Feb 20 2005

Homily for February 20, 2005
Liturgical Year A-Cycle I
2nd Sunday of Lent
by Fr. John Carney
Topic: Examining Our Priorities
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Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and do not be afraid." And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, "Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.

When a gospel is taken from Matthew, Mark, or Luke, I like to compare the one passage with passages in the other two gospels. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the synoptic gospels because they are very much alike. It’s believed by most scholars that they had some common sources. We heard the gospel of Matthew today and his account of the transfiguration. I went to Mark and also to Luke to read their account. The words were almost identical; exactly the same words were used except that Luke had added something that I found to be very interesting. In Luke’s version of the account of the transfiguration, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John and goes up the mountain--but they fall asleep. Jesus is transfigured in his glory along with Elijah and Moses. Elijah the great prophet and Moses the great leader of Israel, the lawgivers, are there to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy and law. After he is transfigured into glory, they awake--Peter, James, and John and they witness his glory. But, they almost missed it. The exact words from Luke, in the ninth chapter are, “Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep but becoming fully awake they saw his glory.” These same three fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane. They had their troubles staying awake. Let me see if there are any Peters, James, or Johns here in church today.

We suffer, I think, in today’s world from the opposite of being sleepy. We suffer from sensory overload. There’s too much going on but the effect can be the same. We can miss what’s really important in life. We can miss those moments of glory that God wants to share with us.

The busyness of life can distract us and keep us from seeing what is truly important. Today, beginning in high school, it seems that we have great pressure on us. To focus our energy, our time, our devotion, our priorities on one thing--a goal in life as if that is the reason we were born.

We often hear people ask, “Well, what do you want to be?” When was the last time someone said, “I want to be a saint.”? You often hear, “Doctor, lawyer, scientist, chemist, police offer, fireman, soldier.” You don’t hear “Priest” very often. But, “I want to be a saint”. Really that should be our answer, “I want to get to heaven.” Yet from high school on, some of our kids are under enormous pressure, as you know better than I, to not only perform satisfactorily but to get an “A” in everything. I’ll guarantee you there are some kids, probably here today, that could take home nine “A’s” and one “B” and Mom or Dad would say, “What’s this “B”?” You know what I mean? We expect too much; zero defect mentality. That type of thinking is fine in nuclear weapons but it’s not fine in the rest of life because zero defects are impossible. We’re too busy sometimes to see the manifestation of God’s glory because we don’t have time for it, especially in nature.

We are so blessed to live in New Mexico. We could live in Flatbush. (NY accent) You know what I mean. You get up in the morning and nothing’s changed. It’s the same old place or even in Philadelphia. We live in a beautiful area. Before I went on sabbatical I took a day and spent it at the Valle Vidal with a priest friend of mine. He’s into hunting, collecting elk antlers, etc. That wouldn’t be my first passion in life. We went into the Valle and walked for miles, and miles, and miles. We saw eagles, bald eagles, golden eagles, hawks; we saw elk, deer, coyotes, and wild turkey--the kind that gobbles--not the kind you drink. We walked for miles. When I got home that day, I felt great. I had been blessed by the beauty of the place in which we live. Too bad we can’t take a walk in the Valle Grande. I’m glad that it's public land now and in the next three hundred years, maybe we’ll be able to visit it. The Valle Grande is actually going to open to the public as soon as this road between Santa Fe and here is finished, whenever that will be.

I’m so pleased. A couple of weeks ago I was watching golf and one of the golfers was taking three weeks off so he could be with his wife when she had their child. That’s one of the great joys of life, isn’t it, you parents? I know a woman who still can’t get over the twins she has. She still has a smile from ear to ear.

It’s important that we take time to pray--like an hour. When’s the last time you took an hour, a whole hour, to be in God’s presence and pray? I guarantee that you would be blessed. Yet, we have trouble signing people up to spend an hour with the Blessed Sacrament once a month on First Friday. Not only is prayer important but it’s also important to take time to be with those you love, your spouse and your children.

There’s a very good author, Father William Bausch. He’s from New Jersey. I think he’s from Trenton, the diocese of Trenton. In this regard, he recounts the very tragic story of a man named Kevin Carter. Kevin Carter was a photo-journalist from South Africa who worked for Time Magazine. He was somewhat accomplished. He covered the apartheid saga for many years and took some excellent pictures that brought the World’s attention to this disgrace of apartheid. In 1993 he received the assignment that was to be the assignment of his lifetime. He was sent to Sudan to cover that terrible famine. Not that those things are much better in Sudan today. So, he arrived there and he took one photo that made him famous. Unfortunately, you probably remember that photo. Unfortunately. It’s the photo of a little girl who obviously has been orphaned. You can tell from the photo that she was loved. She had a necklace and a little bracelet on. She was emaciated. Her skin was literally falling from her bones. She was on all fours. In the background there was a well-fed vulture looking at her. Do some of you remember that picture by any chance? He took that picture and became famous for it.

This is what Time Magazine said about the picture itself, concerning Kevin Carter, “Immediately after their plane touched down in the village of Ayod, Carter began snapping photos of famine victims. Seeking relief from the sight of masses of people starving to death, he wandered into the open bush. He heard a soft, high-pitched whimpering and saw a tiny girl trying to make her way to the feeding center. As he crouched to photograph her, a vulture landed in view. Careful not to disturb the bird, he positioned himself for the best possible image. He would later say he waited about 20 minutes, hoping the vulture would spread its wings. It did not, and after he took his photographs, he chased the bird away and watched as the little girl resumed her struggle.”

The following year, in 1994, Carter won the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. He was excited. He had reached the apex of his career. He wrote this letter to his parents in Johannesburg, quote, “I swear I got the most applause of anybody at the awards banquet. I can’t wait to show you the trophy. It’s the most precious thing and the highest acknowledgment of my work I could receive.”

After that, friends and colleagues began to question Carter. “Why didn’t he do more to help that little girl other than to watch her resume her trek on all fours to the feeding station?” He was probably particularly hurt by an editorial in the St. Petersburg, Florida Times that said, “The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene.” Burdened with feelings of guilt and sadness, and perhaps shame, Carter took his own life two months after he received the Pulitzer Prize for photography.

It must not be that way with us. We cannot be totally possessed with our occupation or even our hobbies that we don’t do the right thing to others. But for some, it’s a totally demanding or absorbing job. It is particularly true, we know, that in our community, there’s a lot of pressure here to be perfect. It might be a big career move, the great scientific breakthrough or the proper angle, the right position and the critical moment of a great photo. But there are times when we must drop everything and do the right thing and break for ourselves. Ideally, that would be at 6:00 PM every night. Spend a day with your child, with one of your children alone. Spend an hour in prayer, uninterrupted in the presence of Christ. Help a friend or carry a starving person to a feeding center.

Lent is a time that helps us to wake up, to examine our priorities of life because we may be missing some transfiguring moment, the moment of glory because we’re too busy with other things. So, we have homework to do this week. I seriously would ask everyone to take the time this week to sit down by yourself and write down your priorities in life. What are they? Who are they? What’s most important to you? And then promise that you will try to attend to them accordingly. And you just might see God’s glory this very week.