Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.

You will do well to be attentive to it,
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Saint Matthew tells us today that Jesus’ face shone like the sun and his clothing became white as light. Saint Peter, in his first letter, also speaks of that light, a lamp shining in a dark place; and we should pay attention to him.

Is it possible that God has an opinion about every little thing we do? Does it matter if I eat Cheerios or Wheaties for breakfast, oatmeal or cream of wheat? Should we pay attention to God with every decision we make, no matter how small?

Certainly our modern life has become a continuing series of decisions, mostly small and of little consequence. From the moment we get up till the minute we retire we’re choosing what to eat, what to wear, where to go, how to get there, and what to do when we get there. At every moment someone or something is saying, “Why do it that way? Why not do it this way?” In the end the little decisions mount up, as we all know, and form a way of life.

I know a fellow who told me, “My wife and I agreed that I would make the big decisions and she would make the little ones. We’ve been married twenty-five years and I have yet to make a decision!”

He was kidding, I suppose, but he reveals an important truth. Life is a series of small decisions. If many of them amount to a major decision it’s because I have chosen my long term course and disciplined everything in my life by that choice. Discipline, the habit of directing one’s life toward a goal, makes the difference.

I am a man of peculiar habits, I’ll confess. At one time I used to do needlepoint. People admired my work but said, “I don’t have the discipline for that.” When I recite long poems – standards like “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and “The Raven” --they wonder, “Where do you get the discipline to learn that?” I have kept up this homily-blog for the last eighteen months. I wonder where the discipline came from! They call it discipline but I just make the choice daily.

As we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration, we remember the discipline of Jesus, who set out from Galilee and marched toward Jerusalem and certain death. We remember that moment of agony when he arrived in Gethsemane and knew he could still turn back. But even then his course had been set. Had he fled they would have tracked him down. But he could not flee. His decision had been made with every step and would not be undone by fear.

Sometimes, when I bicycle I consider the road ahead and wonder which route I should take. Often, as I pump up the hills and down again my mind wanders away from the impending choice and, miles later, I realize, “I decided on this road! I don’t remember doing that.”

Jesus, impelled by the Holy Spirit from the moment he left the desert until he ascended Mount Tabor, knew the road he must take. And as we hear God speaking to us on that mountain, we know what we must do -- “Listen to him” at every step of the journey.