← All Things Catholic with Dr. Edward Sri
All Things Catholic with Dr. Edward Sri
Finding the Light in Spiritual Darkness
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What part of your life is feeling dark right now? In this special on-location episode, Dr. Sri takes us up Mount Tabor—the very site of the Transfiguration—to explore how this powerful event speaks directly into the darkest places of our lives. Standing where Peter, James, and John once witnessed Christ’s glory, Dr. Sri reflects on why Jesus revealed His radiance at this pivotal moment and how that same light strengthens us through seasons of confusion, fear, weakness, and suffering.
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This podcast is brought to you by Ascension. To discover even more free Catholic podcasts, videos, and resources to help you live your faith every day, visit ascensionpress.com hi, I'm Edward Sri, and welcome to All Things Catholic, where real faith meets real life. Hi, I'm Edward Sri, and welcome to this special edition of All Things Catholic Radio, recorded on location in the Holy Land at the Mount of the Transfiguration. It is good that we are here, here together on pilgrimage in the Holy Land, here at beautiful Mount Tabor, which commemorates the transfiguration of our Lord Jesus, the fourth luminous mystery of the rosary. And it's really good to be here right now where it's so quiet and peaceful. We're not combating all the normal crowds that would be packed. This is peak season for tourism and pilgrimages normally, but because the situation here, things just opening up, we're like one of the few people coming here quietly taking in this great event that took place here. What I want to do is ask you a question as we start off to try to apply this mystery of the Transfiguration to our lives. Because at first glance, you can look at the scene and say, wow, okay, there's Jesus and his glory is being revealed. That's pretty spectacular, pretty amazing. But what difference does this have for my life? And I want us to see that what Christ is showing Peter, James, and John on the mountain that day and what he's showing us through the story is very applicable. It reveals all that God wants to do in our lives, especially in the areas of weakness and brokenness and darkness that we may experience in our own walk with the Lord. So I want to start with a question. Is there a certain area of your life right now where you feel is a little bit in darkness, where you're not sure what the next steps are? You're not sure what, what, what. What this means? Why is this happening to me right now? Is there an area of your life that you feel like you just can't change and you're. You're longing to. To be different in this area, you want to follow Christ more, but there's. There's no change happening and. And you find yourself just struggling, or is there an area of your life that you feel like you just. I just can't control this anymore. I've been trying so hard to keep this all in place. Whether it's a certain relationship, maybe it's something going on in our workplace, something going on in our families, and I just can't control it. These areas of darkness Jesus wants to shine his light in. That's what I want to take a look at. And I want us to consider what those original three disciples would have been thinking when they came up here. So put yourself in their shoes. Just imagine being Peter, James and John and you go up this mountain. Now, we took these nice little shuttle buses up here, these little minivans, but I've actually hiked up here many times. I come up here at Pilgrims and it's about a good 45 minute hike up. You know, it's not terribly strenuous, but it does take some time. But imagine being Peter, James and John and coming up on this mountain and experiencing what they would have experienced. I think there's a number of things that would come to mind. Why did Jesus choose to reveal his glory in this unique way with these three people? Now think about those three disciples, Peter, James and John. They were singled out another time. Can you think of another very critical point in Jesus's ministry where he pulls aside Peter, James and John again in Gethsemane. We're going to be there later this week as we continue our pilgrimage on the Mount of Olives the night before he dies, as he's agonizing in the garden, these three are closest to him in that moment of his agony. And there's a beautiful prayer in the Byzantine liturgy that highlights a connection between these two scenes. And it notes that Jesus revealed his glory to these three men, Peter, James and John. They could see his face shining brightly with the glory of God to prepare them for what they're going to see the night before he dies, when they're with him in Gethsemane and they see his face not shining in glory, but sweating in drops of blood as he falls on his knees, as he lays prostrate and the angel comes to strengthen him. You see these disciples, they're going to be tested like never before. They've been following Jesus for three years, up until this point of coming to Mount Tabor for the transfiguration. They've been following him for three years. Jesus has been training them, preparing them. But their greatest test is coming just in a little bit as they go down to Jerusalem and the Passion begins. How will they fare? And what Jesus does is he gives them a glimpse of his glory now, so that when they see his face in his agony and then they watch what happens to him on Good Friday, that they may not lose hope, that they may be strengthened in that time of darkness. They may remember the light. And that's what I Want to encourage you on whatever darkness you may be experiencing in life right now or in the future. We all go through periods of this heavy weight in our souls, a burden that we're carrying in our relationship with God. We don't feel close to Him. Our prayer life is struggling, or