Our citizenship is in heaven

Homily for 2^nd Sunday of Lent Year C 2016

Genesis 15:5-12,17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28b-36

INTRODUCTION

"Our citizenship is in heaven." What does St. Paul with these words?  Is he suggesting that because you are Catholic, you are not American citizens?

Actually he and the readings of today are telling us that we Christians are dual citizens: we are citizens of this world for a short while, but our permanent citizenship is with God in heaven.  And the gospel story of the Transfiguration, gives us a glimpse of that heavenly citizenship.

SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION

In last Sunday's gospel we saw that the desert was the place where God prepared his messengers for their mission: Moses and the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years, the prophet Elijah and Jesus for 40 days and nights.

But when God wanted to reveal himself or his message to them, he met them on mountains.

·        It is on Mount Sinai that Moses often met God and from where he came down with God's message, including the Ten Commandments.

·        Elijah too went to meet God on that same Mount Sinai (1 Kg. 19).

·        And we heard that "Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray."

But while Moses and Elijah only conversed with God on the mountain, they did not see his face.  God revealed himself to them only in partial way, like a shadow or a silhouette.  In the case of Jesus, however, this experience on the mountain is a complete revelation of himself to the disciples.

·        We heard that: "While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white."  This is what Peter, James and John saw when they woke up.

·        Even Moses and Elijah, revered messengers of God, symbols of God's Law and the Prophets, came to testify to Jesus.

·        And to top it off, there was the voice of the Father himself from the cloud saying: "This is my chosen Son; listen to him."

What Moses and Elijah had only seen partially on their previous trips to the mountain, the three disciples can now see fully in the transfigured Jesus.  The disciples have a foretaste of the heavenly citizenship that awaited them.

And Jesus has a special purpose in bringing these three with him up the mountain.  Peter, James and John were his inner cabinet, the closest of the Twelve.  Now a week earlier, he had just announced to his disciples for the first time that “he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”  The disciples found this message difficult to understand or accept, since for them, a Messiah was someone who would come in glory and power; not someone who would suffer.  Jesus had even told them every one of his disciples would have to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Jesus.  His painful fate would also be their fate.

And so, having proposed this rather stark picture of what it means to be a disciple, Jesus now provides a morale booster, an antidote, if you like.  By giving them this experience of the Transfiguration, he assures them that this suffering, both on his part and on their part, is not for nothing.  It is the means by which they will share in the glory of the Father.

·        And in this experience of the Transfiguration, they have a sneak-peek of that glory, to which they must look forward, for which they must work.  Like a preview of a good movie entices you to go and watch the real thing, a preview of heaven, would make them work for the real thing.

·        This experience might also be compared to a plastic surgeon showing his patient, “the before” and “the after” picture.  On seeing a preview of the "after" picture, the patient might be more inclined to undergo the pain and suffering.  Similarly, the disciples, were able to understand the Cross, because they had seen the glory in heaven that would follow.

CHRISTIAN APPLICATION

What this experience did for Peter, James and John, it should do for us today.  And coming as it does on the Second Sunday of Lent, this story should help us understand why we have to go through the harshness of the desert, of Lenten Penance, as well as of the difficulties of our daily lives.  This gospel should remind us to have the prospect of heaven (and for that matter the avoidance of hell), must always be at the forefront of our thoughts.  We must never forget as St. Paul told us that our true citizenship is in heaven.

·        In virtually all sports, coaches always tell their players to keep their eye on the ball, if they want to win.  For us Christians, the ball is heaven, which we must never keep far from our thoughts and actions. 

·        And for those who use the GPS for navigation, it only works if you enter the correct destination.  If we enter heaven as our destination, even when we take the wrong turn, it should recalculate and keep on the true path that leads to heaven.

Besides, reminding us about our true home in heaven, this story of the Transfiguration also gives us the two means of getting there: ascending the mountain and descending from the mountain.

We climb up the mountain, whenever we pray.  Luke's gospel tells us that Jesus went up to the mountain to pray.  And it is during his prayer, that this marvellous experience of his glory happened.  

We too, can experience something of God's glory, both in our private prayer and in our community prayer.  We come to prayer, to leave behind, at least temporarily the cares of our current citizenship and have a foretaste of the other citizenship.  We come to the Eucharist, Confession, devotions and personal prayer, to remain strengthened, anchored, and properly oriented for the difficult journey we are making towards heaven.  That is why prayer is not only one of the three Lenten practices; it is also one of the seven spiritual works of mercy.  Through prayer we are constantly reminded of our heavenly home.

But then we must climb down the mountain of prayer.  We cannot like Peter decide to build three tents and remain on there; rather we must bring our experience from the mountain-top to the valleys and even the deserts of everyday life.  We must let that sneak-peek experience of heaven we get in prayer inform the rest of our life.  For Peter than meant coming down and enduring the suffering and death of his Lord and Master.  For us, coming down from the mountain means that we must return to the world ready face the daily hustles of family life and work life.  When the deacon or priest after Mass dismisses us saying: “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life,” he is essentially saying, start climbing down the mountain; go back to your daily lives and live out what you have received here.  And particularly during this season of Lent, we live out our sneak-peek experience, through almsgiving and the works of mercy.

CONCLUSION

And so, may the experience of the three disciples on the mountain, inspire our own lives, especially during this Lenten season.

·        May we learn to climb the mountain in prayer, for a regular foretaste of our heavenly citizenship.

·        May we learn to climb down so that we can live out fully and transform our current citizenship in this world.

We look forward to that day, when we finally get to heaven, to the mountain of the Lord, where there will be no more ascending and descending.  We look forward to taking up permanent residence and citizenship there, where God the Son lives and reigns with the Father, in the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.