"A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something."

"The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter; the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin. Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this? Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening to the common laborer; the wise, to the simple; the educated, to the illiterate; a child of a prince, to a peasant." -St. Anthony of Padua

(Gospel text: Mk 9:2-10)

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John,

and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.

And he was transfigured before them,

and his clothes became dazzling white,

such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.

Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,

and they were conversing with Jesus.

Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,

"Rabbi, it is good that we are here!

Let us make three tents:

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.

Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;

from the cloud came a voice,

"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."

Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone

but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain,

he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,

except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

So they kept the matter to themselves,

questioning what rising from the dead meant.

My grandmother used to say, “I know you can hear me, but are you listening?” Sometimes it’s so easy just to hear the Word of Christ. It’s easy to read about Jesus and hear our priest talking about his works in church, but do we really listen? That’s why I love how simple God’s command is.

From the cloud came a voice,"this is my beloved Son. Listen to him”. -Mark 2:7

He could have gone on and on about what humans need to do and how we should live our lives, but his command was 3 short words – listen to him. And God didn’t say ‘hear'; he said ‘listen’. Hearing is only taking in the words of Christ; listening is reflecting on these words and putting them into action in our own lives.  

We have seen Jesus’ love for us, we have witnessed his miracles, we have learned from his teachings but none of this matters if we don’t listen to him. Today we are called to find Jesus’s light even in our darkness and despair, we are called to listen to Jesus’s teachings and we are called to incorporate Jesus into our everyday lives.