|
|
|
Jesus evidently enjoyed very much leaving everything behind and taking a walk up the mountainside. He did so, scripture reports, to be alone, to pray, to reflect, to talk with the disciples, and even to teach the crowds that were chasing after him. Today’s Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord recalls one particular walk Jesus took along with three of his disciples up a mountainside, that of Mount Tabor. During their conversation, God in some miraculous way—more than any human could ever dream of doing as Mark reports about Jesus’ garment—revealed Jesus as His beloved Son. Then, from a cloud, a voice said to Peter, James, and his brother, John, “Listen to him.” From the way Mark recounts these events, I don’t think the voice was quiet and demur, almost in a begging tone, as in “Listen to him, please, pretty please.” I also don’t think the voice was in an overpowering tone, as in a parent demanding “LISTEN TO HIM!!!” No, I think the voice was in a crisp, nonsensical, and unmistakably clear tone in terms of what was being required, as in “Listen because he is teaching you the truth!” Like Jesus, the young man Pope John Paul II called the “Saint for the Youth of the New Millennium,” Peter George (Pier Georgio) Frassati (1901-1925) of Turin, Italy, loved to journey up the mountainside, especially that of Mount Blanc. In fact, Peter George’s favorite sport was mountain climbing, about which he once said, “I would spend whole days on the mountains admiring in that pure atmosphere the magnificence of God.” If you have ever been to Mount Rainer in Washington or the Grand Tetons in Wyoming, you have a sense of what Peter George is describing about the Alps. However, before going to the mountains to climb or to ski, Peter George Frassati made it a regular habit to attend Mass and, upon returning from his venture, to visit the Blessed Sacrament. Like Jesus on that day of the Transfiguration, Peter George would also climb mountains with his gang of friends, who called themselves “The Sinister Ones.” It was an ironic title, given the fact that after ascending the mountainside, it was not unusual for the group of friends to talk about many things, and especially their spiritual lives, religious matters, and politics. The group and its leader believed God was calling them to serve the poor, to clean up politics, and to make a difference in the world. Young people today who are looking for a role model will find someone to identify with in this vibrant young athletic man whose personal vocation combined a deep love for Christ, a desire to serve the needy, and a mission to imbue culture, society, and politics with Catholic ideals. Before Blessed Peter George Frassati died of poliomyelitis when he was 24 years old, he had formed groups of young people to serve the needs of the poor and to resist the Fascists who were in control of Italian politics. What is important about all of this is Blessed Peter George’s sense of personal vocation and how this sense comes through, especially when he spoke to the members of these groups about their particular mission as Catholic young people. He said:
In this
trying time that our country is going through, we Catholics and
especially we students, have a serious duty to fulfill: our
self-formation….We, who by the grace of God are Catholics...must steel
ourselves for the battle we shall certainly have to fight to fulfill our
program and give our country, in the not too distant future, happier
days and a morally healthy society, but to achieve this we need constant
prayer to obtain from God that grace without which all our prayers are
useless; organization and discipline to be ready for action at the right
time; and finally, the sacrifice of our passion and of ourselves,
because without that we cannot achieve our aim.” If, like Blessed Peter George Frassati, our young people were to journey up the mountainside like Jesus like Peter, James, and his brother John on that day of the Transfiguration, would they admire “in that pure atmosphere the magnificence of God”? Furthermore, assuming they did, what would Jesus have to say to them? And, more importantly, would our young people “Listen to him”? After all, hearing is one thing. Listening involves much more like taking to heart what was said and allowing it to change one’s life. Just getting to the mountainside by breaking away from everything else that is going on in their lives—as Jesus did—might prove very difficult for many young people today. Cable television and satellite dishes bring hundreds of stations into our homes. It used to be that a person had to get up from the couch, chair, or floor to change the television channel, but young people today have the benefits—and the potential health risks as well—associated with a remote control. This may seem quite trifling, but how much time do many young people spend each day flipping from channel to channel looking for something to stimulate their interest, only to discover that there’s nothing interesting on television? It’s not simply a matter of wasting what likely are many, many precious (and finite) hours of one’s life. More importantly, it’s a matter a becoming addicted to the sensory stimulation that televisions offer unsuspecting young people. Complicating these matters even further is how the media and their corporate sponsors are intent on making sure that young people continue to pay attention to television. By focusing the attention of young people upon everything they don’t have and shouldn’t do, the media and their corporate sponsors facilitate the development of those feelings of frustration that so many young people experience today. Not “having it all” or “just doing it”—at least in so far as this is portrayed by the media and their corporate sponsors—all too many young people find themselves unhappy and frustrated with their lives. The combination of these factors makes it very difficult—if not nearly impossible—for young people to turn off