Sunday Homily, 1 March 2026 - Fr Paul Rowse, OP

There is evidence in the Gospels that the disciples really did understand Jesus predictions about his Passion, that they took him at his word when he said that he would suffer a violent end.  We're not just thinking of Judas’ attempt to turn the blood money.  We would also be thinking of times when the disciples showed readiness to take up arms in the name of Christ.  And all of them involve the Apostle Peter.

Only Holy Thursday night, there is Peter's promise that he would die with Jesus, a promise which elicits Jesus’ prediction about his threefold denial of him.  Then, the Lord’s warning about the tumultuous times ahead and the need to swap cloak for dagger leads the disciples to reveal that they have been carrying two swords all along.   And then, in the Garden of Gethsemane, there is Peter’s lunging at the high priest’s servant, Malchus, cutting off his ear.  Most significantly of all, there is Peter’s protest that Jesus must not suffer as he has predicted – the protest that was made just before the Transfiguration.

So, we may be quite familiar with how the disciples were puzzled over Jesus’ message and failed to understand him.  But we need also to contend with another kind of misunderstanding: that they took steps towards violence because they took Jesus at his word.  If a great potentate on the rise surrounds himself with twelve stout fellows and there is trouble on the horizon, those stout fellows may well ready themselves to see duty done.

Certainly, among the Twelve, it is Peter who shows the greater belligerence.  He seems ready to intervene and protect and Jesus, to handle and manage the situation.  Well might we wonder whether this behaviour of Peter is why only three disciples see the Transfiguration: Jesus chooses two other disciples to accompany him and Peter, so that Peter has witnesses who can reassure him of the vision whenever there may be some forgetful disbelief about it.

What is to be done about pugnacious disciples?  How will Jesus remind his would-be minders about their obligation and relation to him?  Although there will be continued teaching about peace and fraternal love, that is not the solution presented here.  Instead, we have the Transfiguration.

The Transfiguration is the divine corrective of human ambition.  Christ stands atop the mountain, transfigured, as a sign against that part of us which employs God as we might a pet: he is welcome; he is loved; but ultimately he is mastered.  God is made to fit into a life which has been organised without him.

Peter and the others are corrected by none other than the Father himself.  “Beloved Son” points to Christ’s service of his Father, like a minister.  And “Listen to him” is akin to saying “Obey him”: “Heed him as you would me,” the Father sends.  The message has not yet been taken to heart.  Christ is known about but not yet known.  There is still an imposition of human categories of goal-setting and management on to one whose will is already perfect.  And so, listening to him with heart and mind leads to an abandonment of human ambition and an acceptance of divine wisdom.  It is not God who must be mastered but us, as his Beloved Son’s disciples.

We can be consoled that this awesome portrait of glorified humanity corresponds with the concerns of the disciples: the elimination of opposition, the triumph of the hero, the happy reunion with allies.  But all of these things will come without the interference of armed fisherman.  God doesn't need volunteers to be glorified on earth.  But he will share his glory with those who are changed into Christ.  Ours will be the light.  Ours will be the splendour.  Ours will be the life in the divine presence.  But not before we have been mastered as true disciples.

So, there is on this mount a call to deeper discipleship.  Here is the opportunity we must take to examine the place we give God in our mortal life, the way that we regard him.  If his transforming power is allowed by us to operate in only one part of life, we shall not be changed at all.  If his unconquerable might is let loose in just the nice parts of me, then I shall remain insufferable.  But Christ in his transfiguration rises up from the dust of the earth and shows himself to be above the fray.  Yet he chooses to remain, to rejoin us, and to remove himself into the hands of tormentors, peacefully though he enjoys the strength of God himself.

We are urged, then, to listen to him.  At this point in Lent, we have an opportunity to consider the ways we are really listening to Jesus.  Might I encourage you especially in the practice of private silent prayer, especially here in the church.  Do consider making a daily visit, even for the briefest time.  The Lord has much to say to you, whether directly or indirectly, but first you must give him a hearing.

Fr Paul Rowse, OP

Parish Priest