March 16, 2025

Second Sunday of Lent

Lectionary 27

Genesis 15:5-18; Philippians 3:17 to 4:1; Luke 9:28b-36

Meditation

La Salette attracts pilgrims and tourists,  whether to the original Shrine in France or Shrines like ours in many countries. They come for different reasons, but with few exceptions, they all conclude, “It is good for us to be here.” The reasons can be the beauty of the site, the welcome they receive, the impact of the message, or some other more profound, more personal experience.

And, like Peter in the scene of the Transfiguration, they are sorry to leave. I have seen many pilgrims spend their last minutes at the site of the Apparition, saying sometimes tearful goodbyes and praying to be able to return. Such encounters indicate that, as St. Paul writes, “our citizenship is in heaven.” Any actual encounter with the divine seeks to be prolonged.

In Luke’s account of the Transfiguration, a striking detail is repeated at La Salette. We read that Peter, James, and John had fallen asleep, and then, “becoming fully awake, they saw his glory…”

Maximin and Mélanie had fallen asleep after eating,  and it was after they awoke that they saw the Beautiful Lady. Instead of prolonging the experience, Maximin, in a gesture that looked like he was waving goodbye, tried to grab one of the roses on Mary’s feet as she rose. And when Mélanie said she thought the Lady must have been a great saint, the boy answered: “Oh, if I had known that, I would have asked her to take me with her.”

Since we cannot usually prolong our spiritual encounters with the Lord, we have a helpful alternative. We can repeat them. This is why we have daily prayer, weekly Eucharist, and the annual discipline of Lent. Fr. Herbert Alphonso, S.J., a brilliant spiritual writer, used to say, “Go back to where God is waiting for you.” In other words, we can continue to draw strength from past encounters in which we have said, “It is good for us to be here.”