At the Sunday Angelus, Francis reflected on the Gospel of the day: the Transfiguration of the Lord on Tabor.
Newsroom (15/03/2022 12:00 PM, Gaudium Press) “While he was praying, his face changed in appearance and his clothes became very white and bright. Behold, two men were conversing with Jesus: they were Moses and Elijah. They appeared clothed in glory and were talking about death, which Jesus was going to suffer in Jerusalem,” St Luke narrates.
St Peter, St John and St James were very sleepy, so they fell asleep before the Transfiguration, but when they awoke, they saw the glory of the Lord.
The sleep of the three apostles seems to have a dissonant note, Francis pointed out, and later, “the same apostles then fall asleep in Gethsemane too, during the anguished prayer of Jesus, who had asked them to keep watch (cf. Mk 14:37- 41).”
“Does this this ill-timed slumber perhaps resemble many of our own that come in moments we know to be important?” the Pope asked.
“Perhaps in the evening,” Francis continued, “when we would like to pray, to spend some time with Jesus after a day of rushing around and being busy. Or when it is time to exchange a few words with the family and we no longer have the strength.” We suffer a certain lethargy.
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“It is a period in which God wants to awaken us from our inner lethargy, from this sleepiness that does not let the Spirit express itself. Because – let us bear this in mind – keeping the heart awake does not depend on us alone: it is a grace and must be requested. The three disciples of the Gospel show this: they were good, they had followed Jesus onto the mountain, but by their own strength they could not stay awake. This happens to us too. However, they woke up precisely during the Transfiguration.”
God’s light has the power to awaken us
The Pope noted that one might think that it was the light of God that awakened the sleeping apostles at the Transfiguration. “Like them, we too are in need of God’s light, that makes us see things in a different way: it attracts us, it reawakens us, it reignites our desire and strength to pray, to look within ourselves, and to dedicate time to others,” he added.
The Pope suggested turning to the Holy Spirit to break out of this spiritual lethargy: “Help us, come, come, Holy Spirit. Help me: I want to encounter Jesus, I want to be attentive, awake.”
Francis also proposed praying before going to sleep by “opening the Gospel and letting ourselves marvel at the Word of God because the Scripture enlightens our steps and enflames the heart. Or we can look at the crucified Jesus and wonder at the boundless love of God, who never tires of us”. He “has the power to transfigure our days, to give them a new meaning, a new, unexpected light,” the Pontiff concluded.
With information from Vatican News
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj
