I am just an ordinary person. Acquainted with our weaknesses and our sin we often are blinded to our own special gifts and graces. Our sufferings in this world can act as a cloak that obscures our true self and hides our true nature as children of God, destined for glory. I am only human. We turn away for greatness and settle into mediocrity in our lives. Greatness seems to us to be only a dream, an illusion that taunts us and even shames us. In the song, “Superman,” we see this struggle to accept our own special gifts: “I’m only a man in a silly red sheet/Digging for kryptonite on this one way street/Only a man in a funny red sheet/Looking for special things inside of me/Inside of me/I’m only a man/In a funny red sheet/I’m only a man/Looking for a dream/I’m only a man/In a funny red sheet/And it’s not easy/It’s not easy to be me.” The call to holiness and the grace to be a saint seems to be an unreachable goal to us.

There is something hidden inside of us that eludes us. God has created each of us with special gifts and purpose in life but we have yet to discover this hidden gift. Isaiah speaks to us of this special gift: “The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name. He made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory.” (Is 49,1-3) Jesus has been sent by the Father to reveal to us the hidden glory that will one day be revealed in the lives of all those who believe. “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only son, full of grace and truth…From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Jn 1,14;16f) As the children of God we are all meant to reveal the glory of God present in the world: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God;…that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom 8,18f) Our sufferings obscure our glory but through suffering we can discover a hidden grace within us that is waiting to be revealed. All of us have our faults and our failures in life, “all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.” (Rom 3,23) But Jesus reveals to us that we can overcome our faults. That our failures are not the end we were created for: “But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good…There is no partiality with God.” (Rom 2,10)

The event of the Transfiguration of Jesus reveals to us this glory that has been hidden inside of all of God’s creation. On Mt. Tabor, Jesus is transfigured before Peter, James and John and is revealed to them in the fullness of his glory. “And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.” (Mk 9,2f) The glory that is revealed in Jesus is no illusion. Nothing on earth could have created that effect. It is the glory of the only begotten Son as the voice of the Father reveals, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” (Mk 9,7) The glory revealed on Mt. Tabor is shown to the apostles to prepare them for the suffering of Jesus on the cross. The suffering of Jesus on Calvary will cover him in shame and conceal his glory but the cross is the way that leads all people to eternal glory in the resurrection.

In taking up the cross in love, each of us are meant to discover our true glory. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2Cor 3,17f) All of us will suffer in this life but our sufferings can reveal to us something that is hidden within us – the Spirit of love and truth and grace. Our spiritual disciplines in Lent help us to discover something great within us. We are capable of great things and we can rise above the sufferings in this world and be a sign of great love. We are not ordinary, we are glorious. Each of us must discover this hidden glory that dwells within us.