ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

My brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Today we gather here to praise and thank God, as we do in every Mass, for the great blessings He has poured out upon us, especially the gift of His Son who gives us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. In this Mass, we remember particularly the gift of the diverse cultures of the world, cultures which we are blessed to have as part of our Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

We do not, and should not, forget our native lands and the lands of our heritage, even as we become one people in the United States and make our home here. This country has been formed and shaped by all the peoples of the world who have come here and made their home here – from the American Indians who have inhabited these lands for millennia to the most recent immigrant arriving by land, sea or air.

Today we remind ourselves of the words of Saint Paul to the Philippians, so suitable for our celebration: "Our citizenship is in heaven." These simple words remind us, that no matter who we are or where we were born, our true final home is not here on earth but in God’s eternal kingdom. Our life here is a pilgrimage, a journey, which we pray will end in the joy of the eternal feast of heaven.

The diversity of gifts given to us through our countries of origin, our different languages, music and visual arts, our customs and traditions, all aid us in this great and often difficult journey. It is within our own culture with all its richness – and even with its weaknesses – that we come to know God and to experience the depth of His love for us.

The challenges for immigrants are many, as you well know. Among them is the encounter with cultures which are different from our own. The way of life which we have always thought normative is suddenly thrown into contrast with other cultures. It is surely disorienting and often frustrating to be confronted suddenly with these differences and to make adjustments, holding on to the good in one’s own culture while also adapting to new ones.

This was also the experience of the Israelites in the Exodus. First forced to go to Egypt because of famine, they later found themselves oppressed and enslaved. Through Moses God called them to leave the land of their misery and come to the Promised Land. We know well how they spent forty years wandering in the desert. Those years were an opportunity for them to deepen their faith and love of God. As the Lord led them through the Red Sea and cast down their enemies behind them, Moses and the Israelites burst into song: "I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea." It was in the desert where the Chosen People spent time alone with the God who had called them and revealed to them His love. It was a time for them to receive so many blessings—the manna and quail, water flowing from the rock, and above all the presence of God Himself in the Meeting Tent.

The desert was also for the Chosen People a place of many failures. When they grew impatient waiting for Moses to come down from Mount Sinai, they fell into idolatry, worshiping the golden calf. They did not trust that the Lord would provide them with water from the rock or with manna each dawn. They suffered from the deadly bite of the seraph serpents. As they encountered new peoples, they embraced the worship of their false gods and other unworthy practices.

Yet God continuously called them back to Himself, no matter how many times they took their eyes off their ultimate goal and forgot the Promised Land which lay before them. Even when they complained to Moses, thinking it would be better to return to Egypt, God did not abandon them but called them over and over again to renew their faith in Him and to look forward to the homeland He had prepared for them.

During this Lenten season, we remind ourselves also of those forty years the Israelites spent in the desert, years full of pain and struggle, but also years of profound encounter with God. Our forty days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving help us to focus on the Promised Land that lies in store for us, if we remain faithful to God’s covenant with us. "Our citizenship is in heaven," and our pilgrimage through this life must always be lived with our eyes set on Jesus and on the world to come.

The journeys we take in this life—in particular the journey of immigration—reflect the realities of our Christian life. We encounter many blessings—the richness of God’s many gifts, our own cultures interacting with other cultures, new ways of living and of facing challenges, new opportunities of worshiping and serving God. We also face at times the burdens of isolation from family and friends, difficulties in understanding and in being understood, lack of jobs and sometimes needed job skills, as well as discrimination related to our country of origin, the color of our skin, our language, our accent, or our religion, which is our relationship with God. In addition to all of this we find so many people filled with God’s goodness, who open their hearts to us in kindness and love as they offer us assistance and new friendships. We are proud that so many of these people belong to the household of the faith.

In the good and bad experiences that are ours, we are to remember what Saint Paul has told us. Our citizenship is not here, it is in heaven. We are to make use of this world’s blessings, giving praise to God for them. And we are to reject those evils in life which distract us from the one true good, God Himself.

With all its challenges, the encounter of cultures allows us to see both those things that are good and those in need of purification in other cultures as well as in our own. None of our cultures is perfect; each contains many beautiful elements, reflections of God’s goodness to us. Yet each also contains the effects of our human weakness and sinfulness. While coming into contact with a new culture can sometime tempt us to adopt the negative parts, it can also be a moment to help us recognize the strengths and positive elements of each.

As our Lenten journey continues, may we put aside whatever keeps us from encountering Christ, as we look forward to our Promised Land. We thank God that in this country, we have the freedom to worship Him in accordance with our conscience. But we remain mindful always of where our true home is – not the earthly home we have left behind, nor the place we call home now, but the house of the Lord Himself.

Dear Friends: in the beautiful Gospel proclaimed today on this feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, we have seen how the Apostles Peter, John and James went with Jesus to a mountain to pray. It was on this occasion that Jesus was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and His garments became dazzling white. And them the Apostles heart the voice of the Eternal Father saying: "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." Today, my brothers and sisters, God the Father speaks to us, saying the same thing: Jesus is His chosen, beloved Son and we must listen to Him. It is Jesus who is the Way and the Truth and the Life. It is Jesus who guides us during all our journeyings. It is Jesus who leads us to the Promised Land of eternal life.

Today we are called to renew our commitment to Jesus and to our holy Catholic faith. Only He can teach us how to live and how to love and how to serve one another so as to be happy with Him in heaven, forever.

May Mary, the Mother of Jesus bring us close to Him and keep us faithful to Him all the days of our life. Amen.