The Transfiguration: “It Is Not the Mountain We Conquer, But Ourselves”
by Paulist Fr. Rich Andre
February 26, 2018

Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily on the 2nd Sunday of Lent (Year B) on February 25, 2018, at St. Austin Parish in Austin, TX. The homily is based on the day’s readings: Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Psalm 116; Romans 8:31b-34; and Mark 9:2-10.



Mountaintops are prominent in the Bible. As we hear in our first reading today, it’s on Mount Moriah where God finally fulfills the covenant that he had made with Abraham decades before. And as disturbing and as violent as this story may sound, let us remember that in the time of Abraham, all Middle Eastern religions believed in sacrificing their first-born children to appease their gods. The remarkable thing about this story is that God spares Isaac, not that Abraham attempts to sacrifice Isaac.

Three and a half weeks ago, a group of pilgrims and I stood on top of Mount Moriah. It’s where the Jewish people built the Temple and where the Muslim people built the Dome of the Rock. Two and a half weeks ago, we celebrated Mass at the top of Mount Tabor, the scene of today’s gospel passage, the Transfiguration.

What have been the mountaintop experiences of your spiritual journey thus far? How have those experiences sustained you when you’ve later traversed a desert or a dark valley? For the times when we’ve freely chosen to descend into the darkness, we ask for God’s forgiveness.


Ben was one of my classmates and friends at the University of Rochester. He was an English major with a real gift for oratory… perhaps too good of a gift. One time, when Ben was running late for a meeting being held in an auditorium, everyone else dragged their chairs onto the stage so that Ben wouldn’t be able to stand on the stage and lecture everyone else who was sitting down in the audience seats.

Ben married my good friend Erin and moved to her home state of Colorado. Ben became an avid outdoorsman, and when I visited him and Erin in 2004, he was well on his way to climbing all 53 of the mountain peaks in Colorado that are more than 14,000 feet above sea level, called “14ers.” Ben had adopted the same motto as Sir Edmund Hillary: “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”

On that visit, I had the opportunity to hike to the top of one of the 14ers, Mt. Evans. I know it sounds impressive, but there’s paved road that runs to within ¼ mile of the peak of Mt. Evans. Ben and I only had to walk a short path to the snow-capped peak while Erin and their infant son waited in the car. 

Nevertheless, it was a mountaintop experience for me, a moment to take stock. I was partway through a life-changing cross-country roadtrip. Already that summer, I had gone hang-gliding in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, toured the Everglades, rode a mule in the Grand Canyon, stayed in a Trappist Monastery, and visited family and friends whom I hadn’t seen in a decade. This moment – at the highest elevation on earth that I had ever reached – was sort of the trip in miniature. I was with good friends from the past, surveying all I could see, possessing no idea what the future held. When I returned from the trip, would I go back to engineering, or would I take the risk to apply to the seminary? 

Why did Jesus climb Mount Tabor nearly 2,000 years ago? Perhaps he went to survey all that had happened to bring him to this moment, and perhaps to be strengthened for the hardships ahead. Why did Peter, James, and John climb Mount Tabor? They went in companionship with their friend Jesus, and they came to know him in a new way. Why is the Transfiguration important to us, and why are we hearing this story today? Because part of Lent is sacrifice, and sacrifice can feel scary. Jesus had just disclosed to his companions that he would need to suffer and die, and we – like the disciples – probably need to be reminded of the noble purpose and eventual exaltation of the life of Jesus, a life that has enobled, exalted, and transfigured the very meaning of our lives. As Paul writes, God “did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us all,” and God will “give us everything else.”

Back on Mt. Evans in 2004, Erin, Ben, and I did not realize the bittersweetness of Ben’s dream to climb all the “14-er” mountains of Colorado. Ben was in a terrible biking accident in 2011 and is now a quadriplegic. He has completely lost the ability to control the muscles in his legs, and he has limited motion in his abdominals and both of his arms. And yet, he’s an inspiration in his determination. He sits on several non-profit boards, working to help others who face similar challenges.

The University of Rochester doesn’t host a traditional homecoming weekend. Instead, we have an annual “Meliora” weekend, packed with symposia and performances. I went to Meliora Weekend in 2016, when the speakers and performers included Tony Bennett, Ken Burns, Trevor Noah, Ben Folds, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. And in the style of the TED talks, six people from the University community gave a series of what we call “MEL” talks. We listened to great presentations about autism research, 3D-printing of prosthetics for Syrian amputees, the implicit bias challenges facing minority college students, the impact of hands-on science classes for disadvantaged students, and the economics of discontent in the 2016 presidential election. But the most inspiring talk was given by none other than Ben. He still uses the mantra of Sir Edmund Hillary: “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” 

Jesus climbs Mount Tabor with Peter, James, and John immediately after telling them that he will have to suffer and die. His transfiguration reassures them – and us – that his sacrifice will lead to life in abundance.

All of us need to have mountaintop experiences, to reassure us that our sacrifices can serve a greater purpose… the purpose of bringing forth the kingdom of God. The sacrifices that I’ve made to be a priest have been repaid many times over, as I repeatedly witness the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus in so many people’s lives. And as Ben said in his talk, “I’m lucky that I’m alive, but more than that, I’m fortunate that my mindset and my faith never allowed me to be bothered with anger, fear, or sadness about what I lost that day.”

It’s ironic: those of us in the Class of ‘96 who used to dread when Ben would want to stand over us and lecture, eagerly accepted reserved seats to hear him speak. And at the end of his talk, called “Please Forgive Me If I Don’t Stand Up,” we all stood up and applauded.


“Please Forgive Me If I Don’t Stand Up” – Ben Meyerhoff’s talk at the University of Rochester, NY – 8 October 2016: