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August 6, 2023: May We Follow in Their Footsteps
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Have you ever been a witness in a case? Civil or otherwise? Otherwise can mean being a witness to some event, small or large, then, after the event is finished, be it in long or short time, you may move on without telling anyone what you saw. You keep what you witnessed to yourself. Maybe at some point later on you might have the courage or need to bring up what you witnessed to a friend you can confide in. On the other hand, you may be such a central witness to, say, a crime, or an vehicle accident, that you had no choice but to show up and testify to what you witnessed, trying to remember what you saw with accuracy and truth.
Well, Peter, James and John were witnesses. In more ways than one, of course. The three of them, as well as the other Apostles, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and many others whom God chose beforehand, they all witnessed Jesus alive after he had died. They spoke with him; they ate with him on the shore of the Sea of Galilee; they watched him walk and sit; they witnessed him come and go through walls and locked doors after he was raised from the dead by the glory of God the Father. But even before all these incredible things before his Ascension into heaven, which the 11 of them also witnessed, they saw firsthand the actions of Jesus with crowds and in towns and villages for about three years.
You know the Gospel stories. We’ve heard them many times. Witnessing the curing of lepers after the lepers were told to go show themselves to the priests. They – and many more people - saw Jesus call dear Lazarus out of his tomb after 4 days of death. They heard his preaching of the Kingdom of God, becoming witnesses to what he spoke on any given day (do you ever get the sense that Jesus never wasted words?). The above three Apostles witnessed Jesus raise a 12-year-old girl from death to life after the Lord was criticized by those in the house for telling them she was only sleeping. All the disciples were present to witness Jesus “get physical,” rubbing clay mixed with his saliva into the eyes of the blind man who begged to see. These stories only begin to touch on the many events and teachings they saw and heard from the Lord. There are many more, many of which are not included in the Scriptures.
Being a witness, by chance or intentional, brings with it a certain responsibility to the one who does the witnessing. It is true that some folks will either refuse to carry out their responsibility of having been a witness to some event based on the presence of fear. There have been loads and loads of public civil and criminal cases where a person has chosen to avoid testifying to what they know to be the truth, making their choice based on the presence of fear. Fear that another person or group will come after them or a family member if they testify to what they witnessed. This happens in more than movies. But, this seems to be a lesser concern today with whom we’ve come to know as “whistleblowers.” They seem to be on every street corner, along with cameras. Sometimes this is good; sometimes this is not good, depending on the circumstances.
Another reason for not testifying may be the lack of wanting to testify against a family member. This is a very hard thing to do, as we can imagine. However, in the end, being a witness to an event, good or not so good, comes with a certain degree of responsibility to “advance the story” by way of speaking to someone about it, be it publicly or in confidence. I’m not against keeping secrets to oneself for the rest of one’s life, for sure. This can be a very good thing. But most times, witnessing an event of small or large proportions comes with the real possibility of future testimony. If you witness someone take a grape off a grapevine in a grocery store and eat it, would you report it to the store owners, or say, “That’s wrong what they did, but it was just one grape?” How about if you saw a UFO, since our government seems to be presently overly interested in this topic? Would you keep such information to yourself, or would you tell a certain friend or two the same day or the next day, knowing if you didn’t tell anyone you were going to burst? You would have to let it out at some point.
Well, St. Peter had to let it out. Joyfully, he did what Jesus said, and didn’t let the cat out of the bag by testifying too soon, heeding the command of Jesus to “not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” That’s a tall order for anyone to heed after just witnessing the most incredible sight and experience the most peaceful event they would come to know in this world. Peter was there on the mountain with the two brothers James and John, who we can assume kept the word of Jesus to not tell anyone of the transfiguration until after his resurrection. But Peter, as we hear proclaimed in today’s 2nd reading, wrote about the event he witnessed and experienced on the mountain when the Lord was transfigured before their eyes. The lead Apostle did his writing some years after the event, but made sure he included this unforgettable happening in the course of his remembrance that ended up in the canon of the Scriptures. Rightfully so.
