Ecstasy PLUS Agony EQUALS Transformation!
The words of the gospel of Luke’s
Transfiguration washes over us again this Lent.
It is a familiar passage. The ecstasy of the vision of Jesus on the
mountain is a preparation for us to be strengthened so that when we experience
Jesus on another Mountain in the Agony in the Garden in six weeks we celebrate
a newer person in Jesus. Both
experiences are a necessity for us to truly live out a life of transformation,
moving closer to Our Lord. Ecstasy PLUS Agony EQUALS Transformation
Ecstasy abounds on the Mountain of Tabor. Three apostles are privy to the event. We are like these special men. Peter, James, and John have been set apart by
Jesus and chosen to travel up the Mountain.
Why them? Peter will be the
future Bishop of Rome. James will be the
Bishop of Jerusalem and the first to experience martyrdom. And John, the
beloved, will give first-hand accounts of his deep relationship with Jesus in
the Gospel. The mountain’s symbolism is
to meet God, to feel as close to Him as possible. It is a “religious high” compared to the
flatness of the earth at the bottom of the mountain, which exemplifies everyday
reality. Seeing Jesus in His Most Dazzling
form, the men are shaken to a reality which will stay with them forever. Jesus
uses this flash of glory as a strengthening device. St. Ambrose beautifully
explains, “Peter saw this grace, and so did those who were with him, although
they were heavy with sleep. The incomprehensible magnificence of the Godhead
overwhelms the perception of our body.” When we fall asleep and something
awakens us that is beyond our wildest dreams, then we want it to last forever.
Peter impulsively blurts out his desire to protect the glorious magnificence
and insists three tents are built. Like
us he wants the glory to last forever.
Our own personal glories reveal themselves in many facets, intensely
beautiful music, Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and the perfection of
a newborn baby!
But then there is the unavoidable Agony in the Garden.
Jesus has prepared and equipped Peter, James and John and given them the
experience of the Transfiguration in order for them to withstand the impending
Agony in the Garden. The Mount of Olives is another mountain, actually a hill,
which overlooks adjacent Jerusalem.
Matthew 26:37, “He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and
began to feel sorrow and distress.” Mark
14:33 “He took with him, Peter, James and John, and began to be troubled and
distressed.” Then they fell asleep again. Avoiding the reality of suffering,
these men, followers of Christ slept because they did not want to face the
impending event. Living a life of faith
we, too, are disturbed when we are called to suffer. We just want to sleep and make the pain
depart. Luke 22:45, “When he rose from prayer and returned to his disciples, he
found them sleeping from grief.” Father Roger Radloff, a friend and priest who
suffered three years with cancer, had his last homilies written and bound into
two volumes. He comments on this
suffering, “I would dare say that most people don’t look for happiness anymore,
they look for safety, security, comfortability…happiness is long out of sight
for those who are cynical and sometimes realistic. To be comfortable seems to be the end of
American living, if you think about it.
Things that inconvenience us are the things to get rid of…so in other
words, it’s important to make enough money and to secure that money in such a
way, a lifetime goal, to be as comfortable as possible…and maybe the exact
purpose of Christianity is to make us uncomfortable, because if we were
comfortable all the time, if we were Peter sitting up there in his little tent
looking at the Transfigured Christ we would never deal with the reality of the
problems we have here on earth and the very complacency of our lives would
force us to be uncreative. In other
words, it almost takes agony to make ecstasy possible; you have to have one end
of the polar spectrum in order to be able to share in the other…” Our
realities, our agonies could be in the shape of uncontrollable circumstances,
family disappointments or unexpected deaths and long term dying.
Both these elements, ecstasy and agony, each one of us
MUST trudge through to be transformed.
We must endure the difficult experiences. Every morning is not spent seeking suffering,
but just living out our normal everyday lives. Without pain, Christ says, there
is no growth toward Him. When we
recognize Christ’s life, and embody his Whole Divine Glory and Human Passion, we
receive all of Him. In the fourth mystery of light of the rosary, the
Transfiguration, the meditation is, “I desire to be transformed by God” or “I
desire to be a new person in Christ.” As
we move closer to our death, the Lord calls us to urgently live both the agony
and the ecstasy. Incorporating both elements, Jesus urges us to change. In the
Transfiguration true discipleship on the Glory Mountain means take up the
cross, then by embracing the suffering, the Lord empowers those who answer the
call because Jesus will be seen, face to face. On that high glorious mountain, the
voice of God from the cloud vehemently commands the three men (and us), “Listen
to him.” In the scene with the disciples on the Mountain in the Garden, Jesus
emphatically directs his disciples (and us), “Get up!” Our real life
transformational decisions could include forgiving an annoying friend or family
member, making a cathartic confession, or surrendering and healing from a lost, strained relationship.
Experiencing, fully engaging, and completely embodying
the indescribable presence of God the Father and His Son in our life, holding
on to that experience and never losing it, helps us to then be able to endure
the unavoidable pains, challenges, and sufferings of our everyday lives. The
Ecstasy on the Mountain of Tabor plus the Agony on the Mount of Olives together
produces, equals, becomes
Transformation in our lives. St. John of Avila, a priest and spiritual advisor
to St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, among others, commented in a
letter, “If you long for these festivals of heavenly joy, if you want to behold
them and take part in them, be assured that there is no better way to reach
them than the way of suffering. This is
the way Christ and his disciples have always traveled. He calls it a narrow way, but it leads
straight to life. That is why he tells
us that if we want to join him, we shall travel the way he took. It is surely not right that the Son of God
should go his way on the path of shame while the sons of men (Daughters of
Mary) walk the way of worldly honor…”
Submitted by: Mrs. Ann Salancy,O.P. 02/18/2016
