Second Sunday of Lent - 2022

Each Lent in the Liturgy of the Word for the Second Sunday the Gospel gives us the account of Jesus' Transfiguration.  "Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem." Here we can say that Peter, John and James are having a "mystical experience". Mystical implies something other worldly - something beyond that which the human senses or intellect are capable of knowing on their own. We are spiritual beings but by God's design we are clothed in a physical body, in a physical world subject to all the laws of nature. But God, when it is his plan to do so, can draw our spirit beyond its physical confines to experience realities that are happening now within the spiritual world. When and how this happens is the subject of the Church's mystical theology. The great mystics of the Middle Ages, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila and St. Ignatius of Loyola and others have taught us much from their mystical experiences. They talk about the experience of visions but they suggest that visions are on a lower scale of importance than other deeper and more profound experiences that God wishes to give us. In the graphic above, the two persons in the picture we could say are having mystical experiences during Mass. One is looking up, seeing a vision not unlike that of Peter, John and James - truly awe inspiring. The other has eyes closed as the Spirit takes her heart into a deep union of loving embrace filling her soul with a peace that no creature could ever produce. At Mass the celebrant holds up the chalice and host and announces, "Behold the Lamb of God". Our natural eyes see just that, a chalice and a host, but the priest's words reveal a deeper picture. A vision of Jesus at this moment would be truly edifying, but even more profound can be the experience of our hearts being drawn up into a deep union with Jesus.  What brings us to the dinner table in our homes, is it not hunger? But there is an other hunger that is at work in each person put there by God's design, a hunger no worldly thing can satisfy. Identifying this hunger and seeking its satisfaction defines the very purpose of the spiritual life. Coming to Mass is an expressions of one having a truly religious life. Having a moving experience of the presence of the Lord within the Mass is a result of one having a truly spiritual life.  Those who come the the Table of the Lord "hungry" will have their fill.

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