February 27/28, 2010
Second Sunday of Lent - Cycle C
Gen 15: 5-122, 17-18; Phil 3: 17 - 4:1; Lk 9:28-36

What glory there is in our hope!
It is hope that will bring us to future glory.
Our hope in the cross of Christ.

In today's Gospel, we hear of Christ's glory as he is transfigured before the apostles Peter, John and James giving them a glimpse of what lay on the other side of the Cross.  Giving them hope, a hope that would sustain them when confronted with the suffering of Christ on his Cross on Good Friday.

Faith in like the ship. It is what gives us shape and buoyancy. Love is the destination, but hope is the driving force that propels us through the rough waters, the deep seas of life.  We are carried by hope toward the glory of Jesus' resurrection which we too will share.

Pope John Paul I, the Pope who reigned for only 33 days in 1978 and whom we who lived in Rome during those days and were able to speak to him fondly called Papa Luciani once wrote in his book, Illustrissimi, that "We are the amazement of God".  He noted that some have said that God is not amazed by our  faith because God has left so many signs of his presence even in the natural world that we cannot help but believe, nor is God amazed by our love, for we all have hearts of flesh, not of stone, and so are made for love; we cannot help but love. But hope, yes, God is amazed by our hope.  We are the amazement of God because of our hope.

The medieval poet Dante said that hope is a waiting with certitude.  A waiting rooted in the goodness of God, and in the certitude of future glory.

Any of us who have live for a length of time have seen the face of death.  We have seen the Cross. We have had our bumps and bruises and injuries.  We've been through many Lents, just as we are in the midst of one now.

It is hope that drives us forward toward our destination, the "New Jerusalem" as the Scriptures say, toward heaven, toward glory, toward the resurrection, toward Divine Love.

Abraham was given hope in our First Reading. Hope that he would be the father of many nations.  That his glory would be in his descendants of whom we all are.

St. Paul in today's Second Reading tells us our hope is in the Cross of Christ, and we are the most pitiable of all if we place our hope anywhere else, because glory comes after the Cross is endured.

In our Gospel, Jesus clearly shows us that like him, we too will someday be transfigured and he strengthens us to see in the Cross the hope of future glory so we do not become discouraged.

The Transfiguration gives us hope even today that this body of ours will be transfigured also. That our crosses will be transfigured into glory.

Do you know what was the difference between Judas Iscariot and Peter?
Peter had hope.  Judas did not.
Peter lived.  Judas did not.
Let us be like Peter.  Let us choose hope. Let us choose life.
When life gets tough, cling to hope.
When practicing Lenten penances, have hope in Easter.
When looking at the Cross, see the hope for all humankind
When faced with death, hope, wait with certitude, for the life that is right around the corner.

Jesus knew there was no detour around the Cross - for him or for us. He knew that the Cross was the only route to our destination, that it was the bridge to glory.
Hope is what drives us down that road and across that bridge toward:
The glory that is ours.
The glory of the Resurrection.
The glory of the Transfiguration.

What glory there is in our hope!  We are the amazement of God!