The Gospel for this Sunday is from Matthew 17:1-9 and details the transfiguration of Jesus:
Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother,
and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Lord, it is good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make three tents here,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
…
Though it continues, these words of Peter have stood out to me since high school where my New American Bible translation had him wanting to build “booths.” This only heightened the confusion, since the only booth I had encountered was at a carnival. It wasn’t until years later that I heard the term “tent” used, but still, there was not much more clarity until the story of the Transfiguration was laid out on the last day of a retreat I was attending.
So often in the Gospels, Peter says what we (or maybe just I) probably would say in the same situation. In the event of the Transfiguration, like a retreat experience – or a “mountaintop” experience – he just wants to stay. The Gospel of Luke says that Peter didn’t know what he was saying; of course Moses and Elijah can’t hang out indefinitely, but neither could Peter, James and John. The rest of us might attend retreats, even vacations, and wish that it wouldn’t end, but we always have to return to our lives. Part of the Gospel is sharing it and bringing others to Jesus, not simply our own experience of it.