In the Gospel Lesson which you have just heard, Saint Matthew tells us that when Peter, James, and John went with Jesus up into a high mountain to be apart from the crowds, . . . in their sight Jesus was transfigured, so that they saw Him as if He were pure light!  Moreover, suddenly, the three disciples saw Jesus in the company of two figures whom they understood to be Moses and Elijah.  Peter greets this astonishing vision by proposing a building program but is cut off in mid-sentence by God the Father overshadowing all of them and saying, . . . “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”  The near Presence of God is too much for our three friends, and they collapse to the ground, covering their faces in awe and terror.  . . . And the next thing they know, Jesus, is standing over them, and He touches them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”

    About this mysterious vision that has been given to us, the Church, I have four things to say as they relate to this, the Last Sunday after The Epiphany; . . . I have four things to say about this vision of Christ’s Transfiguration as we stand poised to enter the arduous Season of Lent.  . . . First, I want you to notice how this vision is a recapitulation of the Baptism of Jesus; how God the Father once again, just as He did at the Jordan River; . . . God the Father once again declares Jesus to be the Son.  Jesus is the Son of the Living God, and it is into His sonship that each one of us have been baptized.  You are a son of the Living God; . . . you are God’s daughter.  You don’t have to die in order to see Heaven, . . . Heaven comes to you in the Person of Jesus.  So, repent; . . . turn around; . . . leave off doing gross stuff, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.  Embrace Him . . . and be embraced by Him.

    The second thing I have to say is related to the first.  After God the Father declares Jesus to be His Son, . . . He advises us to “listen to Him.”  God the Father says “This is my beloved Son . . . listen to Him!”  . . . Now just a moment ago I said that your Baptism has made you God’s son as well; . . . your Baptism has made you God’s daughter.  But you are a son or daughter of God only by the grace of your baptismal adoption.  Originally, along with Moses and Elijah, we are the orphaned waifs of Adam:  dirty and disfigured by our forebear’s sin.  Jesus is the only legitimate Son of God.  And so, only Jesus understands the glory and mercy and rhythm of God’s Eternal Household.  And so, if you are an adopted son or daughter of God, not native to the magnificent and glorious household into which you have been taken, . . . it is good advice to keep your unruly and untidy self quiet . . . in order to listen attentively to Jesus . . . as He carefully explains the Way of Heaven, and the proper deportment of all who have been granted the privilege to belong to that merciful Household.  Jesus patiently explains and shows us the heavenly attire of humility and charity, . . . and He washes our soiled feet with His very life-blood.

    The third thing I want to say about this vision we have been given is to ask you to meditate upon what happens immediately after God speaks from the cloud.  The Church has been told to listen to Jesus.  . . . And now, the very next thing that happens is that Jesus comes to us . . . and touches us . . . and He says:  . . . “Rise, and have no fear.”  These are the most important words Jesus has to say to us, for they are the sum of everything He says.  They are the sum of the Gospel!  For, what does the Angel say to Our Lady Mary at the Annunciation; . . . and what does the Angel say to the shepherds at the Nativity; . . . and what does the Angel say to the women at the Empty Tomb?  Each says what Jesus has said to us today:  “Do not be afraid.”  . . . Why do you suppose that is?  Why do you suppose the Son of God and His Angels keep telling us not to be afraid?  . . . Well, it is my experience that the root cause of most, if not all, sin, and the chief agent of our undoing -- of our penchant for unholiness -- is fear.  It is at the root of Original Sin; for, what does the serpent say to the woman:  “You will not die.  You will become like gods knowing good from evil.”  Fear of Death and the hope that the forbidden fruit will conquer Death and make Eve like God is why she sinned against Him; . . . why she intentionally “missed the mark”.  And why does the man eat that same forbidden fruit?  Well, he saw that it didn’t poison Eve, and he feared that, having eaten it, the woman would now have an advantage over him, . . . and so, he ate, and his eyes were open; and they both knew shame, . . . and when God asked them why they did this forbidden thing, . . . they blamed one another and God.  . . . Fear is historically the cause of our undoing, . . . because the consequence of fear is shame and blame.  And so, Jesus touches us today; . . . Jesus comes to us in the Sacrament of His Body and touches your hand and says, “Rise, and have no fear.”  Listen to Him!

    The final thing I have to say about today’s Gospel is to invite you to pay attention to what Jesus tells Peter, James, John, and His Church as they come away from the mountain and the holy vision that had been revealed there.  Jesus says, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead.”  . . . The Transfiguration is not something to be talked about and analyzed.  It is something to be savored; . . . the Transfiguration of Jesus is something to be contemplated and prayed over.  Because on this coming Wednesday the sacred season of Lent begins.  A season of fasting; . . . a season of simplifying our routines of eating and speaking and amusing ourselves; . . . a season of being more intentional about allowing the sacred to drive off fear by becoming the focus and definition of our lives and our relationships.  And by His words to Peter, James, and John, Jesus is inviting us to make the vision of His Transfiguration and the Word of God and His sacramental touch the centerpiece of our Lenten Fast . . . so that knowledge of Christ’s Resurrection may quell all fear . . . and make your life a light to the world.