what is your meaning and purpose - 2nd sun lent B 2015

The original Transfiguration Monastery of the Benedictine monks in Malaybalay Bukidnon got its architectural inspiration from today’s gospel.  It was perched on top of a hill and when one looked at it from afar one can see in a background of trees, three structures shaped like tents, all painted white.  The hill crowned with three massive white tents was an impressive sight to behold as you enter the monastery grounds.  When I was there, and I was there for a little less than a year, they were in the process of transferring the monastery from that hill to the  valley below.  The monks finally realized after so many years living on that hill that it was no joke to go up and down a hill several times a day, even for a monk, as they go about their daily responsibilities.  And probably, reading a little bit further into the suggestion of Peter to build three tents, the monks then finally realized that when Peter suggested this, he was, as Mark described, beside himself terrified as it were, and he did not really know what he was talking about.  That’s what you get when you fail to read through the whole transfiguration story from beginning to end.

But Peter may have a point here.  When he saw the apparitions of Moses and Elijah he saw meaning and purpose.  As a good Jew Peter was well-versed in the tradition of their ancestors and when he saw the apparitions he was immediately reminded of the story and the legends involved.  Moses died but nobody knew where his tomb was. In fact the book of Deuteronomy is suggesting that it was God who buried him and from this the legend arose that Moses never really died.  The prophet Elijah did not also die.  He was seen by Elisha taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot.  And from both these stories a belief arose – when the messiah comes to inaugurate the new age, God’s kingdom, Moses and Elijah would appear first, sent by God to herald the Messiah’s rule, and they would do so in the feast of booths, in the feast of tents, thus Peter’s suggestion, let us build three tents.  Peter may not be beside himself after all.  He had a point.  In fact he was very alert.  Jesus was inaugurating God’s kingdom.  Moses and Elijah came to announce it.  This had been prophesied, the story unravelling itself right before his eyes. Peter saw meaning and purpose to this whole experience.

Like Peter we are a people who seek for meaning and purpose in our life and in the events that happen to us.  We have this attitude of drawing meaning from all circumstances in our life.  May purpose gid na da si Lord para sa imo.  Ngaa natabo ina?  Siguro ginatuytuyan ka niya sa amo sini nga dalan, basi ginatawag ka niya sa sina nga alagyan.  We often hear that.  In fact we do it on our own.  We are after all human beings and we desire nothing else but to make all things intelligible for us, we need to know and understand why, we need to attach values in the things that we do, in the things that we experience.  It is hard to live without meaning and purpose.  I mean what do you do, what for do you do these things – we sleep, we wake up, we eat, we work, we play, we sleep again – for what? 

And it’s not only that. There are circumstances that leave us dumbfounded so much so that without meaning and purpose we go through the downward spiral of depression.  It is already difficult to explain life without meaning and purpose, and it is much more difficult to explain tragedies and crisis in a life without meaning and purpose.  Meaning and purpose help us through life, most especially in the difficult transitions, in a chaotic surrounding.  These help us move forward.  People who give up can no longer find meaning and purpose.  And that is very sad indeed.

Peter discovered meaning and purpose as the gospel says, with Jesus on a high mountain apart.  The mountain always symbolizes encounter with God.  It is God in Jesus who gives meaning and purpose.  In fact for many of us it is God in Jesus who is our meaning and purpose.  But it is good to note whatever our meaning and purpose is in life, we get our inspiration, we get our direction from the mountain so that we can go back to the valley with greater strength and with a clearer vision.

But our story does not end there.  When Peter volunteered his suggestion to build 3 tents, Peter was told to shut up, though of course, God in a subtle show of divine courteous behavior, did not say shut up.  The voice simply took over as Peter was speaking and said, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”  I would like to see it as God’s gentle way of saying to Peter, Peter there are times that your life and the events you go through may not always be intelligible to you.  There are things in your life that you will not always understand, not everything that happens have easy interpretations – the cross with the crucifixion will be one of those times.

I remember when I was still going through the difficulty of understanding my pain in my bouts with ankylosing spondylitis, a well-meaning parishioner came to me to offer what for her was meaning and purpose.  She said, our arthritis is caused by our sins.  Father please go to confession.  (May I ask who of you have arthritis? please raise your hands.)

The cross and the crucifixion are difficult things to understand for a Jew, and for Peter in particular who loved Jesus so much.  How can the messiah suffer and die?  How can God allow his Son, his beloved to suffer and die?  How can I allow the persons I love to die?

So what was Peter asked to do?  Shut up, just listen to the Son, he is reliable, just listen to the Son.  Matthew has, I believe a better narration, when he narrated the Father as saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” - in whom I delight.  To delight in the presence of the Son – without searching for meaning and purpose, without making out how to fit in what happens to me in a plan. I am simply called to delight in the presence of the Son, to delight in my encounter with the Son.  And many times events in our lives call only for that - to just simply delight in this unique encounter with the Son.  Things do not have to be intelligible.  It is enough that Jesus is there.

Today we gather for a birthday, for two birthdays in fact.  When we celebrate life it is important to go back to meaning and purpose.  What is your meaning and purpose?  Sometimes it is a who - who is your meaning and purpose?  At the same time it is also an invitation to look back in the ups and downs of life and simply to delight in seeing that Jesus was always there, he never left us and he will never leave us.  There is no other delightful thing in this world than this.