From today's gospel: "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 . . . ."
From De La Salle (Med. 152.2): "Because Jesus Christ always possessed this glory within himself, when he was transfigured, the change that appeared in him was only external. It is not the same with us. The change that must take place in us is interior; we must be entirely transformed by the light and the fullness of grace and by the possession of the Spirit of God."
As Melissa reminded all of us on Ash Wednesday, one of the graces of this Lenten season is to work on improving our focus on prayer, no matter how hard this may be in our own individual circumstances. The Transfiguration, as De La Salle pointed out, requires interior changes on our part; prayer lets God into our lives to help with that transformation. As Pope Francis said, "God is the Father who has immense compassion for us, and wants his children to speak to him without fear . . . For this reason we can tell him everything, even the things that are distorted and incomprehensible in our life. And he promised us that he would be with us for ever" (General Audience, 12/12/18). In what ways do we let God into our life through prayer? How do we encourage our students to do the same, and model that for them?
Live, Jesus, in our hearts!