Lord, It Is Good For Us To Be Here

I thought it was just a funny coincidence that one of my friends would call me on my birthday to ask me to cantor at the next day's Mass, but as every other time God goes to work, He works in mysterious ways. This past week, I went on an Alternative Spring Break trip to SC to rebuild homes for low-income families, and I pretty much knew in advance that some spiritual fruit would come of the experience. However, as I was thinking of a Bible verse to relate to the experience, I kept coming up short. Nothing quite seemed good enough, and I figured I would probably end up settling for Matthew 25:40, which isn't a bad verse by any means, it just didn't seem to fit.

So, funny thing, as I'm trying to concentrate on the priest proclaiming the Gospel at the Mass I'm cantoring, I realize almost immediately that the story is the Transfiguration. I don't see how it fits until the homily, when the priest stresses Peter's call to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here". Now, he goes on to talk about prayer during Lent, and the Mass as the greatest prayer, but what hits me hardest is the three or four times he repeats "Lord, it is good for us to be here". This was it; this was the verse I was looking for!

I realize now in retrospect, that much like the Gospel, this verse doesn't initially seem to fit, but put in the context of the trip, it makes more sense. The trip was like a reverse Transfiguration. Jesus didn't shine like the sun, and He wasn't flanked by Moses and Elijah; instead, He became an ordinary couple flanked by friends and family. We, in turn, were Peter. Each day we woke early, worked joyfully and hard, and really desired to help this couple as Peter desired to help Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. We discovered, without knowing it, that it was good for us to be there.

And though Matthew 25:40 is still comforting to think of, I think "Lord, it is good for us to be here" (Matthew 17:4) is still more appropriate. God used this week to teach me about myself, and to be His hands to help others, and because of this I echo Peter's words "Lord, it is good for us to be here".