some situation comes up that is hard in life, or we just find ourselves continually bringing that same sin to confession over and over and over again, and we just cannot change. We all have these areas of darkness. When we face those points of darkness, we want to remember the light. It reminds me of the reading we had at Mass. It was beautiful how Father pointed out that when we do the Gospel readings in the Holy Land, you know, we have the reading of the transfiguration, but instead of saying, they went up a high mountain, it says this mountain, because you're there remembering. It was right here that it happened. So it makes it so real. Jesus came here to be transfigured, to show his glory not just for Peter, James, and John, but to also encourage us in our moments of uncertainty, of fear, of struggle, of darkness. The second reading from the special liturgy they have here at Mount Tabor, the second reading comes from two Peter and I don't know if you caught what it is. This is Peter many years later, remembering this moment. This was so pivotal for his life. It gave him something to cling to in his moments of trial, not just during the Passion, but for later on in life. Peter's gonna experience many other moments of difficulty. Crosses, persecution, darkness. And I just want to bring to mind what he said. This is second Peter, chapter one, verses 16. And following, he said, we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. Right? Peter, James, and John especially were eyewitnesses of Jesus majesty right here at Mount Tabor. And when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved Son, with whom I'm well pleased. We heard this voice born from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. So this is how important this event was for Peter's life. He remembers it many, many years later, and he's writing about it in his letter. We were there when we heard the glory of the Lord. We heard the voice of the Father. This is my beloved Son. And he goes on and he says, and we have the prophetic word more. Sure, you will do well to pay attention to this as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Notice what Peter's Saying here he's saying that we want to remember these moments when we're on the mountaintop with God, when we experience his love, his presence, his strength, his power in our lives. We want to remember those moments because they become a light shining in a dark place until the morning comes again. No matter what sufferings we endure, sorrows we endure, fears that we face, we can always have hope that the morning will dawn again. But when we're down in the valley of darkness, in those times, we can panic, we can fear, we can just wonder, we could despair. Am I ever going to get out of this? Is things in this relationship ever going to get better? Are things with this particular family member we love ever going to improve? Is this situation in my own spiritual life ever going to change? We could easily just forget. And we're so quick to forget. No, I have experienced God's presence. I remember that retreat I was on or that pilgrimage I was on. I remember the season of my life. I really encountered the living God. I don't feel him right now. But may that mountaintop experience I had with him in the past be a light shining in my present darkness. And may it give me hope for the day to dawn and the morning star that I know will come again and will rise again. Now, that's one takeaway I want us to remember. Here is the transfiguration was for Peter, James and John a light that was meant to shine in a time of darkness later in their lives, whether it was Gethsemane or the many other trials they endured as apostles and martyrs. Second point I want us to consider are the two guests that showed up at this great event. Do you remember that? Who were they? Yeah, Moses and Elijah. Now, why do we have Moses and Elijah? And I love the architecture here. Our guide will share with you a little more about that. But you'll see these threes all over the place. Three windows, three porticos. Three, three, three everywhere. And you can remember the Trinity. You can remember Peter, James and John. You can also remember Jesus, Moses and Elijah. And we'll see as you enter the church, you got the center portico, which leads you to Christ. And you see Christ through that doorway going. If you look at the big mosaic above the altar, you see Jesus being transfigured. But on the left altar of the main door and to the right altar of the main door, you have the chapels of Moses and Elijah. So they play a prominent role here. Now, why Moses and Elijah, why are they there? It's commonly said that Moses represents the law and Elijah represents the prophets, the law and the prophets, and the whole of the of salvation history, the whole of the Old Testament Jewish scriptures can be summed up as the law and the prophets. Moses representing the law, Elijah representing the prophets. And so all of salvation history in a sense, is reaching its climax in this scene as Jesus reveals his glory. Because Moses, the law and Elijah with all the prophets, are pointing ultimately to the mystery of Christ. And that would be a really good take on this scene. But there's something more, and I think we want to see that the heart of it is something even deeper. So that's all true and that's all good, but there's something even more happening. Because what I want to remember is these two men, Moses and Elijah, were the two figures in the Old Testament that experienced something that has to do with what happened here in the transfiguration. What did Moses and Elijah both get to see? God's glory. God's glory. We saw that the theophany that happened with Moses life. You can remember Moses going up a high mountain, Moses having the glory of the Lord, the cloud descend on that mountain. Moses seeing the glory of God passing before him at the tent of meeting. So Moses was able to