A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
In today’s Gospel, Mark relates the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus as he is present with Peter, James, and John. During the Transfiguration, Jesus’ clothes become dazzling white and then Elijah and Moses appear to Jesus, conversing with him. Terrified and struggling to find words, Peter suggests that they make three tents—one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Then a cloud envelops them, which Matthew describes as a “bright cloud,” and a voice comes from it, the loving voice of God the Father. Suddenly, Mark tells us, the disciples no longer see anyone but Jesus alone with them. On their descent from the mountain, Jesus charges them “not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” Today we have what the disciples did not yet have: the risen Christ among us. As God’s children, what does that call for so that we can hear the Father say to us what he said to his Son?
God, help me understand today’s Gospel reading. In it, Jesus answers Peter, John, and James when they ask him what rising from the dead meant. Their understanding of your word in the Scriptures informs them that Elijah must come first. Just as Elijah preceded Jesus to restore all things, so did John the Baptist. “Yet,” Jesus says, “how is it written regarding the Son of Man that he must suffer greatly and be treated with contempt?” As for John, King Herod had him beheaded. With all of this to take in, let me remember the loving words you spoke to your Son during the Transfiguration, giving him authority to be heard as the Word Incarnate.
Lord, overshadow me today with the bright cloud of your presence; in it, I want to be your beloved son. I can’t see you, but I know you are with me. “Faith is the realization,” Saint Paul says in the first reading, “of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” God, strengthen my faith today and let me hear your voice!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.