The Ultimate Mountain Top Experience

If you have ever climbed a mountain, it can be quite an experience!  You need to have some good climbing gear, a good pair of sneakers, water bottle (very important!), and most importantly some good buddies to share the experience with.  If you have never climbed a mountain, you can probably imagine how important it would be to take in the whole experience and to enjoy every step, all the way to the top, even if it is challenging!

Jesus was a mountain climber!  We know whenever Jesus said or did something, He was all in!  The Scriptures tell us: “Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart (Matthew 17:1).  Notice that Matthew shares this was a ‘high’ mountain…not a little hill.  And you may ask, “what is Jesus thinking, bringing His apostles up a high mountain?  They are not mountain climbers…they are fishermen!”  We can imagine that it was quite an experience with the Lord…and quite an exhausting hike!  Yet once they got to the top, they saw that it was definitely worth it!  Sometimes in order for us to see the amazing awesomeness of God and what He is doing in our lives, he makes us follow Him trustingly even up high mountains!  I am sure that the Apostles did not know what they would find at the top of the mountain, but they followed the Lord trustingly, knowing that He would be there with them…because He loved them. 

So, what did the apostles see when they climbed the mountain?  St. Matthew tells us more: “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light.  And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. (Matthew 17:2-3).  We can imagine this scene!  The apostles were able to witness the glory of Jesus Christ!  I am sure we have had these moments where we experience something of God’s beauty love and goodness.  We call these “mountain top experiences” which are so life-giving and can be a type of oasis for us in the deserts of life.  God many times allows us to have consolations because they strengthen us in the dark times.  Jesus knew His time was coming to endure the Passion and He knew that the apostles needed this consolation of seeing His glory.  In the Byzantine Liturgy, there is a beautiful prayer that accounts this truth to us that is prayed on the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6th).  This prayer is so important for the teaching of the Transfiguration that it is included in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:  “You were transfigured on the mountain, and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ our God, so that when they should see you crucified they would understand that your Passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you truly are the splendor of the Father.” (CCC 555).

As Peter was explaining that they could make three tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, God speaks to them: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”  When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe.” (Matthew 17:5-6).  In “mountain top experiences,” it is easy to say “thanks be to God” or “praise God” but when we are enduring hardship and brokenness whether in ourselves or with others, are we still able to look upon the Lord filled with awe remembering that we are His children.  It is easy to praise God in the good times when we are experiencing the life of the Holy Spirit in us. However, when God allows the desert to come where we can’t see or understand…where we wonder, “where is God?” Can we still praise Him even if it is not a loud outburst of joy; can we still praise Him even with eyes filled with tears?  Jesus does not say this life will be easy, but He promises to be with us. The Catechism goes on to remind us that “the Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ’s glorious coming…but it also recalls that it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” (CCC 556).  The Catechism shares this truth to us not to make us afraid, but to encourage us that there is a beautiful reward that awaits us…if we just hold on to the end!  

As good as this experience was, eventually the apostles had to come down the mountain, but they came down the mountain with a renewed sense of awe and wonder at Jesus Christ. St. John Paul II tells us: “We, pilgrims on earth, are granted to rejoice in the company of the transfigured Lord when we immerse ourselves in the things above through prayer and the celebration of the divine mysteries. But, like the disciples, we too must descend from Tabor into daily life where human events challenge our faith. On the mountain we saw; on the paths of life, we are asked tirelessly to proclaim the Gospel which illuminates the steps of believers.” (St. John Paul II, Homily of His Holiness John Paul II the Feast of the Transfiguration, Friday August 6th, 1999). Eventually, the apostles would witness the Passion and death of Jesus, the early Christians being martyred and eventually they would have to face their own persecution in a world where many deny Christ.  However, this mountain top experience was necessary in order to prepare them for what lies ahead. When we have mountain top experiences, we don’t want them to end!  This tells us that the human heart is made for eternal happiness with God in Heaven!  Just imagine, an ultimate mountain top experience that is eternal…Heaven!  Let us ask the Immaculate Heart of Mary of whom the Church in a very particular way celebrates her in the month of August, to lovingly hold our hand as we climb the mountain of life so that at the end of our life, we may behold Jesus in all of His glory!