As I meditated on this Sunday's readings, I could not help but see myself reflected in one of the characters in today's Gospel. I thought of my time here at St. Anne, and I recognized myself in the words with which St. Peter expressed his joy at what he had been given to witness on the holy mountain: "Lord, how good it is to be here!” As I remember my last decade here at St. Anne, I too say to Jesus, "How good it is to be here, Lord!" This church has been for me, in many moments, a true Mount Tabor, where I have so often enjoyed your company and your affection, and where God has manifested himself to me abundantly with the light of his infinite mercy.
The Prince of the Apostles, the leader of the fishermen of Galilee, wished to remain there on Mt. Tabor forever. He wanted to make three tents, “but he did not know what he was saying”. Our heavenly Father had a different plan, and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, had to descend from the top of that mountain to complete his mission on earth. Like our Master, we too cannot stay, because in the spiritual life not moving forward is the same as moving backward. After that extraordinary manifestation on the heights which we just heard in the Gospel, full of consolation and happiness, Jesus had to return to the valley and continue walking with his apostles to Jerusalem. He and his three beloved disciples could not remain any longer on that hilltop where they were so at ease, for heaven is the only place of definitive rest for us. Here, in this passing world, every day is a struggle, and the redemption of man necessarily passed through the mystery of the cross. As we know, those privileged witnesses, Peter, John and James, would be invited later, in Gethsemane, to participate more intimately in that mystery, carrying in their hearts all that they had contemplated on top of the mountain as they witnessed the Transfiguration of the Lord.
Like St. Peter, I too have been tempted to stay in this place, because “it is so good to be here”. However, the Lord has also called me to continue on my journey. I’m saying all of this because surely many of you already know that this weekend the name of the priest who will replace me as pastor of this community was made public. As of August 1st, Fr. Keith Kenney will serve you as your new pastor with the desire to bring you into complete union with the Lord.
This afternoon, I want to ask you to welcome Father Keith, to welcome him as you welcomed me ten years ago. I know you will do so, for among the many traits that define our parish is that of kindness.To all who hear me today, I dare to ask you to do something for me and especially for him. You will now see his new St. Anne e-mail address projected on the wall (frkenney@stanneaz.org). If you would like, you can take a picture of it with your cell phone while I am speaking to you so that when you get home you can write him a message that will make him feel loved and welcomed by our community even before he is physically with us. You can introduce yourselves and talk about your family, what St. Anne means to you, what ministry, council, or apostolate you are involved in, what your mission or responsibility is here. You can attach a picture of your family so that he can visualize you and pray for you. You can talk to him about the joy you feel anticipating his arrival in our parish and how much you are going to pray for him from now on. Express to him your desire to walk with him in this new stage that is beginning. May he find, when he opens his e-mail over the coming days, hundreds of messages from you with the warmth of your affection, ready and eager to receive him!
Dear brothers and sisters, the Mass we celebrate each week elevates us to the very heights of God, to the mountain where He manifests His glory and where we listen to His Word, while He, in turn, descends to us so that we may treat Him as You to You, in the intimacy of love, in the familiarity that is proper to friendship among equals. In St. Anne you have the foundations to grow in this holiness, and I ask you not to waste them. You know how rare it is to find so many graces in a single parish community, and all this is given to you so that you may respond with love to the Love of God.
As for me, and as I said two days ago, I feel that I am beginning to be part of the past of our parish, and I leave here with the joy of knowing that you will be in good hands, that you will be cared for with tenderness, and that Father Keith will give continuity to all the good that already exists at St. Anne. In the pain of separation, I experience a peace that is not of this world, thinking that all the pieces have been put in place according to what the Lord has shown me in prayer during these years: that a good priest is coming, chosen by our dear Bishop Olmsted, and that I can leave here having given my last act of service to this community.
My dear children in the Lord, I have been very happy on the top of this mountain. I have felt myself the happiest of men, but now Jesus calls me to come down from this Tabor which is for me St. Anne, and to walk with Him toward the cross first and the resurrection afterwards. I pray that, in heaven, where we hope to arrive by the Mercy of God and not by our own merits, we will all find ourselves united in that glory that will never end. To reach that goal, let us listen to the Lord, follow him and die with him. Per crucem ad lucem.
In today's Gospel, the voice of the Father tells us "listen to him", but three years before, in Cana of Galilee, it was Mary who first said: "do whatever he tells you". Thus, the Father and the Mother harmonize in the same message and direct us towards that Lord who in each Holy Mass is transfigured anew before our eyes in the miracle of transubstantiation, and is revealed to us in the humility of an appearance as simple and poor as a bit of bread. May we, too, like Jesus, like Mary, bury ourselves in the ground like the grain of wheat so that we may bear the fruits of eternal life.
