Is God Your Genie in a Bottle?

FROM THE CATHOLIC LITURGY FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT- MARCH 12, 2017 - Matthew 17:1-9. On this Second Sunday of Lent we hear and reflect on the Transfiguration of Jesus, which took place soon after he informed his disciples that he was going to be arrested and crucified. Tradition says it took place on Mount Tabor, which was a symbol of great military victory for the Jewish people about 2,500 years before Jesus. These two events - the prophecy of the Passion and the military victory are important to understanding today's Gospel - because the many of the Jews of this time believed that the Messiah-Savior promised by God would come among them as a great Warrior-King who would free them from Roman tyranny and establish the Kingdom of God in this world.

That this Messiah would be captured by the Romans and be shamelessly put to death was the polar opposite of their expectations. That his liberation would be from sin and death, and his kingdom not of this world, didn't even enter their minds.  And it was because of this understandable but erroneous political-military image of the Messiah that the Transfiguration took place.  Jesus intentionally gave the grace of the Transfiguration to these disciples because he wanted to strengthen their faith in him and who he truly was. And God the Father wanted to assure them of who Jesus was by thundering his declaration, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."

We all have ideas about who God is and our own expectation of what we want him to do in our lives. And so often, if we are honest with ourselves, I think we might discover that one of our images of God is oftentimes much like that of a magic genie, and our expectation is that he will grant us our wishes and make our lives perfect, according to our definition of perfection. And when this false image and expectation fail us, we run the risk of shaking a fist at God and can easily fall into the temptation to think that he has no real care or concern for our lives. 

In order to help us avoid this danger to our faith and to transfigure our self-centered very human idea of who God is, Jesus intentionally left behind him on earth a living Church that would continue to be his voice and mystical presence in the world. And of course, he remains with us in the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the tabernacle, always available to us. And when we come before the tabernacle to spend time with him, to hear his voice in our hearts, we can then experience for ourselves what Peter exclaimed in today's gospel, "Lord, it is good that we are here!"