“Arise, do not be afraid.” Mt. 17:1-9

In today’s Gospel, “Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with him and leads them up a mountain.” In order to meet God, it is always necessary to go up, to get out of the routine, the noise and the immediate.  On the “mountain”, Jesus is transfigured. Faced with this scene, Peter wants to stay there: “It’s good to be here!” It’s a very human reaction. We would all like to be on high and have a faith without descent, a Christian life without a cross, a Church without conflicts or an education without tensions, but Jesus touches them and says: “Arise, do not be afraid”. The experience of God does not paralyze, it does not frighten; on the contrary, it lifts and sends forth. They come down from the “mountain” to return to daily life, transfigured by the grace of listening to the Father and thus finding him in all things, especially in the service of one’s neighbor.