experience God's glory and still live. But then remember the prophet we got to visit yesterday when we went to Mount Carmel. Elijah, Elijah also got to see the glory of the Lord. That didn't come in fire, didn't come in the earthquake, didn't come in the wind. But God's glory was revealed in the still small voice. So I think what's primary is that Moses and Elijah were the two figures that experienced God's glory. And that's what we see happening here. Jesus is the one whose glory is being revealed, and Peter, James and John are experiencing here. So I think that's the profound connection between Moses and Elijah for this scene. But I want to make a third point, and this one is not often highlighted. If you were Peter, James and John, you were coming up this mountain and you experienced these dramatic events that took place in the transfiguration, you at some point would realize, oh wow, this story has happened before. We're reliving a famous story from the Old Testament. We're reliving it and it's the story that you find in the book of Exodus, chapter 24. After Moses leads the people out of Egypt, he brings them to the great Mount Sinai. And while they're there, God says, prepare the people. And for three days they consecrate themselves. Then God speaks the Words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. And now the people have to respond. And they're going to solemnly say, not just in their words, but in their actions, in their liturgy. Amen. We agree to this. We will follow you, Lord. And they have a beautiful covenant ceremony. In Exodus 24, animals are sacrificed, the word of the Lord is read, and the people say, all the Lord has spoken. We will do. And then at the climax of this great covenant liturgy, do you know what happens? Moses takes three of his closest associates, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu. He takes his three closest associates up a high mountain. Does that sound familiar? And while he goes up that mountain, his glory, God's glory, is made manifest to them. And a cloud overshadows the mountain, descends upon the mountain, and from that cloud, a voice of God speaks to them. And this all happened. You know when it happened? After six days, they were up there. And this is after six days, the voice of God spoke from that cloud. So if you're Peter, James, and John, you're the three close associates. You're like Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu. Just as Moses led those three, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu up a high mountain, so Jesus leads Peter, James, and John up this high mountain. And just as God's glory was revealed when the cloud was descending on Mount Sinai, so a cloud descends here over Mount Tabor, and God's glory is revealed in Jesus. And this all happens after six days. Did you catch that in the reading we heard at Mass? The opening line From Matthew chapter 17 is, after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a high mountain to recall how after six days, Moses brought the three up. And after six days, the voice of the Lord was spoken through the cloud. So much to take in here. But the last thing, last thing I want us to consider is those words that I mentioned on the bus that really struck me when we were reading this in preparation for coming here. When God says, this is my beloved Son, with whom I'm well pleased, he said those words before. Do you remember where else he said those words? At the baptism of Jesus. We'll be going there later this week to the site of the baptism. And so the Heavenly Father repeats the same words, but he adds on three new words, this is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. Listen to him. It's as if the Father's pleading, listen. Listen to him. Listen to him. Peter, James, and John. Now, why. Why is the Father saying, listen to him. Now, he didn't say that at the baptism. He didn't say that at other times that he could have intervened. Why now? And it's so important we understand the narrative story, what just happen, what happened in the scene right before. So the transfiguration in Matthew's Gospel takes place in chapter 17, verses 1 through 8. But what happened in the previous chapter in Matthew 16? Do you remember Matthew 16? As Catholics, people love Matthew 16. That's the famous story of Peter's name being changed from Simon to Peter. He becomes the rock upon which Christ will build the church. He's given the keys, the kingdom. That happens way up in Caesarea Philippi. That's the farthest north that Jesus we know. Jesus went in his public ministry far north of the Sea of Galilee, and he's up there. And that's when he reveals his identity. He says, all right, who do people say that I am? And that's when they say they do their, you know, Gallup poll survey here and say, well, 73% say you're a John the Baptist and 2% say you're Elijah. You know, he gives this general answer. The apostles talk about what the crowds are saying, but then Jesus comes back and says, okay, but who do you say that I am? And Peter's the first one to come right out and say it. And he says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Many of the apostles were hoping he was the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one. Many of the Jews were seeing all the miracles and hearing the amazing preaching, were hoping he was, but no one actually came out and said it explicitly until that moment in Matthew 16. And so Jesus accepts this beautiful title, that he is the Messiah, the promised one, the one to fulfill all the prophecies, to liberate the people. He's the one that's going to build the kingdom. So what does he do? Does he say, all right, let's go take the kingdom now? You know what he tells them? Shh. Don't tell anybody. Keep it down. Keep it on the down low. Why? Because if you go around saying, hey, I'm the Messiah, I'm the Jewish son of David, what's going to happen to you? You're going to be