Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
Written by Peter Casey
While certainly familiar to our British friends and other subjects of the Royal Crown, the concept of a royal figurehead is all but anathema to Americans. After all, the signatories to the Declaration of Independence articulated the following as their rationale for rebelling against King George III:
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Since our country’s founding in 1776, countless sacrifices have been made to advance the cause of American liberty. The notion of fighting against tyranny or any perceived threat to our independence is intrinsically woven into our societal fabric. How, then, can we view the Lord as King when we may associate such a description with absolute despotism?
Fr. Raymond Fitzgerald, S.J.—one of the holiest men I have ever known who suffered courageously with ALS, giving this homily prior to making his diagnosis known—offers some humorous and profound insights into one particular gift of the Holy Spirit: Fear of the Lord. He suggests that we can’t begin to understand this gift of the Holy Spirit unless we first view the Lord as a good and righteous king, not an absolute despot to be thrown off. Rather than subjecting us to slavery, the Lord calls us to join Him in a great quest out of the bondage of our own sin. Acknowledging the Lord as King and subjecting ourselves to His will is, therefore, liberating. This paradox of freely giving up a certain notion of our individual liberty in order to find true freedom is reminiscent of what St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18-21:
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the learning of the learned I will set aside.” Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith.
In what ways is the “wisdom of this age” holding us back from surrendering ourselves in service to our King? Let us all pray to be obedient to our good and righteous King and strive to do His will.
Peter Casey and his wife, Ginny, are expecting their sixth child and are settled in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex after sojourning through New Orleans, Houston, and College Station.
Pray with today’s psalm.