Homily Outline Combining Resources

Homily outline based on the second and third themes about ascending the mountain and theophany:

• Introduction: Have you ever noticed how mountains and clouds seem to go together? (in art, photographs, and perhaps your own travels)
  • As a child I thought it was because mountains so high, they touched the sky; but no.
  • Mountains “create” their own clouds: https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/clouds/clouds-form-mountains
  • In science, these clouds have their own name—”lenticular”—and they are unusual in that they do not move, but hover in place, like a cap on the mountain: https://earthsky.org/earth/best-photos-beautiful-lenticular-clouds-around-the-world/
• Link to ancient world:
  • In so many myths from around the world, people ascend mountains as part of a spiritual quest.
  • People want to get as close to God “in the heavens” as possible, taking in the wider view
  • Where mountains are not found naturally, people often created their own in the form of pyramids or mounds (e.g. Egypt, Cahokia, Teotihuacan)
• Link with biblical world:
  • In the Biblical world, it is no different.
  • The prophet Elijah ascended a mountain. When in fear of his life, he sought the presence and insight of God on Mt. Sinai and, indeed, encountered God there. (1 Kings 19)
  • More significantly, Moses ascended a mountain—again, Mt. Sinai—with three of his closest friends being named in the text (Exod 24:1), to receive God’s commandments.
    • Perhaps even more significantly, God met Moses there in the form of a cloud—a cloud that hovered in place over the top of the mountain for six days. (Exod 24:16)
    • When Moses returned from the mountain, he built a tent where he would continue to go and pray (Exod 33) and when he entered there, too, a cloud would descend.
    • At one point, he prays to see the Lord’s “glory” (Exod 33:18). Another way of saying “God’s fullness,” “God’s magnificent splendor,” “God’s overwhelming light.”
    • Is this starting to sound vaguely familiar? It should.
• The Gospel: Another mountain top and cloud meeting
  • Jesus and three of his closest friends ascend a high mountain. Should it surprise us that they meet Elijah and Moses there?  Should it surprise us that God covers the mountain in cloud?  And should it surprise us that Jesus’ friends are shaken to the core there by an experience of the glory, the splendor, the fullness of God?
  • The glory of God they behold, however, is manifest in the form of a person – their friend, Jesus – who stands at the apex of the mountain in the place of every human who has ever sought God; Jesus – who reveals the face of a God drawn near, always seeking relationship with humankind. Jesus who in that moment radiates an overwhelming light.
  • Irenaeus: “Gloria enim Dei vivens homo” / “The Glory of God is a living man… a human being fully alive (in God)”: http://cdn.theologicalstudies.net/49/49.2/49.2.3.pdf
• Implications for today:
  • This Lent, we are called to renew our spiritual quest, to “ascend” the mountain
  • Once again, we should expect to discover that our very longing to encounter God will be met by God’s longing to encounter us, just as mountains draw clouds.
  • May Irenaeus’ description—so fitting a description for the Transfigured Christ—also become a descriptor for ourselves. May the Glory of God also be manifest in us.