The face and the voice of God
Listening the Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, light that guides our journey.
Lead us into deep listening to the Word of Jesus,
that, touched by your presence,
we may be transformed on the mountain
and strengthened to carry the cross,
becoming faithful witnesses
of God’s love in the world.
Amen.
Listening the Word: Matthew 17:1-9
Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother,
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Lord, it is good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make three tents here,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, behold,
a bright cloud cast a shadow over them,
then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“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.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying,
“Rise, and do not be afraid.”
And when the disciples raised their eyes,
they saw no one else but Jesus alone.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
Jesus charged them,
“Do not tell the vision to anyone
until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Reflection
In the story of the transfiguration of Jesus according to St. Matthew I would like to pinpoint two particulars that caught my attention. The first one is that Jesus’ face shone like the sun. The second is that the disciples were very much afraid when they heard the voice of God.
On the mountain Jesus showed himself as the Son of God, in all his divine splendor. Therefore the disciples were unable to look at him, because it is not possible to look at the sun. The transfiguration of Jesus reminds us that we cannot see God, at least as long as we are in this world, as Jesus himself said: Nobody has seen God (Jn 6:46). In the Old Testament people thought that if anyone should see God, he or she would die. But God, who is our Father, wanted to be known and seen and touched by us, his children, and so he sent his Son into the world to be a man like us, so that it would be possible for us to see, touch and know Him in Jesus, his Son. Although we do not know now the real face of Jesus, we can see his face reflected in the faces of our fellow men and women, and we know that whatever we do to them, we do to God.
From the cloud the voice of God said: “This is my beloved son… listen to him.” The voice of God frightened the disciples, as it had frightened the Israelites at the mount Sinai. As the face of God was too bright to look at, so his voice was too hard to listen to. Therefore God, who is our Father and likes talking to us, his children, sent his Son into the world to be his living Word, that we can and must listen to, so that it may be spiritual food for our daily life.
Reflection Questions
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If I cannot see the true face of God, how am I recognizing and honoring His face in the people I meet each day, especially in the poor, the difficult, and the forgotten?
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When I hear the words, “This is my beloved Son… listen to Him,” am I truly making space in my daily life to listen to Jesus’ voice, or do fear and distractions prevent His Word from becoming my spiritual food?
