Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the daily increasing uproar of your foes. (Psalm 74)
The Psalmist cries out against the din of destruction that is raised all around him. Can you blame him? There is an awful lot of noise, people making noise, voices and speeches that coalesce into a clatter and roar that surrounds us in what they call, without irony, The Age of Communication.
All the voices, all the stories, have messages of urgency, stories of menace. There is some variety among them, depending on the inclination of the agencies, but they share a common desire to rile us up and leave us quivering.
This morning I checked all the outlets for some news story on today’s weather, our weather. Last week everybody was writing about it, talking about it – the first hundred-degree day in seven years! This week nobody mentions that we have another day that is ten degrees cooler than average. Why isn’t that news? Is it too – oh, I don’t know -- delightful?
It is as if somebody, somewhere daily decides what you and I are supposed to be excited about, what we are supposed to be frightened about. Everything else is not acknowledged, not discussed. But they definitely want you and me to be excited, and to be frightened.
How different is our Lord. He takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain and is transfigured before them because he wants them not to be frightened. Yes, the same Jesus who admonishes Be not afraid, actually provides a help in fulfilling His admonition. Now the voice of God booming out of a bright cloud might not be YOUR idea of a calming influence, but that is precisely what Jesus intends to provide by giving his disciples. This is my beloved son, the Father reminds (yes, reminds, for they knew that already). Along with the dazzling, radiant glory of His only begotten Son revealed before their eyes, the experience is astonishing, but also provides what they need to calm down and persevere – that is, keep doing what they are doing.
It is an amusing trope that being instructed to calm down! has never, ever calmed anybody. Are you shocked to learn that Jesus knows this, and uses a different method? He reveals His identity and His glory to fortify the disciples to withstand the fear that would come when they witness His passion and death. He gives them what they need NOT to be afraid.
This year, the Feast of the Transfiguration falls on a Sunday and displaces the Sunday Mass, so we have a second opportunity in one year to bask in the Divine assurance. The first opportunity, occurring every year, is on the Second Sunday of Lent. Jesus is giving us what we need NOT to be afraid, which is, reassurance of His identity and His glory. If everything else seems to be falling apart (which it truly is) and every good effort seems to fall flat or be foiled (and they are) and even those whom the Lord Himself has called and charged with His Good News are showing more selfishness and foolishness than faith (yawn -- again?); if things are really this bad, shouldn’t we be afraid?
No. Not then, not now. He’s got this; he’s God. His victory is already won, His glory is everlasting.
But THE NOISE. Is it getting to you? Is it weakening your resolve, or simply distracting you from what you know you are about? Do you feel the fear?
Yes, it looks bad – but then, it always has. Tear your eyes away from the catastrophe du jour and daily direct them instead at the face of Jesus. He will show you what you need to see. Go up the mountain. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, just go: straight up the mountain to God in prayer. Be with Him; listen to Him; look at Him. He is God; He loves you; and He’s got this.
Then, let the Psalmist go on with his complaint. But you, and I, can and should forget the clamor of (our) foes, the daily increasing uproar of (our) foes.
Monsignor Smith
