06 August 2023 – The Transfiguration of the Lord (Year A) (Confirmation Mass)

by Cardinal-Elect Bishop Sebastian Francis

Jom ke Mount Tabor!

An invitation given to 3 out of the 12 apostles. The other 9 not invited. Sorry. Only 3 invited, Peter, James and John. I invite the 26 of you who are going to be confirmed. Use your imagination. That is why we are given an imagination, even fantasy but use your imagination and go to Mount Tabor and see what is happening there.

And I also invite you, the 26, to be one with a few others who are up there on Mount Tabor with Pope Francis. Not in Israel, Mount Tabor, but in Lisbon, Portugal. 34 young people from our Diocese are there right now. Our representatives representing all of you, especially young people in Portugal, Lisbon, for World Youth Day. About 160 from Malaysia together with 500,000 from maybe every country on the globe. And they too are hoping to have a Mount Tabor experience with Pope Francis himself.

But we are told you have to be away from the crowds. You have to go to a lonely place. Well 500,000 does not look like a lonely place but it is a place of encounter. Is it a myth?

No. Peter, in the Second Reading, tells, recalling this event tells us it is not a myth. Is it a dream? No. It is not a dream. So let us do a reality check.

What happened on Mount Tabor? Is it real? Or is it daydreaming or nightdreaming?

God can speak to us through dreams and myths but in this particular case, the Transfiguration and what is happening to the 26 of you here, hopefully it is not a myth or a dream. Reality check.

Jesus took with Him 3 guys, Peter, James and John. The other 9 were not invited. I don’t know why but only these three. And led them up a high mountain. And we are told He wanted to be alone. That is very important. He wanted to be alone with these three. He did not want big numbers like we had at Saint Anne’s a few days ago for the Feast. 100,000 more or else, God knows. He did not want big numbers. He wanted to be in a quiet place, in a lonely place and I invite you, young people and others, to also sometimes find time to be alone with Jesus Christ. Not always in church with big groups, you know, or at festivals and feast days and Saint Anne’s. Okay, all that is wonderful but take time to be alone. Well, if I don’t find time to be alone, I will become a scatterbrain running the Diocese. So, you need to be alone.

So where they could be alone and then there He was transfigured. Well, one word to explain ‘Transfiguration’ which is going to happen to all of us one day is the word ‘Glory’. He appeared in His glory. So it is described there.

Was He alone? No, there were two other guys present, who appeared who were not His contemporaries. Peter, James and John were His contemporaries. They are a real, they are there. But two other guys appeared, Moses and Elijah. These people died long, long, long ago. Hundreds of years ago before Jesus but they are alive! They are there! Well, I hope you and I believe in eternal life, that you are going to be around even after death. And they appeared and they are having a conversation with Him. What were they talking about?

Then we are told another voice appears on the scene. So we have Peter, James and John, real, alive. Jesus, real, alive. Moses and Elijah from the past. And then a third force, voice, no appearance, no nothing mentioned, only a voice they heard. And the voice said:

This (not ‘That’) is my Son. The Beloved. He enjoys my favour.

And then there is a message for us. For Peter, James and John because they are still alive and their mission is not over. And you and I are still alive and our mission is not over. And the message is simple. When the God, the Father, speaks, He does not beat around the bush. He tells you to the point what you need to hear. And what did He say? He simply said (He did not say ‘Follow me’, ‘Listen to me, I am your Father’, I know what is best for you’. No no, no such stuff), He simply said:

Listen to Him (Him being Jesus).

Reality check. This is what happened.

And those poor guys, the three of them, Peter, James and John became afraid! They were not so afraid earlier but when they heard the voice of the Father, they became a little ‘terkejut’, afraid. And when they opened their eyes, the fear had subsided. They only saw Jesus.

Ah, final reality check.

Now Jesus tells them: Hey you, three guys, when we get down the hill, don’t go and report to the Parish Priest, Fr Joachim, what happened. Okay? Keep it to yourselves. Tell no one about it. Tell no one about the vision but there is a time frame. Until the Son of Man that is He has risen from the dead. After I am risen, tell the whole world!

And we have heard about it. Matthew talks about it, so obviously somebody told him. Who would have told him? Peter, James and John. They were the witnesses.

So, Jesus put a gag order on these three. No publicity, no social media, no Instagram, Facebook, Tik-Tok, nothing. Because if you do it now, it will just be more gossip and more rumours and it will be a waste of time. So did they speak about it? Yes, they did! But there is a time. Don’t speak about it until the Resurrection. After the Resurrection, speak about it.

So my dear brothers, young people, there is a time for everything. There is a time to speak, there is a time to be silent. And all of us must learn it. It is about discipleship. Okay? Not everything that happens in your life is for public consumption. Even spiritual things because it is too personal at that point of time. It is too intimate, it is too real. And those who were not witnesses will probably not understand it or will misunderstand it or will misrepresent it as we see in the social media so much these days. So endless clarifications have to be made till you drop dead.

