“Everything is possible to one who has faith,” Jesus reminds us today. Our lives are filled with wonderful possibilities but also real challenges. We know this and live it daily. Luckily, our God has never been distant on mountaintops, removed from us and our real life struggles. He led his chosen people in promise, and Jesus comes down from the mountain of Transfiguration to walk among his people. He reminds them of not only his desire to bring healing but of his power to work that miracle.

Do I muster the courage, like the loving father, to prayerfully take my needs, my hopes, and my struggles to the Lord? Despite my sometimes-weak faith, do I trust his ever-faithful love? Can I trust that love and remain open to the ways in which the miracle of that love will be gifted today? “I do believe, help my unbelief!”

Fr. Peter J. Klink, SJ, is Vice President for Mission and Identity at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Reservation of southwest South Dakota.