From the Friars: Light and Darkness

There are two kinds of darkness. One is an absence of light, like the night during which Abraham experienced his mysterious trance and vision in the first reading for today. The second is to be blinded by a light so bright, so intense, that our eyes are not able to see in its presence. This was the experience of the Apostles Peter, James and John on Mount Tabor, when the face of Jesus was transfigured before them. Here Our Lord reveals His Glory to his disciples to prepare them for the shock of the cross. In the Holy Rosary the Transfiguration is “the mystery of light par excellence” as St. John Paul II teaches us. This miracle also can serve as a powerful symbol of the holiness to which we are all called.

When a person is growing spiritually, they pass through stages just like the human body develops as it matures. The great mystical doctors of the Church, such as St. Bonaventure and St. John of the Cross, teach us that as spiritual adulthood is reached one experiences a union with God that is beyond the bodily senses. Visible creation reveals God’s goodness and beauty and leads us to Him. But we must let go of this passing world like a bird leaving its nest for the first time to soar up into the open sky. So, as when we “contemplate with Mary the face of Christ” in the rosary, eventually we arrive at the top of Mount Tabor and enter the darkness of His overpowering Glory.

This all sounds very lofty but likely far removed from our ordinary experience. Maybe during your rosary you are not experiencing mystical union with Jesus but thinking about what is for breakfast. Let us not be discouraged. Even Tom Brady was a beginner at one point. The important thing is to first be grateful that we are in a friendship with the God-Man and take the next good step toward growing closer to Him.

Let us look to Good Saint Joseph, whom we honor this week on his Solemnity, as the greatest model of holiness after Our Blessed Mother. His physical eyes saw a handsome young Jewish boy learning the basics of carpentry in his shop in Nazareth. His eyes of faith saw the Glory of the Son of God, which words cannot express.

May he help us this Lent go a little further up the mountain. Peace.

— Fr. Peter