Jesus took Peter, James, and John
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Mark 9:2
The Transfiguration of Jesus revealed an opportunity for God the Father to make a stunning appearance, speaking from a cloud: "This is my beloved Son, listen to him". When we read these verses, can we place ourselves like the disciples Peter, James and John standing there staring at all the supernatural occurrences? They wanted to make three tents to protect and provide shelter. I would want to start cooking something. While this is a stunning image to behold, this mountain and the cloud and the voice, I want to share a story of transformation, because we can pray today to be transformed by the Transfiguration.
A priest and youth minister took the group out on a carefully planned "midnight run", which was a series of stops where the teens would briefly get out of the van and feed people who were still on the streets late at night. For safety reasons, it needed to be quick work, but at one stop a teen was delayed talking with someone outside and behind the van. A little alarmed, the priest jumped out to tell him to hurry and come along so they could leave. At the next stop, the teens again jumped out of the van to leave the food and the priest noticed that the teen who was delayed had no shoes on. In this northeastern city, it was a very cold night, so the priest asked where his shoes were.
His reply simply was: "Father, I have plenty of shoes at my house." The teen had given away his sneakers at the previous stop and that was why he was delayed. Talk about stunning appearances. I wonder what the person who received the shoes, in a matter of a few quick minutes, thought. The priest said he will never forget the transformation he saw in that young person's face, the resolve. I think the simplicity of his answer was very telling. He didn't try to take credit or brag at his good deed, or proudly "man up" and tell his friends how he could take the cold weather in bare feet. The teen saw the need, knew he could provide and humbly did just that. Let's pray to be tranformed today.
