St. Peter was doing it again: speaking up in a moment of disbelief. Whenever he does so in Scripture we learn much about interacting with the miraculous. When everyone else is scared about the reality of Our Lord walking on the water, St. Peter dares to step out of the boat. He, a fisherman, who knew what he was about to attempt was absolutely impossible by human means, allowed his heart to surge and he swung his sandaled foot over the gunwale and felt, as few humans have (some saints have walked on water since), the water, solid under his feet. Teachable moment: believe in spite of all human evidence to the contrary.
We see another moment of impulse in the Gospel for this last Sunday's Mass. The prince of the Apostles, overcome with the Transfiguration of the Lord, says what all must have been thinking: "Lord, it is good for us to be here." But the enthusiasm spilled over, and he continued: "if Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias..."
Nothing is without accident in Scripture, and whenever I see this verse I wonder if Our Lord wasn't signaling that St. Peter might have stopped at, "Lord, it is good for us to be here."
It doesn't need to be at Mass only, when you come back from Holy Communion and you have captive the King of the Universe, for a few moments more anyway, within you.
It doesn't need to be only after Mass, when we should spend some quiet moments in Thanksgiving, wondering at our own inner transfiguration.
Indeed, could it not be part of a personal morning prayer of Thanksgiving, when we awaken to another day to glorify Him, do penance for our sins, and partake in the magnificence of Creation?
"Lord, it is good for me to be here."
