14 Feb “This is My beloved Son; listen to Him!” – 2/13/2021

Imagine Peter, James, and John as they descended Mount Tabor, with Jesus, after witnessing the Transfiguration. Their heads must have been reeling. And they couldn’t tell anyone! You know they must have huddled up privately to relive those moments, trying to understand what they had seen and heard. They cannot really have known then, but they were given a profound gift.

This weekend we share in the gospel Mark’s telling of the story, given him by Peter, of course, an eyewitness to miracle. I like to think of Transfiguration as a sort of pocket miracle, a private sort of miracle I can pull out and contemplate if I ever feel this world is short on visible miracles. After all, Transfiguration took place before only 3 people, and they had to keep it quiet, private. “Bigger” miracles, think feeding of the five thousand, were witnessed by a huge crowd – nothing private about it. Hence, my pocket miracle.

And what do we take from those events, long ago, far away in the southern Galilee? Most import, always most important, are the words God spoke to the 3 men present. “This is my Son; listen to Him!” Great command, great advice. We know where to find the words the Son of God spoke – He speaks to us even now through Scripture, and the still, small voice in our hearts. Do we listen? Imperfectly, if at all, in our selfishness and sinfulness. Perhaps when we pull this pocket miracle out to examine it occasionally, we’ll be reminded to pay better attention when He speaks!

PP