In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
“Adulterers, know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God.” (Jac 4:4)
My dearly beloved in Our Lord,
In today’s Epistle St Paul exhorts us to persevere and to progress on the way of holiness: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification… For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto sanctification.” Ten days of fast are past, and there are 30 more to come!
The Gospel presents us with Our Lord’s Transfiguration. This episode reminds us of the infinite abyss between earthly and heavenly things, between that which will perish soon and that which will last forever. “Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man be risen from the dead.” The Apostles had no means of putting into the right category what they had just witnessed – similarly as we have seen on Quinquagesima Sunday when Our Lord announced that he would suffer, die and rise again from the dead.
We are here on earth as pilgrims and strangers (cf 1Petr 2:11), our true homestead is Heaven (Phil 3:20). Our Lord will explain, just before he goes away to suffer and die for our sins: “I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil. They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world. Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.“ (Jn 17:15-18) And again: „If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.“ (Jn 15:19) Therefore St James writes: “Adulterers, know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God.” (Jac 4:4) We are never right in wanting to ease our position by going along with the ungodly principles of this world. Roncalli’s “aggiornamento – updating the Church” was not only doomed to failure – it is simply against all Our Lord has told and taught the Apostles.
St Peter, an impetuous man, a true elephant in a porcelain shop, says at the moment of Our Lord’s Transfiguration: “Lord, it is good for us to be here: if Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.”
In the chapter preceding today’s episode, Our Lord promises the Papal Primate to St Peter. Right after that we read: “From that time Jesus began to shew to his disciples, that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the ancients and scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and the third day rise again. And Peter taking him, began to rebuke him, saying: Lord, be it far from thee, this shall not be unto thee. Who turning, said to Peter: Go behind me, Satan, thou art a scandal unto me: because thou savourest not the things that are of God, but the things that are of men. Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it. For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?” (Mt 16:21-26)
By the way, it does not follow from these words that it is licit to call Bergoglio “a bad pope and a devil”. St Peter clearly was not the Pope at that time. Those who make such approximate use of the Gospel should also define what they mean by a “bad pope”. And no Catholic in his right mind would ever call the one whom he considers to be the true head of the Church, a devil. Our Lord himself does not call the traitor Judas Iscariot a devil, but his friend… As long as there is life, there is hope for conversion!
Like Peter we are in constant danger of wanting to build tabernacles here on earth; to bring down the heavenly gifts and fix them here for us, in our vicinity. Certainly it is good “to leave the Church in the village”, as we say. But we easilyforget that God’s gifts are free; and that they are meant to lift us up. We are not to bring down God. We must lift ourselves up to God. There is no Heaven on earth, but there will be a new earth and a new Heaven (Apc 21:1) after the restoration of all things in and through Christ.
Our greatest problem is that we think the wrong way:
We only know the things of earth by experience. That which pertains to Heaven, we only know through Faith: “We see now through a glass in a dark manner.” (1Cor 13:12) Thus we easily commit the mistake to refer all things to that which is closer to home, to that which comes under our five senses. It was the Hebrews’ mistake when God fed them miraculously with the manna, but they still got fed up with it, literally: “We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free cost: the cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. Our soul is dry, our eyes behold nothing else but manna.” (Num 11:5-6) Let us beware of making the same mistake with regards to the true manna, Holy Communion!
But the lasting goods do not come directly under our senses: Faith, Hope, Charity, grace, the divine life… Still, they are by far more important than the visible, touchable earthly good which will perish, and which we will need to leave behind altogether when we die. In a similar manner our soul is much more important than our body, and still we tend to care much rather for our body than for our soul.
The next step in our wrong thinking is trying to push God our way, rather than us going God’s way. Peter wants to build three tabernacles on top of Mount Tabor. He wants to freeze that moment, he wants things to remain that way. Cunningly he adds: “if Thou wilt…” because of course we know who is the boss – God. But rather to let go and to hand ourselves over into the hands of this best of fathers, we usually try to persuade God how it should be. Poor us! Stupid us!
Let us therefore keep an open mind with regards to God’s will. We need to bend our will to God’s will, and not try to bend His sovereign will. God will let us do our own will, mostly – but it will not be for our good, we will pay a price for our deviations. It is better that we go against our self-will and our natural inclinations, and not against God’s holy will: “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven!” In the garden of olives, Our Lord “going a little further, fell upon his face, praying, and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Mt 26:39)
Let us make ours this invocation from the prayers of the Church: “In kindness turn our wills towards Thee, even though they resist Thee.” (Secret, Saturday 4th week of Lent)
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
P. Arnold Trauner (paterarnold@hotmail.com), njemački i engleski.
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