killed. What happened when Magi came to Herod and said, hey, Herod, there's a new king and we want to go, we'll go find him. Then Herod goes and wants to destroy him because they're a threat to the government, threat to the Roman rule. And so you have to keep it on the down low. And Jesus is very concerned now because as soon as these disciples hear that he really is the Messiah, he knows they're going to have these worldly understandings of what that means, that we're going to get a big army, we're going to drive off the Romans, we're going to build a big palace, and we're going to have these great offices and lots of power and glory. And so you know what Jesus says immediately? He immediately starts talking about his death. Immediately, right after the scene, he immediately says, I'm going to Jerusalem. I'm going to be handed over to the chief priests and I'm going to be killed. That's the first thing. I mean, imagine if I told you, our chaplain here. So Father, Father is going to become the next pope after Pope Leo dies. Father is going to become next pope. And everyone's like, yay. They're all excited. And then he says, we're all going to go to Jerusalem and be killed. Kind of puts a damper on the celebration. But what Jesus is doing is he's trying to really make sure they get, I am going to be the Messiah. And you're called to be a part of the leadership for this kingdom. And yet, and yet we want to remember what this kingdom is really all about. That it's not going to be about worldly power and glory and might. That's going to be about humility and sacrifice and suffering and picking up our cross and laying down our lives to give everything to God and out of love for those people. And so I think part of what is being said by the Heavenly Father here at the Transfiguration, when he adds on those three words, listen to him. Yes, we knew he was the beloved Son way back at the beginning of the public ministry at his baptism. But when the Father adds on, listen to him. This is six days right after those dramatic events up at Caesarea Philippi when he's revealed as Messiah. But a Messiah that's going to die. Is this the Father saying, pay attention, listen to him. He's not joking around. That's not a metaphor. He really is going to die. And if you're going to be his disciples, you're being invited to enter into this total self giving love of Jesus which will manifest itself in his passion and death. But it's not about just offering things up and taking on suffering for its own sake. Sadly, so many Catholics think, I just gotta offer up more and then that's what makes me holy. That's not what it's about. When we lay down our lives and offer up this is what we're made for. We're made for total self giving love. This is our heart's biggest, deepest desires, to live not for ourselves, but to live for God and for others. And so that's so countercultural to what the world says. That's why the Heavenly Father said to Peter, James and John, listen to him. And that same Father is saying that to you right now. Listen to him. How is Jesus inviting you to embrace his cross more in that area of darkness, that area of brokenness, that area of fear, that area you cannot control? How is Jesus inviting you to enter into his example on Good Friday? Think of Jesus on the cross. Think of all the darkness he endured and he embraces it. Think of Jesus on the cross. He had no control. I mean, he's the God of the universe. He could have in an instant just sent his angels to come rescue Him. But he surrenders all control and entrusts himself into the Father's hands. Into your hands I commit my spirit. How might Jesus be inviting you to listen to him today in that area of your life where he's inviting you to surrender more, to trust more, to love more, to enter into his passion more? Because the good news is this. It's what we saw and I highlighted right before Mass, the beautiful mosaics that you find down in that little crypt here at the Church of the Transfiguration. We were blessed to just celebrate Mass right in there. We see the bright light from the low ceiling above us. We're so enclosed, we're enveloped in this light from the Transfiguration. That's what the light is symbolizing. And we have all these rays from the ceiling just shining out. And then we have the four frescoes that remind us of, on the first hand, the birth of Jesus, and then on the opposite side, His Resurrection. So there's new life that awaits us in those moments of darkness. The glory of God will come. The morning star will rise. A new day will begin. Listen to him. And where do we experience the Transfiguration, the mystery of Christ changing us the most? It's in the Mass. And that's why the two other frescoes symbolizing the chalice with the Host, the gift of Holy Communion in the Eucharist, and then the other fresco symbolizing the Liturgy of the Word with the words of the Scriptures and the Lamb standing as though slain, slain on top of the Scriptures. The Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Sacrifice. The Mass is the number one place that we relive the mystery of the Transfiguration. So every time we go to Mass, do you realize this? Whether it's back in Boise or back in Australia, in Perth or back in Denver, Colorado, or New Jersey, wherever you're from, when you go to Mass, you go to the Transfiguration. And I pray that you'll always remember at every liturgy you go to, wherever it is in the world, you remember our quiet time here with Jesus on the Mount of Tabor, the Mount of the Transfiguration, here on this Holy Land pilgrimage. In the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory be to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thanks for listening to this special edition of All Things Catholic, recorded on location in the Holy Land. It's if you'd like to learn more about my pilgrimages, you can sign up for my free newsletter@edwardsri.com that's edwardsri.com.