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     Just when they thought they might have a good idea who Jesus is, Peter, James and John are given a special revelation that scares the living daylights out of them.  So much so that they were afraid to talk about it.  Yet, all three of the synoptic gospels record the event and we are left, ourselves, to reflect on it.  To make matters more complex, the evangelists place this event in the context of Jesus' predictions of his suffering and death.  To the three frightened disciples, how can this more-than-mortal person be subjected to such a fate?  Yet, the voice they heard clearly tells them, "This is my chosen Son; listen to him."  So, they are left with the task of carrying the secret of the experience while traveling with Jesus to Jerusalem.

     Centuries of reflection later, we come to this scripture and receive a reminder of what the season of Lent is really about.  Jesus, the chosen Son of God, is on his way to Jerusalem to suffer, die and rise from the dead.  He is doing this out of love for us.  The divine and human are united in an effort to call us to join him on the way.  We may find this as puzzling as Peter, James and John did, but like them, we stumble along and listen to Jesus.  In the end, we can hope for some kind of transfiguration ourselves, but the path to that, as Jesus will remind us, takes us past the cross to the resurrection.  At this point in Lent, we're just getting started.  AMEN