When I moved to Illinois to do graduate studies, my new friends could not wait to take me to the local county fair. When we got there, they kept pointing out to the “Jersey boy” what farm things were. They would point and tell me, “that’s what a cow looks like, it is where milk comes from,” or “that’s a tractor, and that’s a combine.” I pointed out to them that New Jersey is called “the Garden State” for a reason, and that I grew up less than a mile from a farm.
There is a Jewish folktale about two boys from the city who had never seen a farm, and really were naive. One day they decided to take a trip out into the country, and they saw a farmer plowing. They were shocked that the farmer was tearing up a beautiful green field. When they saw him sowing seed, and then covering over the seed, they thought the farmer was truly insane. Laughing they returned to the city.
A few weeks later, they took another trip out to the country, and were admiring the standing wheat crop in the farmer’s field when to their horror they saw the farmer cutting down the stalks. In disbelief they went home where they made themselves some sandwiches for supper, with no understanding of how bread is made from flour, which comes from wheat (most of the time).
While these boys were amazingly simplistic, even with all of our technical knowledge today, we still have very little understanding of the workings of God’s world. Scientists can describe -- in amazing detail -- so many things in the world and experiences we have, but they cannot really explain how it all works. For example, what makes a seed, buried in the earth grow into a tree with the help of soil, sunshine, and rain? The fact that all these things work is more amazing than the ignorance of the two boys.
There are great mysteries in the universe, and today we celebrate one of God’s great mysteries -- the Paschal Mystery. The Father’s plan was that His Son would go from suffering to joy, from humiliation to glory, and from death to life. Jesus died. Then He was buried, planted like a seed in the earth. His Father’s glory, like the sun, and the Holy Spirit’s life-giving power, like the rain, came upon Him and He rose from the dead in glorious splendor.
The Transfiguration of Jesus was a gift to the apostles to prepare them for the ordeal of Jesus’ Passion and Death. It was meant to strengthen their faith on that day of trial, so that remembering Jesus’ glory on the mountain they could endure His death with hope for His resurrection. Yet the scandal of the cross was too much for them until Jesus had actually risen from the dead.
We are blessed to look back in faith upon the Paschal Mystery, to believe that Jesus died and yet was raised up, to realize that the Transfiguration was a prelude to the Resurrection. All of this has taken place for our benefit, for our salvation.
When loved ones go before us in death, we may be inclined to think that this awesome fact of life makes about as much sense to us as the planting of seed made to the two city boys. When faced with our own impending death, we may be tempted to fear that we will be buried like a seed but left to rot in the soil.
Can it all be true, this wonderful promise of resurrection to the fullness of life? Jesus has given us a sacrament of resurrection, a guarantee for our faith and a strength for our hope. Jesus promised, “If you eat my flesh and drink my blood I will raise you up on the last day.” We stand in dignity to receive Holy Communion since standing is the sign of our faith in the resurrection. So important was this as a sign in the early Church, that it used to be forbidden to kneel on Sundays, for Sunday is the celebration of the Resurrection, and we have been raised up in Christ Jesus. God who guides all the mysteries of the universe will not fail to lead us to the fullness of life.
[Largely taken from Miller, Charles E., “Feast of the Transfiguration: The Paschal Mystery is One of God’s Great Mysteries,” Sunday Preaching: Brief Homilies for the Sundays of the Three Cycles, New York: Alba House, 1997, pp. 416-417.]