This Sunday, we hear from Luke's Gospel the Transfiguration. In the other gospels, we hear that Jesus lead them up a mountain, a place of encounter with God. Christ's appearance changes, He takes on His divine radiance. He is speaking about His 'exodus' with Moses and Elijah, the most 'powerful' prophets in the Old Testament. (They were succeeded by Joshua and Elisha, respectively, and these names mean the same as "Jesus" - that God Saves.) Jesus is about to complete the work they started - that through His Cross and resurrection, he was to free us and initiate us into a new covenant. Peter and the other disciples wake up to see it, and Peter knows he is in the presence of the Holy One of Israel. He desires to stay in the moment, to stay on the mountain. But, with all encounters, they must leave.
We are invited by Christ to a personal encounter, and all of our Christian lives depend on our being awake to notice the working of Christ. But just as the disciples, we cannot stay in the moment of encounter, but we can go back to plumb the depths of the encounter in our prayer. St. Peter did this, as he spoke of when he wrote, "We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, 'This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.' We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain" (2 Peter 1:16-19). He tells us that he knows the certainty of the faith because he was there, and how often he most have brought it to mind. Between the Transfiguration and the Resurrection, St. Peter found the grace to respond to God.
Permit me to list some steps for discernment based on the Transfiguration events. Such a process can help us be aware our own vocation.
1. Become aware of the presence of Christ (and wake up if we are 'asleep'). Read Scripture, attend Mass attentively, participate in the other Sacraments, adore the Blessed Sacrament. Christ is present and is waiting for us to come into His presence, He longs for us to encounter Him.
2. Listen to His Voice. Christ will speak to us, drawing our hearts in love. A Catholic spiritual director may be of assistance to help you hear and listen to Christ.
3. Be aware we need to move on, but also revisit the encounter in our prayer. St. Ignatius of Loyola suggested a practice he called 'repetition' - of returning to the experience through our prayer.
4. Respond. If we are only aware of the encounter, but do not let the experience move us to action, we render the encounter empty. We are asked to live differently, even if it means simply feeling a little more joyful.
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