Faith in action at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish

This is an excerpt from Archbishop Miller's homily March 17 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish. For more information on parish visits, click here.

I am very grateful for your hospitality and that of all those who worked so hard to organize my visit, especially those who work in the office and had to handle getting so many people together on a tight schedule. And thanks, too, for all who made the sacrifice to come together and meet with me, especially as this is the beginning of spring break.

The past few days have been very busy, as I was able to get together with volunteers from nearly every group and ministry that give life to your parish. During these meetings I listened to all that you are doing, as well to your hopes for the future and the challenges you are facing.

I also learned about the creative ways in which you carry out your ministries that I can share with other parishes when I visit them. And, of course, I had the chance to offer my own observations on certain questions that face all of us, regardless of our parish home. Some time in the next couple of months, I will send Father Babu a written report, but allow me now to share just a few things. There are three blessings you have as a parish family that I think are worthy of note.

First of all, this is a parish where the Redemptorist charism which combines true devotion, especially to Our Lady and to the Lord’s living presence in the Blessed Sacrament, with outreach and action in the world, is present. Faith in action is evident here at OLPH. The newly-formed group of Redemptorist associates and the upcoming pilgrimage to places dear to them, as well as a deepening appreciation of the relevance of the spirituality of St. Alphonsus mark your parish in a unique way.

Secondly, you are blessed to have an outstanding school as an essential ministry within your parish. Your school is flourishing because of the extraordinary way in which it is carrying out its mission as an evangelizing community which is intentional in fostering in the students a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, a Catholic world view, and a way of life patterned on the Gospel. I want to thank especially the Principal, Mrs. Clarke, the teachers, educational assistants and staff – with whom I enjoyed a wonderful conversation. The Mass I celebrated on Friday morning with the children gave me ample proof, if any were needed, that you should be very proud of your Catholic school.

Thirdly, it is certainly the Lord’s work in your midst that so many of you are putting your gifts and talents at the service of other parishioners, as well as to a large number in the wider community, indeed even across the globe. The dedication of those who continue to serve year after year bears witness to your love for your parish. As Pope Benedict liked to say, the lay faithful are “co-responsible” for the life of the Church.

Continue to expand your ministries, inviting ever more parishioners to share in your many ministries, especially those who are younger and not yet as fully involved as those who have found a home here for many years. How to welcome new members to your ministries and the need to plan for the future are both necessary to ensure a flourishing future.

Lessons from the Gospel of the Transfiguration

 In today’s Gospel, Jesus goes up – as he often does – to a high mountain. It is a place of God’s special closeness to his people: like Mount Sinai, where the Lord gave Moses the Ten Commandments; the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus proclaimed the Sermon on the Mount; or the hill of Calvary where he died for us.

 Up on the mountain of the Transfiguration Jesus revealed to three chosen disciples who he really is for them – and for us: the eternal Son of the Father, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Two of the disciples’ senses are particularly relevant in this account: their eyes are filled with the radiant brilliance which envelopes Jesus; and their ears hear the Father’s voice from the cloud.

Light for the Eyes

Luke records that while Jesus was praying “his clothes became dazzling white” (Lk 9:29). He is surrounded by blinding light – as you can see in the beautiful masterpiece of Raphael on the back page of today’s bulletin. Why this light? And why do we read this account during Lent? 

I think it is because Jesus wanted this light to illumine the hearts of Peter, James and John, since he knew that they would need this memory when they would pass through the thick darkness of his Passion and Death, when the folly of the Cross would seem unbearable to them.

The Transfiguration is, then, a moment of light in advance of the Crucifixion. Today it helps us see Christ’s Passion, which we meditate especially during Lent, with the gaze of faith. We get a glimpse, even if short-lived, that the Passion, which we share on a daily basis in the trials of life, will ultimately open for us the door to resurrection, just as it did for Jesus.

Those who die with Jesus, shall rise with Jesus. Whoever struggles alongside him will triumph with him. This is why Jesus’ Cross contains a message of hope, and that hope is made known here on the mountain.

Voice: “Listen to Him”

But a sense other than sight is also prominent in the Gospel. The Father’s voice speaks from above, proclaiming Jesus as his beloved Son, saying: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him.” These words are so important! What the Father says to these Apostles he says also to us this morning: “Listen to Jesus, because he is my chosen, my beloved Son.”

We, the followers and disciples of Jesus, are called to be a people who listen to God’s voice and take his words with the utmost seriousness. But to hear what Jesus is really saying, we must get close to him and follow him, as did the crowds who walked the roads of Palestine.

It is our privilege to have access to the very Word of God, to be able to listen to Jesus, because he speaks to us, as one friend speaks to another – and we are his friends! (cf. Jn 15:15). We need to take the time every day to go up the mountain with Jesus; that is, we need to find a place of silence, a place of prayer, so as to hear his voice. What is he saying to me?

Listen to him first of all in your heart. But also listen to Jesus in his written Word, in the Gospels. What greater nourishment for the soul could there be, what better guidance and what greater consolation than the very Word of God contained in the four Gospels?

If you haven’t made a Lenten resolution yet, think about reading one of the Gospels between now and Easter.