Preached on Sunday, August 8, 2017

Many large companies in America take the time once a year to gather all of their Sales people together at some special resort to have a National Sales Meeting.

During the many years that I worked for the Eastman Kodak Company, we always met at a real nice place in late January, just after the new sales year had begun.

Those were great times. We got to renew friendships with other Reps from around the country and we got to hear from Top Management how the Company was doing. And the President would always give us a look at the past and the future. 

First, he would announce the Sales results from the previous year,

and then we got to applaud all those Reps, who made their sales Goals.

We watched as they were awarded magnificent Prizes such as Gold Watches, Money and Trips to exotic places because they had made their sales quota.

And those who were especially successful were awarded a Blue Blazer that indicated their entry into the elite group known as the Masters Club of Sales. 

Not everyone made their sales goal each year ...

but this event made it real clear that attaining the goal was indeed possible ...

as we saw with our own eyes ... all those who had done it.

After reviewing the past ... the President would give us a glimpse of the future ...

as he proudly announced the next prize that we could have ...

if we successfully met our new Sales Goals.

Then, he’d show us a video of a wonderful place like Hawaii, or London, or Australia or Puerto Rico that was the prize destination for that year.

And those trips, would come the promise of Cash Bonuses, Gold Jewelry and of course the Blue Blazer of the Masters Club … for those who achieved their goals.

I always left those meetings full of zeal and determination to put forth the effort

and do whatever it took to win those rewards.

The prizes all looked so good and the prestige of having them was so attractive.

The married Sales Reps always got to bring their spouses along to these meetings. And I often thought that it must have been doubly powerful for them ...

because ... not only would those Reps be pushing themselves to make quota

but their spouses would be pushing them too!

Now, the idea of having a National Sales Meeting has been with us for a long time.

In fact, Our Lord had one for His Company, His Company of Apostles.

He held it some 2000 years ago ... at a nice place ... high atop Mt. Tabor.

In our Gospel today, we hear that Jesus met there with three of His top performers … Peter, James and John as He took them off to be by themselves.  There, Jesus, as President of His Company of Apostles, showed them the past and the future.

Those Apostles got to see some past performers ... namely

Moses, the giver of the Law ... and Elijah, the great Prophet.

And they saw them enjoying a great prize … Moses,

who had died 1300 years before Jesus, was seen standing & conversing with Jesus!

And Elijah, who had died 800 years before Jesus

was also seen standing and conversing with Jesus!       How was that possible?

Could it be that their prize for good performance ...

for leading good lives and being faithful to God ...

was that they would be able to be in communion with God for all time?             

It sure looked that way!

Allowing the Apostles to see the destiny of Moses and Elijah was like letting

Sales reps see their co-workers get great rewards for their good performance.

The prize that both Moses and Elijah had clearly attained ...

was that of everlasting life with God!

Then, right after Jesus showed the Apostles the past, He showed them the future!

Jesus became transfigured in glory before them!                Matthew says,

“His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light.”

Here, Jesus was showing them what His Body would be like on the other side of the Resurrection ... when Jesus would have a glorified body ... a body that could appear & disappear ... a body that could walk through locked doors.

This was not a vision of a resuscitated body like Lazarus had ...

a body that would one-day die again.

No, Jesus showed them a glorified body ... that was outside of space and time ...

a body that would live forever and never die.

Wow! That would be the body to have.

That would be the prize worth striving for.

And guess what?   Regardless of your profession or state in life ...

Jesus offers this prize to each and every person.

It comes with winning the trip to the exotic place called Heaven ...

which includes entry into the elite group of the Master’s Club.

We pray to achieve this goal at every Mass.                 Each time the Priest

pours water into the wine before offering the chalice to The Father, he says,

“By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share

in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”

You see, before the consecration, the wine symbolizes the divinity of Christ ...

and the water symbolizes the humanity of Christ.

By mixing them together we acknowledge that Christ took on our humanity

so that we could take on His divinity.

Today’s Gospel of Jesus’ Transfiguration is proclaimed twice each year ... in the 2^nd week of Lent and on the 6^th of August ... so that we’re reminded of the prize that will someday be ours ... if we successfully carry out God’s command.

And His command was very clear at this meeting on Mt. Tabor.

The Father said to the Apostles, “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him!”

As you can imagine, this event was a powerful encouragement for the Apostles

to go and do exactly what God asked them to do.

So excited were Peter, James and John, over what they experienced ...

that Jesus had to rein them in coming down the mountain ...

telling them not to say anything to anybody until He was raised from the dead.

The way that those Apostles had to feel that day … full of wonder and enthusiasm … is the very way that we should feel every time we leave Holy Mass!

For, it’s here at Mass that we too get to hear ...

the words of the Father and the Son proclaimed in Scripture.

It’s here at Mass that we are surrounded by the Communion of Saints ...

such as Moses and Elijah, who have successfully made it to Heaven.

It’s here at Mass that we’re with Jesus ... truly present in Bread and Wine.

God knows us well and He knows that we need to be encouraged to overcome ...

our pride ... and the challenges and temptations in life ... to do His will.

Which is one reason why He commands us to gather in Church every week …

where we get reminded of the Prize of Everlasting Life …

and get renewed with enthusiasm and determination to win the Prize.

What successful Companies do at their National Sales Meeting ...

       The Catholic Church does at their Weekly Sunday Masses.

It’s where all the members gather together to let the President, Jesus,

show them ... through His representative of the Apostles, the Priest,

the incomparable prize that is available to all those who seek it.

The Mass is meant to give us the strength and the encouragement

to stay the course ... to keep our eyes on the Prize ...

and to keep putting forth the effort, even in the face of difficulties.

By the way ... I got the Blue Blazer!

I did it by keeping my eye on the Prize.

But there’s a much bigger Prize available to all of us.

It’s the Prize Jesus showed His Apostles on Mt. Tabor ...

when He showed them the past and the future ...

it’s the prize of Everlasting Life!

So with focus and determination, let’s strive to follow the Father’s command ...

to listen to His Son ... every day ... in everything.

In this way, we’ll move closer to the Prize ...

the Prize of Everlasting Life in Heaven,

the Prize of having a Glorified Body,

the Prize of being in conversation with the Lord for all eternity.

If we listen to Jesus,

then we’ll surely attain the ultimate Prize …

of entering into ... The Master’s Club.