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Msgr. Peter Magee, St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Washington DC,
March 16th, 2003,
10.00 am Mass
Jesus had already prepared His apostles for His passion and death. By being transfigured in the presence of those three
who would be closest to Him in Gethsemane, He was teaching them that the Law and Prophets had foretold that the promised
Christ must suffer and die before being glorified in the Resurrection.
As you know, the Apostles, especially Peter, had trouble accepting that Jesus would be killed. They also had trouble
understanding what rising from the dead could mean. But Jesus knew that they needed to keep the memory of the Transfiguration
in their hearts and minds, because they would see Him tortured and disfigured on the Cross. The Transfiguration was a lesson,
a prophecy and a reassurance in the face of the horror to come for Jesus, and later for the martyred Apostles themselves.
Perhaps for the first time since Nagasaki or the Cuban missile crisis, the entire human
family needs urgently today the memory, the reassurance of the Transfigured Jesus. Hundreds of thousands of people, if not
millions, are living on the edge of their nerves; the uncertainty of how events will unfold and the consuming fear of death
for themselves or their loved ones, are not dissolved by fine words or diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing. Many, and perhaps some
of you, live with the mortal anxiety which Our Lady must have felt as She awaited Pilate’s verdict on the fate of Her
Son. For Jesus, the worst came to the worst. But the worst could not prevail over Him because, in the wide and wise Providence of the Father,
Jesus’ self-offering was precisely aimed at bringing everlasting life, reconciliation and peace to the entire human
family.
We all want peace, but differ amongst ourselves as to the morally right way to preserve and strengthen it. We do not
know for certain what will happen today in the Azures or in the coming days and weeks at the UN or in the Middle East. And many
of us feel woefully helpless at being able to do anything about it. But if the worst does come to the worst, we must, as believers,
continue to believe that the worst will not prevail. The brilliant image of the Transfigured Christ and our faith in the Resurrection
of the dead will have to sustain us.
So, this is what we can do: be hopeful, courageous and practical in our faith: first, by praying unceasingly for peace
through the intercession of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, especially in the Rosary; second, by praying that the leaders of the
world may be struck by the light of the Face of Christ and heed the voice of the Father: “Listen to Him”; third,
in the event of war, by praying for the safety of all involved, especially the innocent and the men and women of military
forces; and, fourthly, let us pray for the conversion of all hearts and the forgiveness of all sin, for it is sin and its
Author who have engineered this situation, for the perverse delight of seeing God’s children destroy one another. But
Christ is risen, and sin and death will not ultimately prevail. This is our faith and our hope. May it sustain us, whatever
happens.
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