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March 13, 2022What makes Peter so lovable is that he is so relatable always blurting out the kinds of things we might say or think. Today’s Gospel is no exception. Awaking from sleep along with John and James, he sees Jesus transfigured and conversing with Moses and Elijah. He proposes pitching camp, so they won’t have to leave. The Gospel tells us he did not know what he was saying, but it is easy to feel his wonder and joy. Peter is blathering out of happiness and a desire to prolong the moment. I for one certainly have had this experience. In the presence of loved ones, I can blather away about trivialities I do not really care about but which I use to extend the time of communion, of being together. Of course, the moment would have been prolonged if Peter, John, and James had not been asleep in the first place, but this seems typical behavior of Jesus’ three intimates whenever they go off on a prayer party with him and Jesus does not reproach them for it. This passage closely parallels the later scene in Gethsemane, although here the apostles catch a glimpse of Jesus’ divinity, there they will see his full humanity.
In today’s first reading God enters a covenant with Abram promising the childless one progeny and the immigrant, land. In a way, God is promising Abram immortality of sorts through his children, but what is truly remarkable about this passage is that God establishes a covenant with a man. Beyond the good things God promises Abram is the overriding good of God’s benevolent relationship with Abram and Abram’s trusting relationship with God. Interestingly, before the sealing of the covenant, Abram, like the apostles falls into a trance and experiences both terrifying darkness and a vision of light, although not in the same order as the apostles. He experiences the terrifying darkness and then the light; they the light then fear when they enter the cloud.
St. Paul in the second reading speaks of our citizenship being in heaven and that Christ will change our lowly body to conform to his glorified body. We share in the sonship of the Beloved Son. His transfiguration allows us a glimpse of the intimate life with God to which we are called, for, ultimately, God is our home, our homeland, now and in the life to come. In prayer, God both illuminates us and meets us in the darkness of the cloud. Our different Lenten practices are meant to draw our attention to this foundational relationship of our lives. May we this Lent take time to pray even in the darkness, even when we are sleepy! Peter was right: It is good to be here.
