You Are My Beloved

It has become a ritual for my family to take one final walk to the edge of the dock at the end of our vacations in Mobile Bay. It is the last thing we do on that early morning after packing up our minivan for a long journey back to Dallas. When we get to the edge, we sit down and take in the absolute beauty and grace that surrounds us - the calm waters, the gentle morning sun, and the soothing breeze of the fresh air.

Is this Heaven? No, it’s not Iowa. It’s Mobile, Alabama.

In my mind’s eye, I take a mental snapshot of this moment - My beloved wife and sons are glowing and radiating with God’s light and love as we pray together, taking turns thanking God and asking for a safe journey home.

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Like Peter in today’s Gospel, I do not want this joyful moment to end. In my heart, I echo his words: “Lord, it is good that we are here.”

Peter has just witnessed one of the most incredible scenes in his life - Jesus transformed in appearance and transfigured with the glorious light of his coming resurrection, fulfilling the Old Testament revelation with Moses and Elijah, representing the law and the prophets, beside him. Not wanting this moment to end, Peter offers to build them tents to stay with them and hold onto this miraculous event as long as they can.

Of course this moment cannot last forever. It remains just a glimpse of what it to come and the brilliance of what is promised to us: the paschal joy of Easter with the glorified Christ and his resurrection from the grave (“This is Resurrection Day!”), the destruction of death (“Thy terrors now, O Death, no more appal us”), and all of creation remade in communion with God (“Behold! I Make All Things New”).

What follows this scene is referenced in the first chapter of Fr. Gregory Boyle’s Tattoos on the Heart: “What’s true of Jesus is true for us, and so this voice breaks through the clouds and comes straight at us. ‘You are my Beloved, in whom I am wonderfully pleased.’”

Today’s Gospel does not only reveal who Jesus is, but who I am through Jesus. As God’s beloved son, I am capable of being transformed and becoming the man, husband, father, friend, and teacher that God created me to be. And no matter my mistakes, weaknesses, and failures, God claims me as His beloved and is wonderfully pleased.

The words that break through clouds at the top of the mountain are the same words that are spoken at Jesus’s baptism and the same words that resonated in my heart at the births of each of my sons. But for myself, “You are My Beloved” can be the most difficult words for me to receive.

“Behold the one beholding you, and smiling” writes Anthony de Mello. Fr. Boyle adds, “It is precisely because we have such overactive disapproval glands ourselves, that we tend to create God in our own image. It is truly hard for us to see the truth that disapproval does not seem to be any part of God’s DNA. God is just too busy loving us to have any time for disappointment.”

Whether we are at the top of the mountain, at the edge of the dock, or at the foot of the cross, let us continue on this Lenten journey of conversion and transformation, meditating on how much God loves us without disappointment. And today, may we find a moment where we cannot help but stop and say to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here.”

Author: Joe Nava, Mathematics Department Chair