767 ELM STREET * ROCKY HILL * CONNECTICUT 06067
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767 ELM STREET * ROCKY HILL * CONNECTICUT 06067 |
           
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It was a July morning of 1945. The sun had not yet begun its assent into the desert sky. Shortly after 5 a.m. a brilliant light lit up the desert for miles. Soon after, a roar and wind enveloped the desert the likes of which had never been witnessed before. It was in Alamogordo, New Mexico that the world entered a new chapter in its history. This was the first atomic test known as “Trinity”. It was noted that the incandescence of the fireball was so bright that a blind little girl could see it 20 miles away. For ordinary people one could not look at the explosion with unprotected eyes. If a person did, the result would be permanent blindness. This was a light that would change our world, but not our hearts as history tells us. Jesus took Peter, John and James, up a mountain to pray. They experienced a glimpse of the transfigured Jesus, a glimpse into the door of eternity. Their reaction, “let us build three booths”, or in other words, let’s stay here forever on this mountain. Here they glimpse that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets represented by Moses and Elijah. Looking at the transfigured Jesus and this great light who wouldn’t want to stay on the mountain! But, in this life, we may get glimpses of the beauty of eternity but soon the experience is gone and we are left to life in our day to day world with its duties and perplexities, its sorrows and joys. Such was a similar experience for St. Teresa of Avila and one of her mystical experiences. I thought I was being carried up to Heaven. The first persons I saw there were my mother and father, and such great things happened in so short a time… I wish I could give a description of at least the smallest part of what I learned, but when I try to discover a way of doing so, I find it impossible, for while the light we see here and that other light are both light, there is no comparison between the two and the brightness of the sun seems quite dull if compares with that other light. For people who have had great religious or mystical experiences there is a yearning to stay in those experiences-we like the mountaintop. But, we are given glimpses not to stay on the mountain but to bring the mountaintop experience into the demands of life in the valley! Many critics of the religious belief in God and eternal life center on a religious response by some that want to flee from their worldly responsibilities and hide in the churches. This was the criticism typical of Freud, Marx and others. But the Lord does not want us to flee from the world, but to bring the radiant love of God into the heart of it, the heart of its suffering, failure, joy and success. Radiant religious experiences are meant to remind us that we are here for a reason and that reason is to learn and love in imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, these experiences are not an end in themselves, but a push from God, an invitation from God to go deeper into the spiritual depths of our lives and the world around us. This requires a steadfast faith. Abraham can be a model for our faith. He was called to follow God on a journey. He did not know where all this would take him. Would there be dangerous places? What would he have to give up? What were his guarantees that such a journey was worth it? Well, the only way to answer the questions was to risk the journey. When you come right down to it, everything of any worth is this world has to be dared! In the transfiguration of Jesus we are shown that we can take this risk with the certainty that God will be with us. We may not see God in things and events all the time, but on occasion, God opens a door for us to glimpse eternity and know that God was with us all the time. This light that we see, that we are shown, is working to change the world, not by fear of annihilation, but by the absolute and unconditional love of God. We got a glimpse of the reality of Jesus on the mountain. This Lenten Season asks us, “We will follow him down the mountain into the valley?” Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D.Min. Return to Saint James Home Page |