Speaking for myself regarding this catastrophe, I can only say, “how quickly life can be transformed.” Haiti, a poor country but nonetheless a nation of fundamentally happy, dancing-people became a scene of indescribable terror, a terror that most of us have never experienced or even imagined. Buildings that were once relatively safe for living are now simply dust. (Ironically, one thinks of the prediction of the Ash Wednesday liturgy: “Thou art dust and to dust shalt thou return.”)

I think it is safe to say generally that inhabitants of the earth are not prepared for catastrophic transformations of this sort. We have a certain intuition that the earth is not our enemy. It provides food, water, protection, and natural sustenance for us. And then suddenly, as in Haiti, it is only fit as a burial ground for the unfortunate dead.

We all know, of course, that transformation happens slowly. If we have access to a photo of ourselves at First Communion, for instance, we know only too well how we have changed; our whole being, physically, emotionally, spiritually has been transformed by time and natural circumstances. Again, however, it happens so slowly and gradually that we hardly have any sense of it. That is why certain sudden transformations are often nearly unbearable because we are never ready.

The point, of course, is that transformations of all kinds and sorts happen throughout our life.
Then the question remains, what do they mean, how do we recognize them, how do we adjust to them, as adjust we must, if we are to live into the future?

We have several life stories in our scriptures for this Second Sunday of Holy Lent that give us an insight into the manner whereby three people, Abraham, Paul and Jesus experienced transformations in their lives.

Having lived approximately 1600 years B.C. we have scant knowledge of this Bedouin sheik, Abram, who followed his flocks in the Eastern desert, the Ur of the Chaldees. He was, no doubt a happy man: Flocks, wives, children were in abundance; protection from harm seemed eternally assured. On a certain night, however, he experiences a great mystery: A God of whom he knows nothing appears to him with the promise that he and his descendants will inherit the land from Egypt to the great river Euphrates, literally the whole Middle East. “On what evidence shall I know this,” says Abram: A flaming brazier and torch then passes between the two halves of the traditional sacrificial animal, the symbol of a covenant being made. And so it was, Abram became the father of many nations…but not instantly nor absolutely. It would be thousands of years of gradual transformation before the Israelites would recognize the ancient prediction. Indeed, it is happening this very day in East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Often transformation takes many lifetimes, sometimes never.

The second transformation story occurs in Paul’s life and is described in the letter to the church at Philippi. Paul is never satisfied until he can retell the story of his transformation into the life of Christ. With this in mind, he tells his recent converts that becoming a Christ follower does not happen instantaneously (as it happened with him, Paul). He goes on to say, however, that “Our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a savior, our Lord Jesus Christ; he will change (transform) our lowly body to conform to His glorified body…)” It is safe to say that we, like the Church in Philippi, also travel through a gradual Christian transformation.

And finally, we are once again told the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration (transformation) on a high mountain. The disciples who were with Jesus during that life-changing moment could not describe the interior transformation that Jesus was experiencing. All they knew was that he appeared differently to them. He spoke with the ancient prophets, his forerunners. No doubt, he was reflecting on the founding of God’s reign that he was to undertake. All that we can make of this scene is that Jesus came down that mountain a different person: Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. he could say: “I’ve been to the mountaintop; God allowed me to go to the mountain. And I’ve looked over and I have seen the Promised Land.” I would like to imagine that Dr. King’s experience was something like what Jesus and his disciples experienced at his transfiguration. Perhaps he could see his whole life in front of him.

Finally, It is safe to say that most of us will never experience what Jesus experienced that day on the mountain. Transformations happen slowly, hardly even being noticed. Indeed, I will be bold enough to say that even Jesus began to see and understand his future gradually as he “went among the people and cured their ills.” Only the every day existential experiences can teach us who we are and what we shall become…yes, all the way to that place where the God of mystery reigns endlessly in peace.

The scriptures: Genesis 15: 5-12,17-18; Philippians 3: 17-4:1; Luke 9: 28b-36