Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 6, 2022
Jesus took Peter, John, and James
and went up a mountain to pray.
While he was praying his face changed in appearance
and his clothing became dazzling white.
And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus
that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.
Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep,
but becoming fully awake,
they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.
As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,
“Master, it is good that we are here;
let us make three tents,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
But he did not know what he was saying.
While he was still speaking,
a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,
and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.
Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”
After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
They fell silent and did not at that time
tell anyone what they had seen.
I loved hearing this gospel as a kid. Not due to a precocious devotion to the transfiguration, but because my namesake, James, was in on the action. How exciting! I liked that James got more frequent gospel mentions than most apostles, but the transfiguration seemed like his shining moment.
Earlier, James and his brother John seemed like second fiddles to Simon with the net-breaking haul of fish. Then, James’ special status gets previewed one chapter before the transfiguration when this same trio witnesses Jesus restoring Jairus’ daughter to life.
On the mountain with Moses and Elijah, James is at the apex of being the cool apostle. It’s Peter, after all, who opens his big mouth and says something foolish. James was smart enough to keep quiet and soak up the fantastic experience.
As an adult with a more mature understanding, I now see this passage in context as a cautionary tale about my overconfidence in hearing what I want Jesus to say rather than doing what God urges—to “listen to him.”
Just 15 verses later in this chapter, James and John invoke Elijah and ask about calling down fire from heaven on the Samaritan village that rejects Jesus. Oh, no! James missed the point of the transfiguration even worse than Peter did—cool apostle image crushed.
As a child, I wanted to put myself in the center of the transfiguration story. And who wouldn’t want to feel like they have special status with God because of their namesake? But that desire gets in the way of our hearing God’s message if we persist in those same tendencies in our adult lives. We risk continuing to miss the point.
May we each learn a little humility, as James eventually did, and listen to the direction of Christ.
Prayer
God of wonder and might, the glory of your presence is beyond our understanding, yet you continue to reveal yourself to us in countless ways. May we who seek to draw close to you, be open and ready to your revelations, so that we may recognize Jesus in our lives. When we see him, give us the grace to listen well.