My Meditation for our Lenten Lectio Divina series, Week 2, on The Transfiguration (Matthew 17)
Every time I enter into the Presence of Jesus in the tabernacle, I say the same prayer, “Lord, it is good that we are here,” which is Peter’s response when he sees Jesus transfigured. I began saying this prayer several years ago, when I first used lectio divina with the passage, and that was the phrase that struck my heart.
I totally understood what Peter meant when he said it. To be in the presence of the Divine is a complete gift. There is literally no place I’d rather be and I thank Him for that opportunity by praying, “it is so good that I am here.”
So as I began meditating on this passage, I struggled a bit getting past that familiar phrase and had a hard time concentrating on going deeper. I had to let go of the idea that each time I practice lectio divina that I should find something earth-shattering.
I did ask my podcast co-host for a little guidance and he gave me the general gist of what he was going to preach on last Sunday. So maybe that’s cheating, but it helped me dive deeper. (After all, the Bible tells us “lean not on your own understanding” Proverbs 3:5).
As I dove in, the very first verse grabbed my attention, specifically the idea that Jesus led his three closest Apostles away “by themselves.”
I know that we need time along with Jesus and we often don’t make that time. He is waiting for us to give Him our attention but He also knows that it is hard for us to do, so He will lead us if we let Him. We need to allow ourselves to be led away by ourselves.
But why did Jesus lead these 3 men away up a high mountain by themselves? And the answer is that He intended for them to have an experience of Him in His Divinity. Up until now they knew Him as a Man. They’d seen His miracles and they’d listened to His preaching. They knew He was God made Man. But He wanted them to experience that reality, His Divinity.
We are much like the Apostles in this way. We believe that Jesus is God, and we have listened to His teaching in the Gospels. Most likely, we have experienced Him working in our lives through answered prayers. But it isn’t until we have an experience of His Divinity that we are truly transformed and strengthened.
As Jesus reveals himself, Peter wants to stay in that moment of the Transfiguration.
But the Apostles can’t stay in that moment! That permanent experience of Divinity is our final place, heaven, the beatific vision. This moment for the Apostles was meant to strengthen them for the trials ahead, namely Jesus’ Crucifixion.
If you’ve ever had a experience with the Divine, you know that, like Peter, you don’t want to leave. It changes you, and there is a sense that things are different. Through experiencing the Divine, we can be “transfigured,” made into something more beautiful and elevated.
It’s true that most of will never experience a full on Transfiguration moment, seeing Jesus in His full Divine nature, as these Apostles and some saints have experienced.
But Jesus does give each of us an experience of His Divinity.
It may be one big conversion-type moment, or maybe even several smaller moments during which He slowly reveals His Divine nature. Or it may be the simple act of consuming what appears to be bread, but is in reality, Jesus in His Divinity.
But it’s also incredibly difficult to explain to others, and you realize that your experience doesn’t affect them as it did you. I imagine this is probably why Jesus told the Apostles not to say anything about it. A recounting of your experience doesn’t produce the same change in others around you.
Also during these types of experience, a moment when you truly feel in touch with the Divine, can sometimes be scary moments. Any experience of the supernatural can be overwhelming.
This is what happened to the Apostles. But Jesus touches them, saying “Rise and do not be afraid” and they see they are alone with Jesus.
Jesus wants each of us to experience His Divinity, but he also knows that it can cause us to be afraid.
So what He gives each and every one of us is His Divine Presence in the Eucharist. He is literally “transfigured” in front of us during consecration. He is there in His full Divinity for us!
Obviously, the Eucharist is an incomprehensible mystery, but it is not intimidating. And through Holy Communion, he literally touches us, like He did the Apostles, and allows us to focus just on Jesus alone.
Jesus wants us to become like Him. He wants us to be transfigured, and He knows that we cannot get there on our own. But we can allow ourselves to be led by Him just as the Apostles were. Rather than a high mountain we are led to Him in the tabernacle. There we can pray with St. Peter, “it is good that we are here.”
Even though we can’t stay in the moment of the Transfiguration, we can “rise and be not afraid” and also “listen to Him.”
When we come down from that high place of closeness with Him, from the proverbial mountain, we can allow His Divinity to give us strength for the trials ahead in our own lives. We can allow His Divinity in the Eucharist to transform us.
Did you meditate on this reading this week? What was your take away? Did you feel God speaking to your heart in someway?
This next week we are reading the story of the Samaritan woman, John 4:1-42.
