Gospel: Mark 9: 2 – 10
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So, they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.
Reflection:
This incident on the mountain gets us to look forward either to the resurrection of Jesus or the glory of the second coming. Peter’s reaction also gets us to look forward to life with God, so that we will say in eternity, ‘It is good for us to be here’.
In prayer we can rest at times and just be glad, happy and content to be with Jesus, in his presence and in his love. The transfiguration was for the benefit of the disciples, for their faith and confidence in the lasting glory of Jesus at bad times. It can be the same of each of us in prayer.
In our journey to God we have peak moments, when the ground is holy. Like Peter, we want them to last for ever. But Jesus, “only Jesus”, brings us down the mountain and prepares us for the hard times ahead, living on the memory of brief transfigurations.
Can I recall any of my peak moments? Am I willing to work hard, perhaps in prayer, to get to know Jesus more deeply?
