On Sunday, we heard the gospel describing the Transfiguration of Christ. Jesus climbs Mount Tabor with Peter, James and John, and has a conversation with God. Our Lord talks with Moses and Elijah. His disciples see Him in all His glory. They are amazed and dumbfounded. At the end of the reading, we learn that they tell no one. But, the experience stays with them and transform them.
These words have stayed with me: “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” (Luke 9:35) God the Father spoke these words to the three disciples and continues to say them to us in 2016. Interestingly, God is telling us to listen to Christ. Not to look at Him. Not just to follow Him. But, God directs us to listen to Him. Why?
As we all know, listening to another person is the most important aspect of maintaining good communication. The communication becomes dynamic and meaningful when we listen and not just speak. If we spend our time just talking to another person, it’s one-way process and very limited. In other words, it’s just us talking, and the other person becomes a passive audience.
To deepen our friendship with God, we have to communicate or converse with God. How? Look up to the Heavens or just marvel at His creation. Wherever we are, we need to stop and allow Jesus to speak to us so that He can transform us. We should stop what we’re doing, put down that smart
phone, turn off the vacuum cleaner, stop our reading, lay down the pencil, close the laptop – there will be time for these things.
Instead, we must stop everything, be quiet and listen to Him. Pray, talk to him or just be still. If we practice these little moments of communicating with God, He will transform us. Being with the Divine, will transfigure our soul so that it can become more like Christ. In a way, we prepare our soulfor its final glorified state in Heaven.
I don’t know about you, but I struggle with carving time for prayer. But, after thinking about this Gospel, I now realize even more that I can listen to Christ at anytime and anywhere.
Artwork: Bloch, Carl. Transfiguration of Jesus. N.d. The Chapel of Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød, Denmark.