Pastor’s Corner

Dear Sacred Heart Family,

Have you ever been to a museum?  I don”™t know your favorite works of art, or which artists produce objects of beauty that move you most profoundly.  If we were to visit the National Gallery of Art, imagine a scenario that seems strange. Our guide takes us into a hall, and tells us we will see the most amazing tapestries in the world. As we walk in, we quietly wonder about the sanity of our guide. Instead of medieval or middle eastern weavings, what we see are a mess. Hanging on the wall are fabric creations with no rhyme or reason. Patches of dark, multiple knots, random color combinations, in a word: chaos. We think perhaps our adventure was a poor choice of time, or maybe we picked the wrong museum to visit. Note to self, never return here, or at least avoid this guide in the future.

Suddenly, a crew of professionals enter the hall, and we watch with amazement as the team reverses the tapestries. We had been looking at the reverse side of the works. They had finally been finished, and now we are witnessing the unveiling. What looked like chaos, confusion, lack of beauty and no clear design was the reverse of the most amazing works. As they are turned around, we see gorgeous color, shading, and the most carefully detailed works of beauty we could never have imagined.

This is the story of our Transformation in Christ, as we learn on the second Sunday of Lent. Peter, James and John thought they knew Jesus. They had witnessed His miracles, they believed in Him. But they had not seen His Glory. To prepare them for the final victory of the Cross, He fortified them against the Scandal of the Cross by revealing His hidden Glory, as He truly is in Heaven. This will happen to us when we arrive in Heaven. Occasionally we have glimpses of what God is doing in our lives, but often it seems a disaster.

Failure, struggles with sin, addiction, pain, suffering and darkness. This is what Jesus embraced in us during His time in the desert, His Passion, and His Death. What broke through in the Transfiguration, in His Resurrection, is a preview of our transformation and victory. Let us walk through Lent surrendering to His work in our lives, especially when we are ready to give up. The victory has been won, and we are a work in progress. In our fears, doubts, pain and struggles, God is bringing your glory to completion as He works in our lives. You and I are His works. We are works in progress, and the greater the mystery of our lives, the greater the Glory being produced. With Our Lady and His Grace, let us say in love to Him, Jesus, I trust in You!

In Our Lady”™s Immaculate Heart,

Fr. Bjorn Lundberg