Blog

For the weeks leading up to Lent, those of us at St. Elizabeth of the Trinity have been listening to Fr. Phil remind us what Jesus was trying to tell us through his Sermon on the Mount: that we are to be light, salt and blessing to the world; in fact, that we are light, salt and blessing.  Then as we entered  Lent we heard that our temptation is not to believe or live that.  This Sunday, the story of the Transfiguration, always proclaimed on the Second Sunday of Lent, speaks about the importance of listening to Jesus.  “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”  All three synoptic Gospels share the story of the Transfiguration, and all tell us to listen!

Listen to him! In the first reading from Genesis, Abram obeys when the Lord tells him to “go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”  Wayne and I recently watched the movie ‘Peace by Chocolate’ which tells the story of the Hadhad family and their emigration from Syria to Canada in 2016.  It came to mind as I read about Abram.  It was a difficult move for Isaam Hadhad, who was reluctant to leave his home, despite having had his chocolate business destroyed with bombs.  Even his son Tareq, the driving force behind the move, was challenged to adapt to life in small town Antigonish with a population of about 4500 in 2016, having lived his entire life in Damascus, a huge city with over two million people.  I expect it was as difficult for Abram to listen, and trust, as it was for the Hadhad family, leaving their family, their culture, their language, their way of life, the land of their birth to travel to a place they did not know or understand.  Yet Abram is promised that he will be blessed, that his name will be made great.  The Hadhad’s were promised a place of welcome, a land of peace, an opportunity to begin again. 

On any level, I cannot imagine experiencing  such a move.  For me, moving from Newfoundland to New Brunswick was difficult; it took time for me to adapt, to have this place become my home.  And this despite making a move within my country, to a place with similar culture not very many miles from my homeland. What faith Abram had; and if you follow the story of the Hadhad’s, what faith they had.  They trusted; they listened; and they were rewarded.

In Matthew’s version of the Transfiguration, the ‘voice’ which speaks to Peter, James and John as they are on the mountaintop, makes essentially the same statement which the ‘voice ‘ said at Jesus’ baptism: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased ” is said as Jesus arises from the waters of the Jordan.   Beyond adding the statement “Listen to him” there is one other notable difference.  Jesus did not begin his public ministry until following his baptism.  He has done nothing, and yet, this voice still is ‘well pleased’ with him.  It is not as exceptional to hear those words added at the Transfiguration.  Jesus has already been about the tasks which he was born to do – he has proved his worth, so to speak.  At his baptism, before he has done one thing, his Father is pleased with him. 

We need do nothing, and still God is pleased with us.  By virtue of our very being, God is pleased with us.  We are asked simply to listen.  It does not appear to be very complicated, and yet we know, because we repeatedly fail to do so, that obeying that request is challenging.  If we really believed that we are beloved, would it be easier, I wonder?  Because maybe, that is what God is also trying to get us to listen to.  

Ellen Bennett