Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Today’s Gospel tells us about today’s feast, the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Jesus went up the mountain to pray with Peter, John, and James. The disciples fell asleep and woke up to find Jesus transfigured and conversing with Moses and Elijah. Peter suggested building tents for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus but then a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my chosen Son; listen to him’” (Luke 9: 36). What can this Gospel reading and feast mean for us today?
I think this Gospel passage can tell us a few things about discipleship. To understand that, it’s helpful to know what happened before Jesus and his disciples went up the mountain. He told his disciples to take up their cross daily and follow him. This teaching coupled with the mandate to listen to Jesus, demonstrates a more comprehensive image of discipleship which involves listening to Jesus and following in his footsteps.
Another aspect of discipleship is to ascend and descend the mountain. Like Jesus and his disciples, we are to go up the “mountain” or, as Pope Francis said in the March 16, 2014 Angelus, “a space of silence, to find ourselves and better perceive the voice of the Lord” where we can pray.” Then we are to come down the “mountain” and be with the people of God like Jesus who continued his ministry right away with the healing of a boy who was possessed by a demon. Pope Francis said in the previously mentioned Angelus:
Encounter with God in prayer inspires us anew to “descend the mountain” and return to the plain where we meet many [people] weighed down by fatigue, sickness, injustice, ignorance, poverty both material and spiritual. To these [people] in difficulty, we are called to bear the fruit of grace we have received.
Perhaps we have had a profound encounter with God, but we are called to have faith even when the high from that encounter fades away. Let us pray for the attentiveness to listen to God and the perseverance and strength to carry our cross after we come down from the mountain.
—Sr. Emily Sandoval, FMI