[media presentation below] GospelThink Sunday, August 6, The Transfiguration of the Lord MATTHEW 17:1-9 I allowed my disciples to see my true identity. Prayerthoughts a. There are certain times during Jesus’ human life when his divinity “shines through” and the Transfiguration is one of them. In my life, where do I see the Lord’s presence most of all? b. Elijah symbolizes all the prophets. In my life right now, where do I most need to be guided to do better? c. Moses symbolizes the law. Which directive of Jesus is most important to me at the present time? d. “It is good that we are here.” Peter’s saying should encompass everything we do on earth. Do I have a positive attitude toward life? e. How can I be more positive right now? f. They became frightened. Do I truly turn to the Lord when I have troubles in my life? g. “Listen to him.” This is one of the five or six most important directives from God in my life. Do I truly “listen,” that is, not only “hear” but desire to follow the Lord’s directives in every way? h. My prayerthoughts… Today, I will read 2 Peter, chapter 1 and write an important thought from it. Some Thoughts on the Liturgy IT IS GOOD THAT WE ARE HERE             The man finally made it up to the airline counter ticket agent. The agent looked at him and pleasantly asked, “How are you today?” The man suddenly grew tense, started gesturing and raised his voice: “I’ve been waiting here for 45 minutes when I know my plane is leaving 15 minutes from now. I’ve had to carry these four bags the whole length of this airport three times trying to find this ticket counter. The cab I took to the airport cost me $10 more than it should have. My wife told me that if I have to go on one more business trip this month, she may not be there when I get home. My kids asked me who I was when I got home last night. And I have to go to a meeting where the company is firing our firm because we did not care enough about them, and you have the audacity to ask me how I am!” Then he paused, smiled and said, “I’m fine, how are you?”           Sometimes I am tempted to do something like that when someone asks “How are you?” We often say things are fine when the fact of the matter is that they are not fine. In that vein, we are led to question Peter’s statement in the Gospel about how it was good for him to be there at the Transfiguration. He was not sure about this Jesus in the first place, and suddenly Jesus is obviously not behaving normally. Two people appear who he realizes are Elijah who had gone off into the skies 600 years before, and Moses who had been dead for a thousand years. He hears a voice from a cloud which is suddenly coming over them…and he says it is good to be there. As I say, we might wonder about his statement. In fact, Mark the evangelist in his rendition of this Gospel says that Peter made the statement, but that he and the Apostles were “terrified.”           Whatever the circumstances, Peter’s statement is a good one to dwell on: “Lord, it is good that we are here.” Every psychology book in the world will say that we must learn to be happy in our state of life—whatever that may be—or else we are in for ulcers, a bad disposition, and generally one miserable life.           I believe that as a Christian we should be able to say such a statement every moment of our lives, simply because we are Christian. First of all, God has given us life, and now God through Jesus has given us eternal life. Even right now before the bliss of eternal life, even in the worst of all scenarios, at least we have life and the Holy Spirit continues to work for us. The spirituality of Christianity is thoroughly positive even as negatives happen. We can say the words that were found on one of the walls of the Dachau concentration camp: “I believe in the sun even when it isn’t shining.” So, it is with true conviction that we should be able to say, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.”           But there are some things that block our acceptance of that statement. One of those major blocks is what I call the “IF ONLYS”:           – if only I had been born into money, or in Arizona or in Southern California or Florida;           – if only I had more time;           – if only I had been a little smarter;           – if only I had just a couple more breaks;           – if only I could win the lottery;           – if only I could have a better job;           – if only things had not worked out the way they did;           – if only my health could be a little better. Many people keep saying “if only” and never see what they have right now, and therefore their approach to life becomes essentially negative.           If we truly believe in God, we believe that it is good for us to be here—right here: this place, this time, this life, this situation, these circumstances. Yes, we can try to make it better, but we have life, and LIFE easily gives rise to the statement: “I’m fine, how are you.” MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: “The Shack” — beginning session WITH YOU ALWAYS The Gospel MATTHEW 28:16-20 The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Gospelthink: Although my disciples doubted at times, my word to you is a promise: I will always be with you. Do I live with the thought that the Lord is always present to me?

Based on a book of the same name, the movie “The Shack” is a movie about the experience of God by a man by the name of Mack Phillips. His young daughter had recently been abducted, and the FBI had discovered that she was most probably killed in a shack in the country. Some time later, Mack received an invitation to return to that place, even though he felt that somehow it was a mistake and may even have been dangerous, thinking that the abductor would probably be there. The invitation was signed by “Papa” his daughter’s favorite name for God. Mack discovered God in three persons as he searched around the shack. It became clear to Mack that it was indeed God who allowed the tragedy to take place.

The closing words of Matthew’s Gospel during Jesus’ Ascension into heaven are among the most hopeful words for humankind. Our God promised to stay with us until the end of the age, that is, forever. No matter what, God will be there to help us. As St. Paul phrased it when he wrote to the Romans about twenty years after Jesus Resurrection: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, not powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39-40). …Not even the death of someone close to us whom we love with all our hearts. The love of God is there. The movie and book “The Shack” deliberately chose one of the most difficult of all tragedies and evils to speak of this love. The death of someone close to us cannot easily be understood to be the “love of God.” Yet, it is the lesson of the first part of the movie. It has an easy application, but it is very difficult to live out. God is working good out of the absolute worst evil that there is. We do not want to believe it because we are suffering the hurt and the loss. As Mack does in the movie, we cry to God’s wisdom to take “us” and leave the loved one alone: let us suffer and not the one we love. But it is the lesson of faith. God does not back down to Mack’s anger because God stands behind the creation of free will, that which causes the tragedies and evils. God knows full well that nothing will separate us from the love of God, and nothing will separate the love of God from us. God is with us until the end of the age, including everything in between.

PRAYER Good and gracious God, You are with us until the end of time. Your Son has assured us of that. Give us the grace to always be aware of it, and show it by how we act. Be with us, we pray.

+++++ GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT Theme: God is part of everything that happens to us. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: (session: approximately 64 minutes) 1. What scene during this session of the movie was most striking to you? Why? 2. Gospel analysis: “They doubted.” Why did the Apostles still doubt as Jesus ascended into heaven? 3. In what ways can we carry out the Lord’s directive to “make disciples of all nations? 4. In your opinion, do most Christians truly believe that God is always working for us? Yes or no and why? 5. What is the best way to console a person who has lost someone close to them? 6. Choose an evil, and discover how “good” is coming out of it. 7. What is your definition of “faith”? See Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, numbers 153-165. 8. Scene analysis: Mack kills his father. What should have Mack done to work with the situation?