Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 16, 2025
Jesus took Peter, John, and James
and went up the 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.
For me, the events in today’s gospel evoke the memory of a summer night last July in Thessaloniki, Greece. Turning an unnamed corner in the old town, I paused as I saw my destination—an unassuming restaurant with string lights and umbrellas just visible on the rooftop. The sound of laughter floated down, unmistakably from the new local friends who had absorbed me into their group only a few days before, showing me the definition of hospitality. For me, this was a glimpse of heaven, made even more achingly beautiful by its temporary nature.
Later on the same trip, I happened upon a quote by the artist Konstantinos Kerestetzis that now hangs by my bed: “A transcendental experience…is to live in the world beyond in roughly the same way that we live in the here and now.”
As our faith tradition reminds us, the boundary between this world and the next is permeable. While glimpses of heaven are fragmentary, they undoubtedly occur amid our daily lives, unexpectedly, without our forcing or planning it. They happen during events as simple as going away to pray, as the disciples did with Jesus, or sharing a meal with new friends in a small corner of the world where I could have felt like a stranger and alone.
May the miracle of Christ’s transfiguration before his disciples remind us of our own experiences of our eternal hope and all that we have to look forward to in the heavenly realms.
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.
Saint of the Day
The relics of St. Julian were a powerful aid to prayer in the ancient world. The great “golden-tongued” preacher, St. John Chrysostom, used St. Julian’s life and example as a model for his congregations. Julian’s relics were known to be helpful in exorcising evil spirits.
Julian was a senator from Cilicia, which is in modern-day Turkey. He was arrested in 305 during a persecution of Christians and was subjected to many kinds of torture. He was even paraded around the region for a year as an example to other Christians. He was finally killed by being sewn into a bag full of snakes and scorpions and dumped in the sea. Whether or not this actually happened or is an exaggeration is difficult to tell, but suffice it to say that he suffered and met a painful death. His body was somehow recovered and transferred to Antioch.
One thing is clear: the people of Antioch in the fourth century had a very real and vigorous devotion to St. Julian, and relied upon his intercession. Antioch depended upon water travel for commerce, so perhaps his intercession was sought for sailors and those braving difficult voyages. After all, no voyage could be as terrible as one with snakes and scorpions for sailing companions. Some of St. Julian's relics rest in the reliquary chapel of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus.
St. Julian of Antioch, you were killed by being sewn into a bag full of snakes and scorpions—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Julian of Antioch is in the public domain. Last accessed February 6, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
