Listen to him
Jesus took Peter, James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Mt 17:1-5)
The transfiguration is a matter of eyes: Jesus takes his friends up a mountain and gives them new eyes capable of looking beyond. Behind the humble humanity of the carpenter of Nazareth, they glimpse for an instant the beauty of the Son of God. The divinity revealed in that moment of light frees them from the opacity of the human condition. Jesus is preparing them for what will happen later, when they will see him humiliated and crucified, mocked and massacred. When that happens, they will be asked once again to look beyond, but they will not succeed. Only Pentecost will finally give them eyes to recognize the fullness of divinity in Jesus.
A mountain for me too
Jesus, please give me eyes
to recognize you as Lord.
In times of testing,
lead me too up a “mountain”
and illuminate the darkness
of my disbelief and hopelessness.
Amen.
Taken from the book Il Vangelo si fa strada by Roberta Vinerba, FSP Editions 2019