So in the world of spirituality, in the world of intimacy, and not everything is for public consumption.

So they saw the face of Jesus. They saw face to face the glory. We sing ‘Glory to God in the highest’. The bells ring. It is supposed to be a little moment of climax. Okay? That is why in gusto we sing it with enthusiasm because it is not about sorrow. It is about ‘Glory’! So for God’s sake, let some of His glory be reflected on your face. You are coming face to face with ‘glory’. You are given a glimpse of what is going to happen to you after death.

So it must have been a moment of great consolation but these poor guys also experienced fear.

We also know that these same three, Peter, James and John, were the only ones called to the Garden of Gethsemane after the Transfiguration. They went to, now this time is not ‘naik bukit’. This time is ‘turun padang’ to Kidron, to the Garden of Gethsemane. There something happened again. He went through what is called ‘the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane’ and these three same guys were invited. The rest were not. But this time, they were given an experience not of glory but of suffering. The night before He died. And they had an experience of suffering, of pain, of loss, of being abandoned, of being alone that Jesus felt and He wanted to share with these three guys. This time no Moses, no Elijah. The Father does not speak. The Father is even absent.

And He cries out: Where are you? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And maybe some of us are experiencing that.

So we have two experiences. Experience of glory, of joy and intimacy with the Father, with Moses, with Elijah. Then we have an experience of being alone. And the second is very fearful. And for many the nearest we will come to it is at the moment of death. The experience of suffering, pain, etc.

Now dear young people, I suggest that when you go through these two experiences, whether it be of glory which is deeply spiritual, or whether it be of suffering which is deeply spiritual, that you don’t go alone. Bring Peter, James and John. Bring your closest companions, friends, and it applies to Father Francis Anthony as much as it applies to Father Joachim and all of us. There are no two rules, one for you, one for me. We are all the same, we are all disciples, whether you are a bishop or cardinal-elect or a priest or whoever you are. Okay? There is not showmanship. When it comes to spirituality the rules apply to all.

But don’t go alone. Bring along one or two or three friends, companions whom you can trust. Bring them along and go through the experience whether it be of glory or whether it be of suffering. So you are never alone in both. Both, whether you are, and of course in the first case, those three guys were awake and they were afraid but they also experienced this moment of glory. But in the case of the Garden, these three guys must have disappointed Jesus to some extent. Because why? They ‘tidur’, they fell asleep because it took about an hour or more and they could not ‘tahan’. They just fell asleep. So He was alone though He had these three guys with Him.

So sometimes you can have your best, best, best companions and friends but you may have to undergo it alone. That is life. That is spirituality. And not all is about liturgy and showmanship and gatherings and big crowds. The real things sometimes happens elsewhere. We need this, to come as a group. But it is not enough. Yesterday when we began Transfiguration with Vespers, the evening prayer, I saw this prayer that we all prayed, if we prayed our evening prayer. And it said, in the intentions:

Give us the vision to accept both suffering and joy.

Not only joy without suffering, not only suffering without joy. You need both in order to move forward. I think you will be stuck if you only have joy without suffering and you will also be stuck if you only have suffering without joy. A disciple on mission needs both! And young people whether in Lisbon or here need both!

Saint Paul in the letter to the Philippians Chapter 3 Verse 20, he said he catches a glimpse of this transfiguration like Peter shares in the Second Reading today. And said it is not a myth. Cleverly worked out myth. Paul said in Philippians: And He will transfigure your wretched bodies into copies of His glorious body. This is a promise! Believe it! Live by it!

And don’t behave as disciples on mission like as if the world is coming to an end. God’s world is not coming to an end. The world of leaders and politicians may be coming to an end or even religious leaders but God’s world no. So your wretched bodies, especially those of us who are to carry sickness, illness, limitations, weaknesses, Paul tells us will one day be transfigured into copies of His glorious body. And He will do that! It is a promise! We live on the promise of God’s word! Not the promises of Tom, Dick and Harry. God, He will do that by the same power with which He can subdue the whole universe. And you and I are part of that universe. Even the seas and the waves and the storms obey Him. So let us not be stupid and choose not to obey when even nature obeys.

So of course we do not keep both joy and suffering to yourselves neither share it with every Tom, Dick and Harry, especially with those who cannot understand or will think you are just dreaming or you are a nut. Share it with significant people who can understand what is happening to you in the spirit.

May the Holy Spirit accompany you in both joy and suffering, the 26 of you particularly, and the 500,000 in Lisbon.

May you be a good friend to accompany someone in both joy and suffering.

And may you be accompanied by good friends and companions in both joy and suffering.

Amen.

Click below to listen to homily and watch video:-

Click to live-stream Mass on 06 August 2023