the television, to get off the couch, and to take a walk up the mountainside to get away from it all. Perhaps the only motivation that actually might prove effective in getting young people to get up from the couch is a venture to the mall to purchase something that will serve to dull those persistent feelings of unhappiness and frustration. But, if young people don’t turn the television off, get off of the couch, and take a walk up the mountainside, how else will they be able to admire “in that pure atmosphere the magnificence of God,” to pray, to reflect, to hear Jesus teach, and especially to learn what God is calling young people to do today. I am not speaking in terms of finding a job, but in terms of a living out a personal vocation. I am not speaking about something to do for yourself but who you will be for the world. I’m not speaking about getting through life but of making a difference by your life. There are young people who do realize how the unhappiness and frustration they are experiencing is directly related to the meaninglessness they’ve discovered that results from centering one’s life around television. Desiring something more fulfilling and permanent in their lives, these young people do get off of the couch, take a walk up the mountainside, and listen to the frighteningly deafening silence where God makes His presence known and where Jesus teaches them. For these young people, what might Jesus be teaching them, just as Jesus was teaching Peter, James, and his brother John on the side of Mount Tabor and God said, “Listen to him”? Or, what is it that their peers—who don’t get off of the couch—won’t hear? On that mountainside, Jesus taught his gang of friends:
But
seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these
things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow
will take care of itself. (Matthew 6:33-34a) I believe one of the first things Jesus would teach young people today is how the “cult of the self”—where human beings worship themselves and their self-interests—is the primary source of their interior unhappiness and frustration. It doesn’t matter whether a young person is rich or poor, because we live in a culture where young people are taught explicitly and implicitly to measure everything against the standard of “What’s in it for me?” Prizing choice over self-discipline, young people have allowed our culture to dupe them into believing that they will find happiness and fulfillment by demanding with all of their might their rights while running as fast as they can away from bearing their responsibilities. This is a recipe for personal disaster, one that leads only to unhappiness and frustration but also emptiness and alienation from oneself, others, and God. Jesus taught “Seek first the kingdom of God” not “seek first what you believe will make you happy.” And God said from the cloud: “Listen to him!” Hearing is one thing. Listening involves much more. It means taking to heart what was said and allowing it to change one’s life. Are you willing to risk first seeking the kingdom of God? After one of the scribes asked “Which is the first of all the commandments?”, Jesus also taught from the mountainside:
The
first is this: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment
greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31) What Jesus is teaching young people today is a lesson about the life-affirming, life-nurturing, and meaningful life-choice that comes when young people practice love of God and neighbor not the self-idolatry. So many young people today believe that life is simply a matter of being a generic “good person” and “treating others well.” They also believe that life is all about getting a job which makes it possible to acquire and possess everything they desire. Jesus teaches, however, that life involves so much more, especially realizing that God has created each human being with a particular divine purpose in mind. For young people, Jesus is teaching that God has committed some special work to each of you, something God has committed to no other person in all of human history. In this sense, God has created you for a special mission, not for naught. You are the “genuine article” not a “generic clone.” There is a divine purpose for each young person to discover. The teenage years and young adulthood are the time to discover that purpose and, once discovered, to be lived out. Jesus doesn’t guarantee that this purpose will make young people happy, but he does guarantee it will fill each young person with joy as they devote themselves to saving—each in one’s unique and personal way—what otherwise will become a lost generation. This is how young people avoid falling into the trap of idol worship, where you are the idol and you don’t even realize that you are the only person in the entire world who is worshipping that idol. “Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Every commandment is fulfilled in this,” Jesus taught on that mountainside. And from the cloud, God said: “Listen to him!” Again, hearing is one thing; listening involves taking to heart what was said and allowing it to change your life. Are you willing to risk loving God and your neighbor as you love yourself? Perhaps because gender identity and gender roles weren’t burning issues in his day, one thing Jesus didn’t teach about on the mountainside (to my knowledge of scripture) is the great gift God gave human beings in creating them as male and female, as we’ve all read in the creation narratives found in the Book of Genesis. But, I do believe Jesus would teach young people today explicitly about this great gift. If young people were to listen, they would quickly discover the complementary nature of the two sexes and God’s purpose in designing human beings in this way. Women and men are meant to be together and it is not good for them to be alone, again as the creation narratives found in the Book of Genesis teach. Young people would also learn to appreciate