Gen. 12:1-4, Psalm 33, 2 Tim. 1:8-10, Matt. 17:1-9

Last summer I went to Camp Wojtyla, a small Catholic camp way up in the Rocky Mountains outside of Boulder, Colorado. I spent nine days at the camp doing outdoor and faith based activities, and it was some of the most impactful days of my life. I was struck by the beauty of God’s creation, and felt ever closer to him because of it. It dramatically changed how I approached the Catholic faith, and the amount of respect I had for it. Like Peter, James, and John, I wanted to remain in the experience, and to not come down from the mountain, because of how amazing it was to be in God’s creation away from all of the distractions in life.

I remember when we were driving through the city right after the camp, with the mountains I had called home for the past nine days in our rearview mirror, we stopped at a Starbucks in a nice part of town, next to a brand new apartment building, with an almost spotless parking lot, well-manicured grass, and tree borders. And yet despite it being so nice, I remember that the only thing I could think of at the moment was how ugly it looked compared to God’s creation that I had been in for the last nine days. This reminded me that in our striving for human perfection, we can lose sight of true perfection, which is God’s design.

One of the things that I realized during the trip and tried to do was to take in the experience around me. Too often in our lives we are like Peter, so focused on preparing, planning ahead, and trying to do whatever we feel that we should be doing in the moment, that we lose awareness of where we are. This can make us forget to take in the beauty of the people and experiences around us. In the Transfiguration passage Peter gets so caught up in trying to be practical, that he loses sight of what is important. He needs to stop looking for things to do in the moment, close his eyes for a second, and take it all in, which is what happens when a cloud envelops them, forcing him to listen.

We need to do the same. Sometimes the best way that we can help is just to be there, physically and spiritually. Jesus wants to reach us in the moment, where we are, not where we will be in five minutes. If you let yourself delay time with God continuously, you miss out on the moment, when God wants to be with you. So, this Lent, let us stop focusing on the how, why, where, and when, and start focusing more on the now.
 
Henry Ferguson is a sophomore at ATEMS high school. He came into the Catholic Church in 2019. He loves to be outdoors or in an airplane.