Matthew 17: 1-9, The Transfiguration         

March 5, 2023

We all know this story so well. It’s probably one that we could nearly recite by heart. I admit that it’s such a familiar story to me that I sometimes take this great miracle for granted. So, I have taken the time to look at it with a fresh set of eyes and an open heart.

Peter, James, and John are stunned by the appearance of Moses and Elijah with Jesus who was transfigured before them, his face shone like the sun.

It’s a remarkable vision, one that inspired Peter to come up with the completely understandable idea of building three temples right on the spot! Carried away with enthusiasm, he began to explain how great it will be. How it will help many others to see.

I confess to having some sympathy for Peter’s plan. But we dense human beings don’t always get the point of divine visions. This isn’t about building temples. So, God got more direct with Jesus’ friends and interrupted poor Peter:

Suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; LISTEN TO HIM!”

These three followers have gone up to the mountain with him. There, he appears in shining light with God’s beloved Law and Prophets. Surely his friends will understand that Jesus is as beloved of God as Moses and Elijah, and the kingdom of Heaven has come near.

They sort of get it. But not entirely. Building a shrine seems to indicate that they still think of this vision as something external to their own lives. They still think this is a vision about Jesus, not a vision accessible to them.

And so, God — the cloud — overshadows them. They don’t just see it from a distance. Instead, they are baptized into the sacred presence.

Peter, James, and John aren’t special people like those great heroes of Israel. They are failed fishermen. They are subjects, practically slaves, of imperial Rome. They are poor people, nothing and no one special, with little hope of justice or joy.

God overshadowed them. They find themselves in the cloud. Within the Sacred.

Inside the cloud, the fullness of light is revealed: “In him was life, and that life was the light of all humankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1: 4-5)

My heart is wonder struck with the beauty of it all.

I don’t blame Peter for wanting to stay on that mountain and worship. It must have been THE Experience of his life (to this point).

I remember my Mountaintop Experience on my Cursillo Weekend so many years ago (1980). I did not want to leave that experience either. “Let’s just stay here and keep it going”, I thought to myself. But the words and music of Chris Christian’s Mountaintop rang out in song,

And I love to live on a mountain top

Fellowshipping with the Lord

I love to stand on a mountain top

'Cause I love to feel my spirit soar

But I've got to come down from that mountain top

To the people in the valley below

Or they'll never know that they can go

To the mountain of the Lord!

It became clear to me that the Valley is where I belong. Moving forward with the 3-pronged approach I learned on that mountaintop – Piety – Study – Action.

I am sure most of us felt that way as we ventured home after our weekend. But the great call remains,

“WE NEED VALLEY PEOPLE!”

We can visit the Mountaintop through Closings and Ultreyas. We can also find the Mountaintop again in the Holy Days of the Church or through Retreats.

But “Keeping It Real” means furthering Christ’s work right here, right now….in the Valley below.

De Colores,

Tom Hook