The Word of God – August 6, 2021 Reflection

 

 

THE WORD OF GOD – AUGUST 6, 2021 REFLECTION

Liturgical Calendar Day: Transfiguration of the Lord – Feast

Scripture Text: Dan. 7:9-10, 13-14; 2 Pet. 1:16-19; Mk. 9:2-10

“‘This is my beloved Son, this is my Chosen One.’ We, ourselves, heard this voice from heaven, when we were with him on the holy mountain.” (2 Pet. 1:17-19)

Speaking in the person of Saint Peter the Apostle, the author recalls his vision, in the company of Saints James and John, of the glory of Jesus, conversing with Moses and Elijah at the summit of Mount Tabor. It is the story related in today’s gospel of Mark.

Jesus lets his three most select apostles witness his glory atop a mountain, just before his crucifixion and death. Jesus wishes, as it were, to strengthen them in their faith just before their great trial about to take place.

We, too, climb mountains to encounter God directly. We go on retreat, taking time away to devote ourselves entirely to prayer and to listening to God.

God does not meet us only at the top of the mountain but also in our daily lives. He speaks to us right where we are.

A post going the rounds in social media observes, tongue-in-cheek:

“Have you ever noticed how in Scripture men are always going up into the mountains to commune with God? Yet in Scripture we hardly ever hear of women going to the mountains, and we know why—right? Because the women were too busy keeping life going—they couldn’t abandon babies, meals, homes, fires, gardens, and a thousand other responsibilities to make the climb into the mountains! …God does indeed come to women where they are, when they are doing their ordinary, everyday work. He meets them at the wells where they draw water for their families, in their homes, in their kitchens, in their gardens. He comes to them as they sit beside sickbeds, give birth, care for the elderly, and perform necessary mourning and burial rites.”

God is transcendent—yes, he exists above and beyond the peak of the mountain, in his dwelling place in heaven.

But he is also immanent—a fancy word which means that he sustains all creation in love. It is there in the created world and in our ordinary lives that we encounter him.

He is in the family member with whom we disagree, in the mother whose birthday we celebrate, or in the father we honor. He is in the just laws of our land with which we comply, sometimes under protest. He is in the face of the poor, literally just outside our car window.

Do we seek and find the Lord in our ordinary lives? Or are we, like travelers on the way to Emmaus, sojourners unable to recognize the person of Jesus right in front of us?