how sexuality is expressed best when lived within the context of a committed, well-balanced, healthy, and holy marriage and rich family life. Realizing this truth, young people would also come to appreciate the value of chastity because they would actively seek a divinely-conceived complement for a “spouse”—my “beloved”—not a cohabiting “partner”—my “sleep partner.” Of course, this message would be extremely difficult for young people to hear above all of the noise our culture makes as it inundates young people with sexual content and innuendo. Consider those popular icons who dress and entertain in ways that really should embarrass anyone, not just young people. But, people aren’t embarrassed and young people, in particular, desire to emulate these popular icons by imitating their obscene clothing, bodily mutilations, foul language, and immoral behavior. Just consider the smorgasbord of choices television places now before young people. You’ve all seen it for yourselves: programs replete with all types of sexual relationships, including not only cohabiting “Friends” and extramarital affairs but also same-sex genital relationships. And that’s not to mention all of those “male enhancement” commercials or mattress commercials which advertise a perfect night’s sleep for you and your “sleep partner.” Confronted with all of this sexual stimulation, teaching young people to be celibate and to preserve their “virtue” for marriage as God has designed it is quite likely to fall upon deaf ears. Jesus may not have taught about sexuality but he did teach his disciples to “love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” And from the cloud God said: “Listen to him!” Hearing this message is certainly a challenge. Listening is much harder. And, especially today, taking this message to heart and allowing it to change one’s life so that young people become a sign of contradiction in our world and to their peers, that’s a real challenge! Are you willing to embrace chastity until you discover, fall in love with, and commit yourself to fidelity in marriage the divinely-conceived complement you will call “my beloved”? On that mountainside, Jesus also taught:
Do to
others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the
prophets. Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the
road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are
many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few. Beware of false prophets, who come to
you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their
fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:12-16a) Many are the challenges of leaving the stimulation provided by television behind and journeying to the mountainside to listen to—not simply to hear—Jesus teach. False prophets abound today, each of them telling young people how the “wide road” will bring great happiness. What do they say? “Sex is natural. Just use birth control and there won’t be any consequences.” “Marijuana isn’t a gateway drug. Smoking a joint every now and then won’t hurt.” “Its just a law. Let’s have a few beers and chasers.” “Your parents don’t know what they’re talking about. We live in a different generation.” “What does the Church know? All it’s interested is money and power.” What all of these false prophets aren’t telling young people today is that all of this is a lie. The wide road these false prophets promote to young people leads infallibly to a sure dead end, great unhappiness. After all, how could a young person be happy living in fear of losing what brings that happiness? Where, then, are young people to find abiding joy—a gift of the Holy Spirit? Peter, James, and John found joy on Mount Tabor as they spoke with Jesus, as he taught them the mysteries of citizenship in God’s kingdom, and as they listened to him. Peter George Frassati and his infamous gang, “The Sinister Ones,” found joy spending entire days on the mountainside “admiring in that pure atmosphere the magnificence of God” and discussing their spiritual lives, religion, and politics as well as how they would change their world. Young people today can do the same by seeking first the kingdom of God, by loving God and neighbor as they love themselves, and by embarking upon the narrow road. From Mount Tabor, Jesus continues to teach our young people today. “Seek first the kingdom of God.” “Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Every commandment is fulfilled in this.” “How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few. Beware of false prophets.” A voice says: “Listen to him.” But, hearing is only the start. Listening involves much more, like taking to heart what was said and allowing it to change one’s life. From Mount Blanc, Peter George Frassati also continues to teach our young people today:
In this trying time
that our country is going through, we Catholics and especially we
students, have a serious duty to fulfill: our self-formation….[We] must
steel ourselves for the battle we shall certainly have to fight to…give
our country, in the not too distant future, happier days and a morally
healthy society. Do you believe that God has called you and entrusted to you a special purpose in life—a mission that God has entrusted to no one else in human history—that only you can fulfill and that will bring you abiding joy? “Listen to him,” God has said. Hear, listen, and take to heart what Jesus teaches and allow it to change your life! This will require, first, getting up from the couch, turning the television off, and journeying to the mountainside. Then, by allowing what Jesus teaches you to change you and by embarking upon the narrow way, you will, second, will descend from the mountainside knowing your true identity as beloved of God and make all of the difference in the world. Then, third, take your friends and journey up the mountainside and teach them. When you “do this in memory of me,” God will say to those around you, “Listen to him” and “Listen to her.”
|
|
|
HOMILY
