I believe. Help my unbelief. Homily for Sunday, March 16, 2025

Sometimes it is hard to believe when life has so much brokenness and sin. The Transfiguration reminds us of the glory that awaits us. Readings for today.

Table of Contents

I believe. Help my unbelief.

Interestingly the word Lent, by which we refer to this season does not come from a particularly religious word. It comes from the word for Spring, as in the season of the year.

This is ironic in a sense, because we seem to be focused on death and suffering during Lent, whereas Spring is a time of new life and new growth. So is there a catch?

Fr. Martin Henry suggests that there is not. He writes, “So perhaps the wisdom of the Church’s choice of Spring as the Lenten season lies in the need to remind us, lest we forget – as we are inevitably prone to do in this busy, demanding, and distracting world – that there is a discrepancy between our rhythms and the rhythms of nature.

Spring ushers in year by year the rebirth or reawakening of nature, but the rebirth we need isn’t so predictable or so accessible. Indeed, the very coming of Spring can cruelly underline for many people the difference between the burgeoning, blossoming state of nature all around them and the desolation of their own mind and heart.

‘When will my Spring come?’ is the last line of an ancient Latin poem, written by someone who was clearly acutely aware of the divergence between nature’s newly found life and his own inner barrenness.”

Today’s gospel is one of the accounts of the story of the Transfiguration. This is a story of Spring. An encounter that demonstrates the immense power of the promise of the Law and the Prophets, made visible and real in the person of the God-man Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Before this account of the Transfiguration, great things have happened for the disciples. They have been sent out by Jesus and given the power to cast our demons, they have witnessed the power of Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand, and because of this they have been filled with excitement and enthusiasm.

So great is this that Peter even answers Jesus’ question about his identity in a way that acknowledges Jesus as Messiah and Christ. All things are going very well. Until they are not.

“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily^* and follow me.”

“Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

And then we come to the Transfiguration. It was easy to follow Jesus when all things were going well. But when Jesus emphasizes the cost of discipleship, the attitude changes. We can only imagine that they begin to wonder if, with all these difficulties, Jesus really is the Messiah. Maybe the human nature in Jesus wonders too.

In considering the Transfiguration, it seems the reaffirmation the Jesus is the Beloved Son of the Father is needed. At this point, the disciples do not fully understand. They do not get it. Very shortly after this miraculous encounter, they are arguing about which one of them is the greatest.

During Lent, we can be drawn to the reality that we have something more than even the apostles did at the time of the Transfiguration. We have the history of those holy lives, the saints. We have the miracles of the Eucharist, the real presence of Jesus. We do not have to look forward to the resurrection, because we are people of the resurrection.

Yet, we too can be like the disciples. We know of the promises of Jesus, of the hope of eternal life in Jesus, of the hope we will experience the Beatific Vision. And yet, we doubt.

I have been listening to Hallow, an app I mentioned last week. One biblical phrase they have offered for reflection during Lent comes from Mark, chapter 9, verse 24. “I believe. Help my unbelief.”

It is clear you believe in Jesus. You would not be present here at Mass if you did not. But the events of our age, the wars, the anger, to poverty, the diseases, the many things that cause despair, these things can cause us to doubt.

We can ask, “Is God really there? Are God’s promises really true?” But we are given miracles. We gather here each Sunday to see the miraculous presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. We hear Jesus speak in the miraculous word of Scripture, of the Bible.

God speaks to us. God feeds us. This happens here in this life. But these are really events of the future that burst into our present. The promises of God are not meant to provide a littlehope. No, these are the promises that remind us that we are destined for great things. God desires that we know the infinite and unconditional love of God for each one of us.

During Lent we are reminded that the gift of our salvation was not small. We are reminded that God is not stingy with His love for each one of us. For you. For me.

So, consider your life. Where is it you need God’s hope? God’s love? In what areas of your life do you struggle to hope? In what areas of your life do you not experience the love of God?

Lent is a way to help us to answer these questions. This is why every Lent an account of the Transfiguration is read on the Second Sunday of Lent. When life seems hopeless, God wants us to see the hope that we can be saved. When we feel unlovable, God wants us to know just how deeply we are loved. When it seems we can go nowhere, God wants us to know of our final destination, with Jesus, in eternity.

This can be difficult to accept and believe. It is why we come together in community so that we can support each other, pray for each other, love each other. We have the love of God, and that love is made manifest in our gathering, in this body, the Body of Christ, so that we never need feel alone and abandoned.

Today’s reminder of the power of the Transfiguration is that what God has done for centuries and centuries for others, he does for us too. Each one of us. God reminds us that we matter to God. God reminds us that each one of us is the unique gift of God, the sign of his glory. God reminds us that even when we sin, he still loves us and can forgive us when we ask.

Today, ask God to strengthen your faith. Ask God to help you to know His love for you. Say to God, “I believe. Help my unbelief.”

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