"...You promised...!"

How often these words come tumbling out when children are full of expectation …a party, a treat, a trip…to hold us to our word. After all, our honor is at stake. As adults, we continue to make this plea in turn to God who has made promises, too, and has literally given us his Word.
This month of August brings us two feasts that at first glance may not seem related: The Transfiguration of Jesus and the Assumption of Mary. But a closer look reveals a similarity. Both feasts have something to do with the human body. In the Transfiguration we are given a glimpse of what is behind the veil of the sacred humanity. Jesus literally shines. In the Assumption we are shown that the body that had been the temple of the Incarnate Word would not be allowed to corrupt in the grave. It is carried into eternity, risen and transformed.
We need these two feasts this year in a special way. The news has been filled with violence. The human being has been destroyed, the body desecrated by bullets and bombs. But God has promised…  God has given his word that death would not triumph over life. God has promised that we too will be changed, that death will not be the final word. The Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor is a preview of his resurrection. The apostles don’t know what to make of it, but are so taken with the sight that they don’t want to go home. The Assumption of Mary shows us the promise fulfilled for one of our own. Mary’s body had provided the Word with the human genome, and through that humanness he would redeem the world. With her Assumption, Mary gives us a preview of the promise kept for all the Church, and for us, who grow into our own resurrection with each Eucharistic kiss. Yes, God has promised…and this gives us hope through our tears.

Risen Jesus,

Your sacred humanity shines in the Transfiguration mystery.

You draw your Mother to yourself

in the risen and transformed humanness that one day will be ours.

Wipe the tears from our eyes

as we grieve the violence and loss that surrounds us.

Give us as a people the wisdom

to reverence our humanness in all the stages of its earthly journey.

Fill us with hope in your promise of everlasting life.

Turn us from violence to compassion,

from judgment to mercy,

from isolation to community,

from self-righteousness to honesty,

from discrimination to consideration,

and from accusation to respect,

for the glory of your holy name and the fulfillment of your promise. Amen