It’s “back-to-school time.” We know a good education can be a transformative experience for young people. Let’s pray they have one.
Here's a very brief two-part quiz. Part one:
• Name the best picture at the Academy Awards in 2023 and 2022. Without Googling.
I don’t know about you but I didn’t get 100%.
Now part two of the quiz:
• Think of two teachers or mentors who made a difference for the better in your life.
I bet you aced that part.
The point is: we forget headlines. But real life “heroes and heroines” inspire people to be their best, and live with purpose.
That, my friends, is precisely what Jesus does. Yes, a teacher who shows us purpose, to live in relationship with God and one another; and a mentor or friend whom we can trust to be with us, especially as we face challenges.
In the word of God, Daniel is a legendary hero who interprets dreams, survives a burning furnace, escapes a lion's den. Here the author describes in apocalyptic imagery a mysterious figure who goes before the throne of God. God entrusts him with the universe. The author then urges fellow persecuted Jews in second century BC to continue in fidelity to God, because in the resurrection they will “shine like the stars.”
One message in this passage: trust in God who controls the universe despite all the chaos. Good advice!
The second letter of Peter alludes to the final coming of the living Christ. The disciples were eyewitnesses to the transfiguration. They saw the glory of God in the earthly Jesus; they heard God's voice affirm his identity. Christ, who will come again like the dawn of a new day, is the revelation of God to us. Yes, everything God wanted to do for or say to us, God did and said in the living Christ: our way, our truth, our life.
In the Gospel, mountains symbolize the human ascent to God, and clouds God's descent upon us. Jesus appears on Mount Tabor as a dazzling figure whose face is like the sun, whose clothes are as white as light. Peter, James and John saw Jesus’s inner identity as the Son of God burst through his outer earthly appearance. And the voice said: “Listen to him.”
Who is this Jesus, this God-man? Why listen? Jesus, the Gospels tell us, was a real historical person, flesh and blood like ourselves. He was a rabbi, a teacher proclaiming the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. He worked signs and wonders; possessed authority to forgive; was one with the God of Israel; was crucified, died and raised up. Yes, Jesus Christ is alive. And because he lives, we live. That is the “good news.”
This living Christ invites us, says John 15:15, to be “friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” Genesis, chapters 2 and 3, says we were created for friendship with God and one another.
What is a friend? A recent survey of people born between 1981 and the early 2000s, so-called "millennials," found that people had a very large number of “Facebook friends” but still felt a sense of loneliness. Social media is no substitute for real, face-to-face friendships. And more people live alone than at any point in recorded history.
The Bible is realistic about relationships. We see them at their best, but also at their worst.
For me, good friendships include several key ingredients. I’m sure you can think of other ingredients.
First, partnership. All of us need good partnerships to transform ourselves and others for the better. Perhaps that's why Jesus sent his disciples out two by two. From the beginning of Christianity, we see examples of friends working in partnership, for example, Paul and Barnabas, proclaiming the “good news.” Working together as partners can be the beginning of a friendship.
Second, we obviously want to do our best to resolve differences. But sometimes we have to agree to disagree. But that’s ok. Nurture friendships. Martin Luther King Jr. gave some good "how to" advice: “Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude” in our friendships.
Also, make loyalty a priority. Being loyal even when friends are not in our company, we will become trustworthy among those who aren't our friends.
Above all, think of Jesus as our best friend and soulmate and confidant. Jesus calls us friends because he has told us everything he has heard from his Father. Value that relationship, nurture it especially in prayer, and make loyalty and fidelity a priority.
Perhaps our prayer might be: Lord, pour out your Spirit upon us. Help us to work together so that we reflect the “good news” in our daily lives. Nurture our friendships, especially with You, and help us with your grace to stay loyal, so that we can keep on doing all the good we can, by all the means we can, in all the ways we can, in all the places we can, at all the times we can, for all the people we can, as long as ever we can. Amen.