Busy is Not Your Friend
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
August 5 – 6, 2023
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
In today’s Gospel, the transfiguration happened about 10 days before our Lord’s Passion. The Lord gave Peter, James, and John this great gift to show them His power so that they would be strengthened and fortified for the scandal of the Cross . . . the Passion. He showed them who He was. . . true God and true Man. Our Lord lowered the veil of His humanity to show them His divinity. His face became like the sun. The three apostles had a foretaste of Heaven. They saw Moses and Elijah there. And it begs the question . . . How did they know it was Moses and Elijah? This happened thousands of years before Facebook, and there were no pictures. So, how the heck did they know? Their minds were enlightened in the presence of God. Moses, Elijah, and others were discussing with our Lord events that were still to come so we will have knowledge of the future. Remember, Heaven is outside of time. There is no time in Heaven. Everything is in the present at once because God is. They heard the voice of God the Father call out, a theophany or the manifestation of God. “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him.” Peter offered to build three shelters – one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for the Lord. Peter said he wanted that moment to go on forever, but it didn’t. Do you know what is interesting? If you go back to the Old Testament, Moses disobeyed God when he struck the rock two times. And the Lord said, “You are not entering the Promised Land.” And where was Moses that day? He was in the Promised Land which means there is forgiveness after death. So, Moses made it to the Promised Land.
The great spiritual consolations our God gives us are never lasting even though we want them to be. They only last in Heaven. Now this is a grave thing about the spiritual life or spiritual direction. I was thinking about laypeople who say, “I’m a Spiritual Director.” Uh-huh. I’m Doctor House because I have watched every show. That qualifies me, right? If you say this prayer and do this, you will always be happy. Really? Check with a qualified medical professional about adjusting your meds. We are never always happy. Remember in the Book of Acts, the apostles were thrown into prison. Prisons back then were very different. One, they didn’t have cameras; and two, guess what happened to them . . . they got what we call “an attitude adjustment.” They had the living you know what beat out of them. But they rejoiced because they were found worthy to suffer for the Lord. Our Lord said, “You will suffer for Me.” He prophesied that we would have many trials and tribulations. Look at Saint Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. He was shipwrecked three times, stoned, and scourged. “Hey God, if this is the way you treat your friends, it’s no wonder you have so few!” He did not have an easy time of it, but he kept going.
There is a great temptation when our time to suffer comes and everything seems to go bad. We don’t feel our prayers, we aren’t being listened to, and it’s the same darn thing day after day. So, the spiritual life is not always marvelous. It is more like “Oh, if only I could see God.” How many of the apostles were in the Garden of Gethsemane? Only one was at the foot of the Cross. Yet, in three years they saw all the miracles – at least three risen from the dead. Think about all the miracles our Lord did. “Oh, if I had just one big spiritual moment, I’d never doubt again.” That’s not true. We are no better than the apostles. Our good Lord’s consolations to us, His appearances to us, and His gifts to us come not when we want them, but when our Lord decides we need them or as a free act of love to let us know He is always there. But we tend to forget. We get wrapped up in our daily lives and events, and the crushing work of staring at the coffee pot and microwave willing them to work faster. Sometimes, we are so busy that we overlook the obvious. “I didn’t see the police officer sitting there.” It’s a big black car marked “State Police.” How could you miss it? We have tunnel vision while driving. Father Adrian van Kaam reminds us in his book that many times we are too busy and tend to overlook our Lord’s consolations. Our Lord reminds us of His presence and His care in the ordinary, mundane, and trivial events in our lives. That’s why it’s so important at the end of the day to do an examination of conscience. Take some time to look back over the day, not to see what you did right or wrong, but to see what our Lord is trying to say. “Hi. I love you! It’s Me. I’m here.” We overlook it all.
A couple of years ago, I was going out to visit someone in the hospital. As I was walking upstairs, a nurse was coming down them. She asked, “Are you a priest?” Yeah. “I was just going to call you.” Well, I saved you a dime. “There is someone upstairs in ICU who is dying.” I told the family that it was just by chance that I was in town and that I was in the stairwell when I met the nurse. God loves this person who was passing so much that I just happened to be there to give them Last Rites. It’s tiny little things like that which show how much God loves us, but we are so busy that we overlook them.
God gives those moments to us because He knows how fragile we are. The apostles were always filled with fear, and we are no different. God always gives us reminders of His love. Not huge ones because that would scare the you know what out of us, but tiny, little reminders and consolations that we often overlook. Consoling moments sometimes just show up when we least expect them. God speaks to us about the most ordinary things. Thank Him for them. He is aware of our strengths, our pain, and our fear. He has not left us.
How will you apply this message to your life? ___________________________________
You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” then “Sermon Notes.” On a cell phone: click on “Blog” and then “Menu.” Scroll to the bottom and click on “Categories.” Sermon Notes are also available on the Church’s Facebook page at ola.catholic.church. Click on “Groups” and then “Sermon Notes.”