“'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.' When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate
and were very much afraid." Mt 17: 5-6
The gospel tells us that Jesus took Peter, John and James apart from the other apostles on at least two occasions, but one wonders whether he invited them to accompany him even more often. Most of us have people who we trust deeply and share with on a more intimate level, and there is every reason to believe that Jesus would have done the same.
At the same time, the apostles who accompany him to the "high mountain," a reminder that Jesus is the new Moses, are afraid. Not sure what Jesus is about and unprepared spiritually and emotionally to accept the Jesus they are coming to know, the apostles are so busy running around "building tents" that we wonder whether they even hear God tell them that Jesus is his beloved Son.
Our own desire to please others and to get things done often has the same effect. So alert to what others think of us, and so afraid that we will not please God or others, we fail to hear God's voice urging us to come closer and to know him more deeply. Lent is a good time to slow down, to think, to pray, to listen, and to put aside the unnecessary fear that God will ask us to be or do something beyond us.
Today, take time to be quiet when you want to speak.
Is there anything about faith that frightens you?
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