Changed! – Read Lk 9:28-36
Contemplation
Jesus has taken three of his best friends, Peter, James and John, up a mountain. As we climb, we feel the air growing thinner and harder to breathe, the rocks crunching under our feet. Where are we going? Why just us? It’s been a long day already, and we are half falling asleep. Finally, we reach the top. It’s flat here and … quiet, so quiet. Suddenly, Jesus looks…different. His clothes and his skin shine so brightly it’s hard to look at him. Where is the Jesus we know? This is someone very powerful. The sky is dark but feels tingly and power glows in him. There are two men with him – they look very, very old but also very familiar. We recognise somehow that they are Moses and Elijah, two friends of God. Moses gave Israel God’s Torah – his teaching on how to live, and Elijah called God’s fire from Heaven.
Even though they are sleepy, the friends who came up the mountain with Jesus are frightened – they have never seen or heard anything like this. Peter wants to make homes here for Jesus and the prophets – although he’s frightened, he wants to keep this moment forever. A voice comes from the cloud around, and it fills every part with who we are. “This is my son whom I have chosen – listen to him!” Suddenly, the cloud and Moses and Elijah are gone and Jesus looks the way he always does. Everyone is so shocked, they say nothing as they go back down the mountain.
What do Jesus, Moses and Elijah feel and say? What do I say to them?
Has Jesus ever shown himself to me in a way I didn’t expect?
How do I respond?