As He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him (Lk 9:18).

This passage is cited in Pope Benedict’s book, Jesus of Nazareth (the first of the Trilogies) as a “deliberate paradox”. He writes that “the disciples are drawn into his solitude, his communion with the Father that is reserved to him alone. They are privileged to see him as the one who speaks face to face with the Father, person-to-person. They are privileged to see him in his utterly unique filial being – at the point from which all his words, deeds, and his powers issue. They are privileged to see what the ‘people’ do not see, and this seeing gives rise to a recognition that goes beyond the “opinion” of the people. This seeing is the wellspring of their faith, their confession; it provides the foundation for the Church.”

(Picture: The waterfalls at Taichi Jili river on the Baiyan Trail, Taroko, Hualien, Taiwan. Lumix GM1, January 2017.)

(Text: Now it happened that as he was praying alone the disciples were with him; and he asked them, “Who do the people say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist; but others say, Eli′jah; and others, that one of the old prophets has risen.” And he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:19-21)

(Citation: Chapter 9 (Two Milestones on Jesus’ Way: Peters Confession and the Transfiguration. In Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration. Joseph Ratzinger Pope Benedict XVI. Image Press. 2007.)