HOMILY 2ND SUNDAY OF LENT 2025
REVELATION, TRANSFIGURATION, THEN THE DESCENT TO REALITY
Lk 9.28-36 Gen 15.5-12,17-18 Phil 3.17-4.1
This week we said farewell to a man who took the Gospel to heart in word and action throughout his 63 years of priestly ministry. Peter Carrucan was a pastor from start to finish, living to the age of 93, and moving with the times all the way through, ordained in 1962, the first year of Vatican II, and the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when no-one really had any idea of what the future might bring, with the Church opening its windows to the modern world, as Pope John XXIII put it, but with a sense of change in the air, as I remember Sister Paula PBVM, telling us in Grade 5, the year I was confirmed and took the pledge, not to drink to the age of 25 (not that that was too effective!!)!
I think it was probably the biggest funeral I’d attended for anyone over 90, and certainly the most diverse. My contemporary close friend, Martin Ashe, now regional bishop for the western region, was the main celebrant and preacher. As he said himself, he had the good fortune to be appointed to Hadfield where Peter was PP in 1978, parachuting in from Killarney after ordination, from All Hallows Seminary in Dublin. Peter was a marvellous role model as pastor, friend and co-worker, not boss, giving all the orders, but a co-pastor! In fact, Martin had invited Peter and me to be his ‘bridesmaids’ at his episcopal ordination in 2021, helping him with the dressing up required for the occasion!
It was said how his deep spiritual life and commitment to the Gospel drove his active ministry in pastoral and sacramental life. He was PP at Belgrave during the terrible Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983, and was heavily involved in helping co-ordinate community services and practical relief in the aftermath, not just with the Catholics, but the wider community as well.
Later on, as PP at South St Albans for 18 years or so, until retirement, he was not only a committed and effective pastor to his people, but also engaged with the incoming Sudanese community, making them feel welcome and included in the local scene, both parish and broader community.
In his retirement, he continued active pastoral ministry with refugees and asylum seekers, visiting those who were in detention, and also taking up prison ministry, visiting inmates and saying Mass on a regular basis. Was there nothing this man of the Gospel would not take on, when he identified a need and automatically responded, with little thought to his own age or need for a little bit of time out for himself ?!
His farewell included some lively music, liturgical dance, and mournful ululation from his Sudanese friends, and some of those he had helped and encouraged in the hard times of their lives escorted his coffin from the church in Clifton Hill. He was a humble man, who had first expressed a wish for a small funeral from the chapel of the Little Sisters of the Poor, where he had been in palliative care in recent weeks. He would have been surprised at the way it turned out, so well deserved, as we learned so much from his lived faith, love shared with all and lifelong self-giving, as we gave thanks and commended him to the God he had served so faithfully, and the Jesus he had followed so closely.
It did come out that he did have more time to spend with his own family in retirement, which they appreciated, given the earlier demands of his ministry as parish priest.
And now we have Transfiguration as today’s Gospel, where Jesus is on the mountain top, a high point both geographically and metaphorically, as we have echoes of the words from the cloud, symbolic of God’s presence and affirmation, at his Baptism by John the Baptist, and now, where there is a moment of revelation for Peter, James and John, of Jesus’ true identity, as Son of God, but also prefiguring him as the Suffering Servant, on a mission of teaching, healing and service in all dimensions.
The appearance of Moses and Elijah reinforces the continuity of Jesus’ message and his fidelity to Old Testament Law and the Prophets, yet broadened by his new proclamation of the Kingdom of God, not in terms of power and glory, as we heard last week, but a kingdom characterized by love and service, yet not escaping the harsh realities of day to day life, with misunderstanding, hostility, rejection, failure and suffering also being part of it all.
My friend Claude Mostowik MSC has a helpful insight: “Seeking strength in prayer on the mountain, Jesus has a vision where the two giants, Moses and Elijah, appear to him. Something special came through Jesus’… that channelled God’s closeness, compassion, justice and tenderness in his humanity. He recognized the sacred in himself in a new and powerful way… The gospel touches the moments in our lives when our eyes are opened and we recognize the sacred within us, in others and our environment, So the Transfiguration is not only about Jesus, but about us and our call to make a difference.” As Peter Carrucan certainly did!
I see the scene of being up on the mountain as a high point of faith for the apostles present, yet with the realization this moment cannot last, as the mission has to continue. They must come down from the mountain, and return to the ordinary responsibilities and challenges of life, lived in faith, and guided by a God of life and love, filled with compassion and forgiveness, as revealed in the person of Jesus.
So it is for us, as we live the Gospel, enjoying the high points of our own lives, preserved in our hearts, memories, photos and videos too, but knowing the crosses we face are part of it all too.
Now I conclude with a look at a Project Compassion project, where we hear about the basics, with the story of Toeufuata’iga, concerning provision of fresh water for a school community in surprisingly arid Samoa, with Caritas Australia proving for installation of a water tank, so school activities can continue, thanks to our support, an expression and illustration of the practical side of our Lenten observance.
And a Happy St Patrick’s Day to all for Monday!
john hannon 16th March 2025