This is my beloved son, listen to him!

There can be times when we go aside for a time of peace and quiet. This may be during our holidays or maybe a weekly "sabbath" experience where we can be at one with God. These times becoming increasingly precious not just because they allow us to encounter our own silence but also because it allows us to attend to those moments when God is with us. There can be fleeting moments when we seem to strike gold or have a profound insight where we are caught up in a moment where heaven touches the earth. These can be times where we are caught up in God's glory and start to notice that our lives are not shaped by our own concerns. We are enwrapped by a mystery which strikes us both with awe and fear that what seems so much beyond us becomes an imminent reality which transforms us. There can even be a sense that when we leave that quiet place that we are called to re-enter "normal life"!

Lent helps us to recognise the things that seem to capture our attention and which can seem to drive our lives. There seems to be so much pressure on us to be successful, impressive and present to day to day lives of others that we can feel forced to consume what is not our own and that which may be reserved for another. In a media age when things should be becoming simpler, we find that our lives are actually becoming more complex. We not only have to attend to our own lives but find that we become caught up in a maelstrom of trivia which besieges us and demands our attention. No wonder we become so confused and anxious about how we are living. We find that we do not have the time to attend to our own wellbeing let alone the wellbeing of others. We become increasingly superficial and distant from ourselves that we pine for something more but we do not know what that more looks like.

Yet in the story of the Transfiguration, we encounter the reality of Jesus talking to Moses and Elijah who allow us to encounter the truth of a God who is present to us throughout the ages in the Law and the Prophets. There is an age-old wisdom which encourages us to be present to the mystery in which we are enfolded. This is part of the reason why during this season we are called to pray, fast and give alms, not as extra activities which are built into already busy lives but rather to reset our priorities. To discover who it is that we are actually listening to. Who has the primary call on our hearts and on our lives. This can seem to overcome us not by adding a fresh burden to us but allow us to be transformed at the heart of our being where God is all in all. Each day we need to reflect on where we have been and what has brought us life. For like Abraham we need to hear the voice of God clearly and encounter moment by moment the glory that surrounds us. In this, we are transformed from the inside out and we discover Jesus who stands hidden in plain sight. Who encounters us in the reality of who we are and who we are called to become.