His Excellency,
The Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D., S.T.D.
Diocese of Belleville
The Transfiguration: Pope Francis Living in the Valley
March 16, 2025, 9:00 AM Mass
St. Luke Parish, Belleville
(This is the text as originally written. During the actual delivery, some passages were omitted and other comments were added spontaneously. Nota bene: This text has not been thoroughly proofread. Therefore, there may be errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation.)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, Metropolitan Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina was 76, and he did not look forward to the long flight to Rome for the conclave to elect the successor of Pope Benedict XVI, who had shocked to world by being the first Roman Pontiff to renounce the Chair of Peter since Pope Gregory XII in 598 years. Since he had already submitted his letter of resignation to the Holy Father, the Cardinal almost didn’t go. Then, the world was shocked again when on March 13, 2013, Cardinal Bergoglio was elected the 266th Successor of St. Peter as Bishop of Rome, the first pope not born in Europe in over 1200 years and the first Jesuit pope ever. He continued to shock the world by choosing the name Francis, deciding not to live in the Apostolic Palace, and by announcing that his pontificate would be brief. “I will serve you for 2 or 3 years and then I will be off to the house of the Father.”
Now 88 and living in the valley of sickness and suffering, His Holiness has just celebrated the 12th anniversary of his election with a small bite of cake at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he is suffering from acute pneumonia in both lungs. His physicians say he is no longer in immediate danger of death, though his condition remains guarded. His pontificate has brought a whirlwind of changes to the Catholic Church, not only in style, but also, some would say, in substance. He is fond of referring to the Catholic Church as a field hospital for all who are wounded and in need of healing. His admirers think Francis is the first truly modern pope, boldly adapting to the signs of the times, focusing more on world peace, undocumented migrants, and the fate of the earth in the midst of a climate crisis than on Church law, Liturgical renewal, and human sexual morality. His critics think Francis has led the Church down the path of confusion and moral and doctrinal uncertainty. Those who whisper on the loggia of the Vatican cannot resist talk of the next conclave and gossiping about which of the 138 cardinals under the age of 80 will be the next leader of 1.4 billion Catholics, in the oldest, largest, and most influential religious body in the world.
Pope Francis, who was already wheelchair-bound and suffering from bronchitis before his hospitalization, has no interest in gossip about succession. His focus from his hospital bed is on Christians all over the world observing this season of Lent with a true spirit of repentance for sin, a true renewal of Christian spirituality, and a commitment to spread the of the joy and the hope that spring from the life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Pope has proclaimed 2025 as a year of Jubilee, echoing the Old Testament tradition of Jubilee years as a time of forgiveness of sins and the forgiveness of debts. He has invited Catholic leaders to work for the alleviation of poverty during Jubilee 2025. Francis has placed special focus on the need for Christians to work for debt relief, to deal with poverty and the protection of the earth (confer his encyclical, Laudato si’) as the natural consequence of Christ-centered living. Even in a world struggling with the impacts of war, division, disease, and suffering, the Pope declared Catholics must be “Pilgrims of Hope.”
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Today and every day since his hospitalization February 14th, throngs of Jubilee Pilgrims are gathered in the Piazza San Pietro praying for the Pontiff and hoping to hear his voice. But all they have heard is a tape of his very weak voice in Spanish thanking them for their constant prayers. This time last year they heard the Pope’s voice loud and clear, reflecting on this morning’s powerful Gospel story about Peter, James, and John witnessing the Transfiguration of Jesus on a mountain top (Luke 9:28-36). The mysterious Transfiguration story has long been one of Pope Francis’s favorite Gospel passages.
Last year, the Holy Father said, “Today’s Gospel invites us to think about the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain, in the presence of His three closest friends, without forgetting about those living in the valley below who are sick and suffering. This happened a few days after Jesus told them that in Jerusalem he would be tortured, rejected, and put to death. We can imagine how much this upset Peter, James, and John. Their hope for a strong and triumphant Messiah was shattered and they were filled with anguish and fear at the thought that their beloved rabbi would be killed like a common criminal.”
