there are countless examples of this, ranging from encyclicals to letters on war to the everyday lived experiences of parishes and the faithful.  By engaging with the world, the Church is able to speak truth to the world and preach the Gospel in unique ways that resonate with people, thus building rather than dividing the Body of Christ.

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*For those want a little background, Gaudium et Spes was the final document of Vatican II.  It is the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World.  The title translates to “joy and hope,” which is the first phrase of the document.  It was approved by a vote of 2307 to 75 and promulgated on December 7, 1965 by Pope Paul VI.