One day Jean Vanier asked one of the mentally handicapped members of his L’Arche community, “Pierre, do you like to pray?” “Yes,” he answered. “And what do you do when you pray?” “I listen.” “And what does God say to you?” “Pierre, you are my beloved son.”
Before the Jerusalem Journey to his crucifixion Jesus climbed Tabor Mountain to pray to his Father. Tabor isn’t a big mountain. It’s more like a high hill rising above gently sloping land. But it is where Jesus raised his thoughts to the Father.
The Father heard him, and in the presence of Peter, James and John God told us “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17). Two things strike us here: God loves his son and God takes pleasure in him.
Especially during this Lenten Season you and I need to take quiet time with God our Father. Like Pierre we need to listen. And if we are attentive, we will hear God say, “You are my beloved daughter” or “You are my beloved son; I am pleased with you.”
My family has a tradition of visiting Canmore, Alberta, in July. Canmore gets invaded by Stangs and Rolheisers, and even the Mountain goats stop and stare. Mountains are climbed, liturgies are offered and heavenly banquets are enjoyed.
The family travel brochure gives directions to my brother’s condo and lists various holiday activities. What it does not cover is the profound spiritual experience which makes this a retreat.
Family members have variously experienced the Tabor transfiguration and have come closer to God through it. Several members have had their Jerusalem journey and faced cancer and been called home to the Father. The memory of their presence is part of the Canmore Retreat.
The message God sends us, as he sent it to them, is two fold: “I love you, my child; and I take pleasure in your being. Keep this vision before you and you will have strength for the challenges you are facing in life.”
Lent is our Tabor or Canmore opportunity. Maybe we can’t be there to climb Ha Ling Peak or Banff’s Sulphur Mountain, but we can breathe the mountain like air of the waning prairie winter. We can climb a low hill or simply be present to the Lord and listen.
This Lent, take pleasure in being with your God who delights in you.