This event, which we believe to have taken place on Mt. Tabor, this event presents another form of witnessing, if you will. It’s the form of witnessing to a spectacular event that calls us to wait and wait, and seemingly wait some more, before we can speak publicly about what we saw, to friends, to family members, to strangers on an elevator or escalator, to anyone! At least Peter, James, and John could have spoken about the transfiguration of Jesus to each other prior to the Lord sneaking through the walls of the Upper Room to make them witnesses to his resurrection. Possibly. Or, maybe they wanted to practice their skills of total silence concerning the amazing event on the mountain. Maybe they understood Jesus’ words to them as they came back down the mountain, words pertaining to them not telling anyone about what just happened, to mean not say anything to anyone at anytime until the Son of Man was raised from the tomb. Whichever way they chose for their themselves, or, they came together as one small group of three Apostles, put their hands together as one, promising to keep it to themselves on “Scouts honor…” Whichever course they chose to take regarding the request of Jesus to keep silent until a certain time in the future, what they most definitely did do was to proclaim the events of the transfiguration (and resurrection, of course) in their proclamation of the Gospel after our Lord and their Lord ascended to the Upper Chamber. In other words, they were no longer quiet, silent, close-mouthed, living in fear of authorities, or anything of the sort. Rather, they shouted the great event, and many others pertaining to the life of Christ, from the mountain tops. And did so with great joy and confidence.
The above commentary speaks to our present outwardly secular world and inwardly kept faith for Catholics and all others who profess Christianity. We are witnesses to our faith in Christ. How do we go about living this precious pearl each day? Do we remain quiet to the events of Jesus’ life because we “don’t want to offend another person,” as we live in an age that has wrapped itself in tightrope to the possibility of “offending someone?” Where does the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ fit in in our lives when placed aside of “not wanting to offend anyone?” Do we not say with confidence and truth that JESUS IS LORD anymore, that GOD IS FATHER, because someone may be offended by such words?
I remember well when I was Chaplain for the Worcester Fire Department for some years, as well as another Pastor from another Christian denomination, and praying our respective invocation and benediction prayers at a Firefighter event such as a graduation. Both of us would invoke the name of Jesus at some point in the prayer. Well, guess what? Someone in the political crowd who had to sit there and hear Jesus proclaimed as Lord didn’t take too well to our prayers. My first thought? “You got the wrong person for this job! It will be a cold day in you-know-where before I refuse to say the holy name of Jesus because some politico may be offended by it.” All the firefighters were fine and thankful for our solemn prayers for them. But other listeners were “offended.”
If Jesus tells you to not say anything to anyone about a certain great event in his life, then pay attention to the Lord. We can trust that his words will serve the greater good of humanity and our salvation. If anyone else tells you to remain quiet about the Lord’s life, death, and resurrection because either they or some weak person is offended by the name of Jesus, well, I pray you choose not to listen to such bad advice. Why can a person not have confidence to speak openly what they believe while respecting the faith tradition of others, or respecting even no faith at all? The mature person is able to do so. As Christians, we have our baptismal responsibility to testify to the Lord Jesus openly and with honesty. We don’t wait until after we die, for that is too late. St. Peter wrote about the Lord’s transfiguration, recalling the third greatest event in the life of Christ, after his death and resurrection, ensuring that others heard the greatest message of hope. What they did with the message was their choice. But they heard it through honest and open testimony. May you have no fear in proclaiming what the Lord Jesus has done for you, or even, how the Lord Jesus has tested us for the purpose of our spiritual growth.
To Saints Peter, James, and John, they did their job well, living out to perfection the responsibility Jesus gave them in this world, both before and after his transfiguration. May we follow in their footsteps as spoken witnesses, through words and deeds, to the life of our Lord and Savior.