Every Sunday we will keep you company in this liturgical time, with comments on the Gospel of the Day by our students.
This week the floor to Angela Park, Korean, student at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Mt 17,1-9
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.”
Jesus’ face shines like the sun, and his clothes become white as light. If I had been there, I would have been too dazzled to look at him properly. It would have been a frighteningly mystical experience. Peter says, “I will make three tents here“. Sometimes when I have a beautiful experience, time stops and I want the moment to continue. Do you think Peter felt the same way?
To be honest, as I started Lent, I was feeling a little overwhelmed. Walking with a cross is just too hard, even though I know there is a risen Jesus beyond death. So when Peter suggested we build a tent and stay, I thought it was too good to be true. I wanted to be in a place that wasn’t about the cross and suffering, but about the divinity and majesty of Jesus. Like paradise.
Then I suddenly remembered what Pope Francis said last Epiphany. That faith begins when we make room for the restlessness, and that if the Magi hadn’t embarked on the adventure of traveling, they wouldn’t have met the baby Jesus.
To the disciples who hear God’s voice and are afraid, Jesus says, “Rise and do not be afraid“. It felt like he was talking to me. To me, who is afraid to take up my cross and walk. I ask the Lord to help me make the restlessness a friend on my Lenten journey, to give me a little more courage on this journey.
Angela Park