“They may have been at the point of tears when Jesus took them with Him up a high mountain, where Jesus was transfigured before them. His face is radiant, and His garments are glistening, which seems to be a vision of the risen Christ. This vision seemed to be a partial glimpse of the glory of the Resurrection.”
“Moses, who represented God’s Law, and Elijah, who represented the prophets, were talking with Jesus about His exodus, His departure, that is, His coming death. For some strange reason, at this very moment when Jesus is revealing Himself to His dearest friends, they have fallen asleep as they did in the garden on Holy Thursday. But, seeing Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, they wake up completely, and Peter tells Jesus he would like to build three shrines on this mount to commemorate this great sight. Luke says paradoxically that Peter did not really understand what he was saying. Suddenly, they are covered by a cloud, which fills them with great fear. And a voice tells them, ‘This is my chosen Son; listen to Him.’ After the voice speaks, Moses and Elijah vanish, and Jesus is standing alone. The three fell silent and never told anyone what they had seen and heard.” – But they must have told someone, or we would not know this story.
The Pope continued, saying, “Peter had it all wrong when he talked of building three shrines and staying on the mountain top in God’s glory. They needed to go down the mountain immediately and into the valley so they could return to daily life, announcing the good news about God’s coming kingdom. What happened when they returned from the vision to everyday life?”
If Pope Francis was strong and healthy, standing on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica this morning, this is what he might say to us: “Keep reading the next verses of Luke 9, 37-41. It talks of Jesus and His chosen ones encountering a painful scene down at the bottom of the valley. A young boy is mute, foaming at the mouth, grinding his teeth, and rolling in and out of a fire! The boy’s father tells Jesus that a spirit has possessed him and will not leave him. But Peter, James, and John were unable to help the boy. They can do nothing to bring about healing and peace. “‘I begged your disciples to cast it out but they could not.’ Jesus said, ‘Bring your son to me.’ As his son was coming forward, the spirit threw him to the ground in a convulsion; but Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and returned him to his father. And all were astonished by the majesty of God” (Luke 9:40-42). Luke is reminding us that those in need of God’s healing touch do not live on the mountain top. They live in the valley where the boy lives, where pain and suffering are a daily reality, where we must do all we can to help others, even if we cannot rid the child of the unclean spirit.”
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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
We have no way of knowing if Pope Francis will ever return to the Vatican. Nor can we know how well he will be able to exercise his pontifical ministry. And obviously, we cannot know who his successor will be. But we do know that now he is living in the valley of sickness and suffering, and we must support him each day with our prayers in the hope that he may be able to continue to lead and guide the Catholic Church. Clearly, we cannot know when he will be off to the “house of the Father.” But this we know: the Church will continue to proclaim this great Transfiguration story Lent after Lent. Our Lenten days of asking forgiveness for our sins, fasting and abstaining, almsgiving, and praying for our candidates for Baptism, Confirmation and full communion with the Church, cannot be days of drowsiness like the apostles were at a critical moment. Lent requires us to be wide awake and not overcome by sleep, so we do not miss subtle transfiguration moments in our lives.
We must keep our spiritual eyes wide open; we must be fully awake so we can hear the voice alerting us that Christ is near. Giving up desserts, beer, or addiction to the internet during Lent may be acceptable. But it would be far better preparation for a transfiguration experience at Easter if we give up impatience, rash judgments, idle gossip, and dishonest speech. It would be far better preparations for a transfiguration experience at Easter if we give in to daily prayer, daily scriptural meditation, and the commitment to go to confession. It would be far better if we give into kindness, patience, unselfishness, thoughtfulness, generosity, and love. This will make it far easier for us to turn off the inner chatter and truly listen and truly hear when the voice tells us, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen, listen to Him!”
Then we must believe what we hear!
We must teach what we believe!
And we must practice what we teach!
Praised be Jesus Christ! Both now and forever. Amen!