Dear Friends,
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain to pray. And while they are there, something extraordinary happens. His face shines. His glory is revealed. For a moment, everything feels clear, holy, and full of peace.
And Peter says what most of us would probably say: let’s stay here.
Because the mountain feels safe. The mountain feels certain. The mountain feels close to God.
But they can’t stay.
They must come back down into the valley — back to the crowds, the suffering, the confusion, and the hard road that eventually leads toward the cross.
And that’s the part that matters for us.
The mountaintop was never meant to be an escape. It was meant to be strength for what comes next.
Most of us know what it feels like to live in the valley — dealing with illness, stress, family struggles, uncertainty, grief, or just the quiet weight of trying to hold life together day after day. Faith doesn’t magically remove those things.
But God does give us moments of light.
Sometimes it’s a quiet moment of prayer that steadies our breathing.
Sometimes it’s sitting in church and feeling, even briefly, that we’re not alone.
Sometimes it’s a kind word, a deep conversation, a small, unexpected peace in the middle of a hard week.
Those are our mountaintop moments.
We’re not meant to live there forever. But we are meant to receive them… and let them carry us when we walk back down into real life.
Lent is not about pretending life is easy.
It’s about noticing the grace God gives us to keep going anyway.
Reflection question: Where has God given you a small moment of strength or peace lately — something to help you keep walking?
Peace and Blessings,
Father Jerry