Gn 15:5-12, 17-18 / Phil 3:17-4:1 or 3:20-4:1 / Lk 9:28b-36
A man was crawling through the desert on his hands and knees, desperate for a drink of water. He came upon a person selling neckties. "Would you like to buy a nice necktie?" asked the salesman.
"All I want is a drink of water," croaked the man. The salesman had no water, so the poor fellow crawled on across the sand.
Eventually he came upon a beautiful restaurant. "It must be a mirage," he thought, but as he drew nearer he saw it was real.
With his last ounce of energy, he struggled up to the entrance and asked the doorman. "Please, sir, may I have a drink of water!"
The doorman replied, "Sorry. Gentlemen are not admitted without neckties."
+ + +
Life is a marvelous gift, but at times it can seem awfully unfair and very hard. At those times — which can stretch on and on — we can all too easily lose heart and lose our way.
Sunday's gospel is about one of those times. Jesus and the apostles are on the road to Jerusalem and He has just told them that He is going to die there. They are crushed and confused and feeling mightily betrayed. Suddenly their life and the last three years with Him seem like a huge waste. They make no sense.
Jesus understands this, so He takes them up to the top of the mountain and renews their hearts and their hopes by showing them where He is really headed, and that is to the resurrection. He helps them look through the pain that lies immediately ahead and see His destiny as God's Son — resurrection. And it begins to dawn on them, "This is our destiny too."
Of course they want to stay right there on the mountain top and set up shop with their own little shrines. But the work that will bring Jesus — and them — to the resurrection is not up there. It's down below, on the flat land, down below in Jerusalem. So together they walk down the mountain, pick up the fabric of their lives, and make their way to Jerusalem where they know what awaits them.
To each of us has been assigned the building of one piece of God's kingdom. The work is never fast and rarely easy. Too often it seems impossible and sometimes even pointless. We can lose heart and lose our way, and sometimes we do. But always in even the darkest times, our Lord is there, calling us for just a moment to the mountain top, showing us yet again where we're headed, to the resurrection, and reassuring us once more we do not walk this rock road alone, we are not building these lives of ours alone.
The Lord is calling out to you this very moment from the top of the mountain. So, as the gospel says, listen to Him! Trust Him! And never give up!
He is bigger than any pain! He is bigger than any sadness!