One of the last things Mom and I talked about when she was in the hospital about a month before she died was the Transfiguration of Christ. She was telling me that she never really understood the “meaning” of the event. I told her that sometimes we think so much about things that we miss the obvious explanations. I suggested that we read the passage again without trying to find a deep meaning and look for a simple message. Since the Transfiguration is in all three synoptic gospels (Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36) we took turns reading each one, hoping that the Holy Spirit would help us find the answer we were looking for.
It was
interesting that we found a ‘simple’ and obvious message in the words of Peter:
"Rabbi,
it is good that we are here!” And in the next to last paragraph of each of
the gospels, as in Matthew’s: “…then from the cloud came
a voice, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." Suddenly, looking around, the disciples no
longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.”
Mom and I concluded that the simplest message of the
Transfiguration is to take the place of Peter in the story and take the words
of God the Father as addressed to ourselves.
Just as He called the apostles long ago, God is calling us today to
listen to the words of Jesus. He’s
asking us not merely to hear the words of Jesus, but to really and truly listen
to them. He’s calling us to imitate the
apostles in our devotion to the following of Jesus. God wants us to listen very carefully to the
words of Jesus that we hear in sacred scripture and in the teachings of the
Church—ALL of the teachings of the Church, whether we agree with them or not,
even if they aren’t “politically correct”,
and do our best to follow them. Then, when we do get to see Jesus face-to-face He can say to us, "Child, it is good that you are here!"
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