Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 13th March
Message from Fr Paul for Sunday, 13th March 2022
We are all pilgrims in this world and our life is an earthly pilgrimage. The celebration of Lent helps us to see this and focus on it. We have no permanent home in this world and in this life. Yesterday I was privileged to be present at Downside Abbey for the Mass of Thanksgiving to mark the end of another stage in the history of the Benedictine community of St Gregory the Great. Founded in Douai (Flanders) by English and Welsh monks in the year 1606, the community was forced to move to England in 1794 as a result of the French Revolution, eventually settling at Downside in 1814. Tomorrow the monks leave Downside for a period of discernment and retreat at Southgate, Buckfast. I ask you to pray for Abbot Nicholas and the brethren as they seek God’s will for the next stage of their monastic journey.
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On the Second Sunday in Lent, we always read the Gospel account of the Transfiguration of Jesus, this year from Luke, (Lk 9: 28-36).
“Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ – He did not know what he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen.”
As we have often seen in the Gospels, Jesus would take himself off to a quiet place to pray, sometimes on the lakeside, at other times up a mountain. On this occasion Peter, John and James went with him. Suddenly, things began to change and the disciples witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus: they saw him in the glorious state of heaven. They didn’t have words to describe his appearance. Then they see Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets, in glory talking with Jesus, discussing his death and resurrection. Although the three are overcome with drowsiness, yet they manage to keep awake and see Moses and Elijah in glory with Jesus. I wonder how they recognised them other than by divine revelation. Peter’s reaction is to suggest to Jesus that they erect three tents or shrines to commemorate what they have seen. The evangelist comments that he didn’t really know what to say, but even before Jesus can answer, a cloud covers them with its shadow and they are afraid. In the darkness of the cloud, they hear the voice of the Father say, “This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.” The voice confirms that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, the Messiah, and invites the disciples, as it does us, to listen to Jesus, as he is the voice of God. Once the voice had spoken, the cloud lifts and they see only Jesus. So awestruck have they become, that they are reduced to silence. It will only be in the light and hindsight of the resurrection that they can speak openly of what they experienced that day. However, it did prepare them for this Passion and Death, for they had already seen him in the glory of heaven. May their experience, which they have shared with us, strengthen our faith and give us strength and courage to face our own passion and death in the hope of the glory of the resurrection prefigured in the Transfiguration of Jesus. Amen.
