Fr Antonio Pineda
s I continue to pack my things for my impending move to Harrow, I look at my complete 34-book Charles Dickens collection. One of the books — his best-known work of historical fiction — is A Tale of Two Cities. The titular cities are Paris and London, as the novel tells the story of French Doctor Manette: his 18-year-long imprisonment in the former, and his release to live in the latter with his daughter Lucie whom he had never met.
The story is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution. The opening sentence of the book has always struck me and has stayed with me since I first read it. It goes like this:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
I wonder if Dickens was inspired by this Sunday’s Gospel reading when he wrote it? His contrast of wisdom and foolishness, hope and despair, light and darkness echoes the message — at least for me — of the Gospel passage recounting the Transfiguration. When properly thought through, in effect, what we have this Sunday is A Tale of Two Mountains.
First, there’s Mount Tabor where the Transfiguration took place, as described in this Sunday’s gospel. On Mount Tabor the sky was bright and Jesus was praying. As he prayed his face shone and his clothes became dazzling white. On one side of him stood Moses (the great lawgiver) and on the other stood Elijah (the greatest of the prophets). A luminous cloud surrounded them, symbolising the presence of God.
Out of the cloud, the voice of the Father was heard uttering the lovely words: “This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to Him.” So wonderful was the experience that Peter exclaimed: “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” Peter wanted to stay on the mountain. He wanted to build a safe haven there, away from the trouble and danger they had left down below. But the purpose of this experience was not to encourage escape. It was meant to comfort and strengthen Jesus and the apostles so that they would be able to go back and face the trouble and danger they left behind.
There would come a time when Jesus would go to another mountain but for a very different reason. And this mountain is Mount Calvary where he would die on the cross. This time the sky would be dark and the face of Jesus would be covered with sweat and blood. His clothes would not dazzle, instead they would be taken from him. For companions, he would not have his disciples — but two criminals. There would be no voice from heaven, but only the voice of scoffers and mockers.
So two contrasting mountains. One bright, one dark. The only thing the two mountains will have in common is Jesus will pray on top of them. We can take from this common denominator that prayer was what sustained Jesus in both bright and dark times. It was his special relationship with his Father that gave him strength.
Most of us have never been to the Holy Land. Most of us have never seen Mount Tabor and Mount Calvary. But we have all felt them. Mount Tabor is the hill of joy and exaltation. We too can have moments of transfiguration — rare moments of light and joy. At these moments, we hear a voice whispering to us in our ears: “You are my beloved child”. And, like the apostles, we are reassured and strengthened.
But we are probably more familiar with Mount Calvary — the hill of sorrow and pain. All of us have moments when life is dark and difficult. At these moments it may seem that God has abandoned us, and we are on our own. In those moments we must do what Jesus did on Calvary, that is, turn to God in prayer and commit our cause to him.
In the Bible, life is depicted as a journey to the mountain of God, where we hope to dwell with God forever. It is a goal and a destiny that defies our imagination. It gives us a new and wider vision. It pushes out our horizons beyond the boundaries of this world. It gives an eternal dimension to our lives.
Even though we know what we have to do in order to get to the mountain of God, we need God’s help in order to get to the top. Without a doubt, the road to that mountain is filled with trials and sufferings. It is narrow and difficult. But, also without a doubt, Jesus has travelled that same road and now his light illuminates it. And even though that road leads to Calvary, it does not end there. If we persevere and keep faith, the road goes on and ends at the greatness and grandeur of another mountain, Mount Tabor, where the glory and majesty of God resides.