Death hangs over every human life. Yet each of today’s readings is a reminder of how God preserves life and continues it for the sake of fulfilling the divine promise.

What’s so good about going to church? One would like to believe that for the tens of millions of Catholics in this country who define themselves as “practicing” their faith, engaging the identity of church has been a positive and powerful experience.

On a cold January day in a time before COVID, after several months of battling cancer, weeks in and out of the hospital, and finally intensive care, my brother-in-law died peacefully around noon, his wife, my sister, at his bedside. 

Transfigurations appear to take place at one precise moment, but often they are the culmination of a gradual process of seeing people through different eyes until we are startled by the affection and admiration we feel for this person or are thrown off balance by a kind or courageous act we never dreamed possible coming from this person.

Growing up in the flat Midwest, my idea of a hill was a small bump we named “Devil’s Hill” and rode our sleds down in the winter. No wonder real mountains fascinated me.

We place ourselves before the mercy of God for the times we have not trusted in God's guidance.

I'm only asking you to stop every so often and turn off your mobile device, put down the Angry Birds and the Words with Friends and take a moment. Stop to look up and look around. Pause and check in . . . and spend a moment there.