Today, we encounter Christ in Mark’s version (Mark 9: 2-11) of Jesus’ Transfiguration in glory before his disciples on Mount Tabor. The intent of such an intense experience was to definitively prove once and for all that Jesus was truly the divine Son of God and the long awaited Messiah. This is intended for the disciples then but it also benefits disciples since. God intended not only to identify his Son for us, but to affirm and energize Jesus for what He was about to experience as well as prepare the disciples to understand all that was to come. This story appears in every Gospel so it can be certain that it was regarded as an actual event. This story along with the temptation of Christ last week work together to establish the true God and true man nature of Jesus. At the beginning of Lent, we are already looking to Palm Sunday and the Sacred Triduum which presents for us the Paschal Mystery of Christ. 

      The Old Testament reading from Genesis presents Abraham who is known as “The Father of Faith”. This links Jesus to the whole continuum of God’s covenant with His people since the creation of the world and the plan God had from the beginning. There is more Old Testament connection, however, of which we need to take note. In the Gospel we see Elijah and Moses with Jesus. This helped the disciples (then and now) to see Jesus in the proper context. Moses, who saw the face of God and received the 10 Commandments, represents the Law – all that was given to the Israelites to establish their Covenantal relationship with God. Elijah was a powerful prophet who represents the continued communication from God through the prophets to keep the covenant going throughout the history of the chosen people of Israel in the time between Abraham and the coming of the Messiah. We have heard the term “the law and the prophets.” Moses and Elijah perfectly represent that reality. And Elijah was believed to be returning at the coming of the Messiah. That was well understood by Peter, Paul and James. Jesus, unlike Moses and Elijah et al, did not point to the Glory of God, Jesus WAS the Glory of God. We could now see the face of God (in Jesus) and live!

      For us today, it is absolutely imperative for us to understand this reality to the fullest extent humanly possible. We need to not just know that Jesus is the Son of God and all that this means for us in the Paschal Mystery, though it is “good to be here,” as Peter said in the gospel today. We also must experience God in the way Peter, James and John did. That is the key to our faith. We need to experience God in every human way possible to appreciate how big God is. That is the only way we take part in the salvation and glory promised us through Jesus Christ. So Lent helps us to empty ourselves to make room for the glory of God to enter in.

 "Let us ask God to help us set out on a path of true conversion. Let us leave behind our selfishness and self-absorption, and turn to Jesus’ Pasch. Let us stand beside our brothers and sisters in need, sharing our spiritual and material goods with them. In this way, by concretely welcoming Christ’s victory over sin and death into our lives, we will also radiate its transforming power to all of creation."                                                                 Pope Francis, October 4, 2018

      Beginning in 2015, The Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., Inc. (“Foundation”) began soliciting donations to its “Upon this Rock” (“UTR”) capital and endowment campaign. The UTR campaign raised funds for many purposes, including soliciting funds for making essential upgrades to classroom facilities and technology of Christ the King Seminary (“CKS”), expanding CKS’s role as a center of retreat and religious celebrations, and establishing an endowment fund for CKS. Unfortunately, in early 2020, CKS’s Board of Trustees determined that CKS would close at the end of the 2020-2021 academic school year. CKS’s closure will make it impossible for the Foundation to use the UTR finds raised for CKS for their original intended purposes. However, under New York law, when the original intended purposes for which funds are donated become impossible to achieve, those purposes can be modified in a manner consistent with original intent by the New York State courts. For Many years, CKS provided education and formation for ordained and lay ecclesial ministers in the Diocese of Buffalo and beyond. Accordingly, the Foundation has asked New York State Supreme Court for the County of Erie to approve modification of the purposes of the UTR funds raised for CKS so that those finds can be used to support the education and formation for ordained and lay ecclesial ministry in the Diocese of Buffalo, as determined in the discretion of the Foundation’s Board.

      If you have donated to the UTR and would like to be heard regarding this requested modification, you may send a letter to: The Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., Inc., attention Executive Director, 795 Main Street, Buffalo, N.Y. 14293 or an email to [email protected] Copies of letters or email received by the Foundation will be provided to the Court. You may also make a formal filing in the legal proceeding entitled Matter of the Modification of Endowment Funds of  the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo N.Y., Inc., Erie County Index No. 814747/2020. In order for your submission to be available for the Court’s consideration, please be sure to send any letter or email, or make any filing, no later than Friday, April 9, 2021.