Merry as a Schoolboy

Embracing the joy of Jesus in the valley of tears

03/12/2017

Matthew 17:1-9 Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,  "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."

          May I share a little joke with you? I pulled it out of my “good news-bad news” joke box. One day a defense lawyer said to his client, “I have good news and I have bad news, which would like you like to hear first?” The client answered, “What’s the bad news?” The lawyer said, “Your blood matches the DNA found at the murder scene.” The client cried, “Oh, no! That’s terrible! But what’s the good news??” “Well,” the lawyer said, “Your cholesterol is down to 140.” Now, I know that some of you may not like hearing humor in a homily. When I was a little boy attending church at St. Theresa in Little Rock, the priests never told jokes in their homilies. “Salvation is serious business!” they said. And it is.

          But back in 2006, then-Pope Benedict XVI gave an interview on German television. The interviewer asked the Holy Father: “What role does humor play in the life of the pope?” The pope answered, “I’m not a man who constantly thinks up jokes. But I think it’s very important to be able to see the funny side of life and its joyful dimension, and not to take everything too tragically.” The pope continued: “I’d also say it’s necessary for my ministry. A writer once said that angels can fly because they don’t take themselves too seriously. Maybe we could also fly a bit if we didn’t think we were so important.” What’s the pope driving at? Well, there is something angelic and heavenly about humor. Why? Well, because it keeps us humble and we don’t take ourselves or even life too “tragically” or too seriously. Humor helps us to be humble and holy.

          In the gospel today, we hear the episode of the Transfiguration. The apostles see Jesus in his heavenly glory and he’s conversing with Moses and Elijah (who represent the “law” and the “prophets”). Now, we don’t know what they discussed precisely, but clearly it was the “good news” of heavenly glory; indeed, Jesus is literally clothed with glory in the Transfiguration. You see, Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem for the Passion and Death of the Lord.  Salvation is serious business. So, they stopped for a moment to turn their eyes to heaven for a little help. Maybe Elijah said, “Hey, Jesus, your blood will be found at the murder scene of the Cross.” And Moses added, “But don’t worry, your cholesterol is down to 140.” Okay, maybe not. Nevertheless, they helped Jesus see the joyful dimension of life and not to take things too tragically.

          The apostles for their part were filled with overflowing joy. St. Peter blurts out, “Lord it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” The version of this story in Luke adds, “But [Peter] did not know what he was saying” (Luke 9:33). Peter’s reaction always reminds me of that riveting end of Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol, after three ghosts have visited Ebenezer Scrooge.  Do you remember?  “I don’t know what to do!” cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect Lacoon of himself with his stockings. “I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world!” For a brief blissful and beatific moment the three apostles felt the same as Scrooge: as if it were Christmas in April in the Holy Land. A holy joy flooded their hearts as they beheld the Transfigured Christ, and that’s just what they would need before they beheld the Crucified Christ a few days later. Both the first pope (Peter) and the 265th pope (Benedict) needed joy in order to carry out their papal ministry, so they don’t take everything too tragically.

          My friends, I’m here this weekend thanks to Fr. Jason’s permission to promote Trinity Junior High. I’m here to ask you to send your junior high children to Trinity, and to help us financially in the second collection. There’s a lot I could say to brag about our school: the superior academics (did you see the article in Saturday’s paper and the picture on the front page about the STEM program?), the extensive extracurricular activities, the compassionate community service the students complete, the terrific teachers, all located on the sacred grounds of St. Scholastica monastery. But instead of all that, I want to say a word about the joy you’ll find in our school, namely the joy of Jesus. Sometimes we look around at the world and we see lots of bad news and very little good news. Bad news that even touches our teens: like drugs and gangs, abuse and neglect, bullying and smoking and sadly even sex. At Trinity, we are not immune from these temptations, but we have a powerful Ally in this fight, namely, the joy of Jesus. How? Well, we celebrate Mass every week, and listen to the Scriptures and receive Holy Communion. Dr. Hollenbeck, our principal, has set up “prayer partners” this year throughout the school. Now, 9th graders pray for 8th graders, and 8th graders pray for 7th graders, and 7th graders pray for the 9th graders. The teaches pray for each other. And the whole school prays for me (because I need it the most)! Like the three apostles, our students stop every week to see the Transfigured Jesus at Mass, so we can handle seeing the Crucified Jesus in the world around us. Like Pope Benedict said, “It’s very important to be able to see the …joyful dimension [of life] and not to take everything so tragically.” Trinity teaches our students the joy of Jesus.

          No one said this better than Mary Poppins, in her immortal song, “A spoonful of sugar.” She sang: “In every job that must be done / There is an element of fun / You find the fun and snap! / The job’s a game / And every task you undertake / Becomes a piece of cake / Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down / In the most delightful way.” The Transfiguration was the spoonful of sugar that helped the medicine of the Crucifixion go down for Jesus and the apostles. And the joy of Jesus is the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine of junior high school go down for our students. And a little humor helps the medicine of the Mass go down for me and you.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!