I was asked to write some homily thoughts for Trócaire’s Lenten Campaign. I was happy to be asked and able to do this. Just going to include here the piece for this weekend.
Hope all is going well.
V
If there is a specific word presenting itself to us in today’s readings, I think it is the word “promise”.
It is a wonderful word that gives hope and helps us to cope with difficult situations in life. If we can believe the promise will be fulfilled, we can work our way through moments not of our choosing and challenges that are difficult.
Broken promises are heart-breaking. Something as simple as a service provider saying he or she will call you back, but the call does not come or that a job will begin on a given day, but nobody turns up. This leads us to feel frustrated, left down and disappointed. At its worst, the broken promise leads to anger and maybe even some form of retaliation.
In Trócaire’s Lenten Campaign 2020, we are face to face with people who know the meaning of broken promises. Their set-backs are more serious and life threatening than a plumber turning up on Wednesday evening rather than Monday morning. Their very lives and the lives of their families are at risk.
When Jesus takes Peter, James and John to the mountain top, they experience something wonderful and beyond expectation. They encounter the one they had known as friend in a way they had never seen before and he is truly revealed to them as the Son of the Father. Though they could not take it all in, they knew their lives could never be the same again. Transfixed as he was transfigured, they ask “Lord, can we build three tents?” It was as if they wanted to stay in this moment forever.
Gently, he points them towards ground level again. It is here they must live their lives, not forgetting what they had witnessed. It is here, at ground level, they must make a difference. They and all who followed them in his name and because of this moment, share in the fulfilment of the promise.
There are so many people at ground level, living under daily threat and in constant fear, looking to us today, seeking our help today that they too may know the promise kept.