I suppose that it is human nature to want the good without the bad; the joy without the sorrow; the rainbow without the rain. But it is really not possible to have the one without the other, not since human nature took a tumble in the Garden so very long ago! It was Jesus' job – that he took upon himself freely – to gather into himself all of the negative (the bad, the sorrowful, the rain) – including all of sin – all of original sin and all the personal sins that people would ever commit – and transform it by his Death on a Cross into something unimaginably positive (the good, the joyful, a perpetual rainbow) – a brand new kind of living that would erase death forever!
And as I said last week, he would have done that if there were only one of us to be saved! But, there are actually more to be saved, a great many more. And again here is an amazing point: while the possibility of redemption will be won for all: not all will end up being saved: it will only be those who want to be saved: who want to be plugged into redemption; who want to be a part of the Church to one degree or another.
There was a time when the Church proclaimed that: "outside of the Church (the Catholic Church, albeit the Roman Catholic Church) – there is no salvation!" It has taken many centuries to correct that faulty phraseology: and thanks to the Second Vatican Council of our own day in age the idea has been reformulated to say that: "Christ came to save all people, and that the Church touches all of those people, it is more than the Body of Christ as we know it, that there are true and legitimate degrees of communion with the Church, with Christ, that extend from our closest cousins in religion all the way to the atheist! The Holy Spirit of God can work through any and all of us to bring about the fullness of the Kingdom! One day we will see how it all fits together! Now we say simply that by the favor and grace of God, the Catholic Church contains the fullness of Christ and his presence on earth as the Way, the Truth and the Life; but others have a sure and certain, though to some degree incomplete, participation in the totality of Jesus: the Way and Truth and Life. Everyone is searching for God, for God's love, for God's friendship, for eternal life with brothers and sisters – even the atheist!
On the mountain of the transfiguration – as we read in the gospel passage today – Jesus – who is preparing his disciples for his imminent death and resurrection – is in this instance emphasizing the resurrection! It would be by his acceptance of death (on the Cross) that resurrection and newness of life would be possible. And by doing this everything that came before him including the Law of Moses and the Prophecies about him would find fulfillment. They would converge in him as he hangs on the Cross and there he would become the New Law, the Final Prophet, and his blood would be the blood of the new and everlasting covenant shed for the forgiveness of sins!
This Jesus would do for all of mankind – Catholics, non-Catholics, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, believers and non-believers alike. What Jesus tried to tell us all is that those subsisting in his own Church would have the benefit of having an amazing depth of his presence with them all the days of their lives – the life of resurrection, the life of heaven could begin for them even on this earth! And if they believed this with all their hearts and souls and truly lived like it – then people of others religions and faith persuasions might want to take part in the fullness they successfully live out in this Church.
The brilliant white light of the transfiguration is the Light that is Christ – the Light we welcomed to earth at Christmas, the Light that shone on Jesus baptism in the Jordan, the Light that shines now in the darkness of these times – and the same voice of God the Father is heard saying: THIS IS MY BELOVED SON! LISTEN TO HIM! Listen to him! He has the words of life – words for life here and for hereafter! He will put his words into action and win your salvation! Listen to him! Follow him! Love him! Befriend him! Trust him as much as Abraham your father in faith trusted me by being willing to sacrifice his own son – and you will not be disappointed, as Abraham was not disappointed! You are children of Abraham, so BELIEVE!
The disciples would remember this scene after Jesus was taken from the Cross and placed in the tomb – and then declared as "Risen" on Easter Morning. And with the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost they would actually feel the presence of the Risen Christ in a way that was amazing – and they would begin to transfer it sacramentally to all places and times – right down to here and now – so that we, with them, can BELIEVE and TRUST and COMMIT OURSELVES TO LIVING as true members of the Catholic Church: living the presence of Christ in its fullness, right here, right now!
If the world as we find it today is ever to really be rescued from all that it needs to be rescued from, it can begin by Catholics being willing to be all that are meant to and are capable of being: witnesses to the
fullness of Christ's presence on earth! This is what it means to be Catholic! LET US, THEN, BE CATHOLIC TODAY and every day this week, this Lent, this Easter and from now on! And amazing, even miraculous things will happen – how could they not!
Today, if you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts!
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