Jesus has already begun to reveal to his disciples that he will suffer greatly, be rejected by the elders, chief priests and the scribes, be killed and then rise after three days. He has begun to teach that whoever wishes to come after him, must deny himself, take up his cross and follow him. These teachings were difficult and Jesus knew this. He took Peter, James and John and led them up Mt. Tabor to be alone with them. The Transfiguration before Peter, James and John gave them a glimpse into the divine glory that Jesus possesses. It was intended to strengthen the disciples for the Passion that was soon to take place. Peter tells Jesus that it is good that they are there and he wants to stay there. He wants to build a tent for each of them and stick around for a while. God also gives us mountain experiences. He gives them to us to strengthen us for our own crosses that await us.
I recently went to a talk and the priest mentioned something very similar. He said that during our desert experiences, God provides us consolations to give us strength for the journey. But sometimes we cling to those consolations. We want to stay just as Peter did. But if we stay then our journey becomes longer, we get attached to the consolations and worry that there might not be another one along the way. We begin to lose our desire to reach the ultimate goal and settle for where we are at. But this consolation will never fulfill us. It was never meant to do that. When we leave these mountain experiences we need to remember that we are not alone. Christ is with us just as he was with Peter, James and John when they came down from Mt. Tabor. Rather than being fearful of the cross that God places before us, or angry or whatever feelings we may have, we need to embrace our cross just as Christ did and allow God to transfigure our hearts with his grace.
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