“A ‘Glimpse’ Into Heavenly Glory”–the Feast of the Transfiguration–Year A

My Sisters and Brothers: 

Every year on the sixth of August, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration; this is true even if the Feast occurs on a Sunday, as it does today.  When it’s celebrated, and from whichever set of Scriptures we are following from the three-year cycle of readings, we hear one of the similar “synoptic gospel” accounts of the Transfiguration (i.e., from Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-10, and Luke 9:28-36).  In this cycle of readings, the same Gospel passage was also proclaimed on the Second Sunday of Lent (i.e., from Matthew in 2017).  According to the Transfiguration account, “Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.”  Then, Jesus’ appearance was “transfigured” (or changed) before them, and “his clothes became dazzling white.”  And the Apostles then saw “Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.”   Seeing the vision, Peter proclaimed it was “good” to be there, and so he asked if he and the other Apostles could build three “dwellings” (or tents): one for Jesus, one for Elijah and the other for Moses (this would have been a customary way of showing honor and respect to distinguished people).  But then “a cloud overshadowed Peter, James and John, and from it a voice said: ‘This is my Son . . . the Beloved and the Chosen one; listen to him!’”  After the voice had spoken, the Apostles once again were “alone with Jesus.”

For the Apostles, this miraculous moment was a foreshadowing of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and it was a “glimpse” into heavenly glory.  The presence of Moses and Elijah confirmed Jesus was the definitive fulfillment of the Law and of the Prophets of the Old Testament.  The Transfiguration also placed upon the Apostles a “mandatum,” or command from God the Father, requiring them always “to listen” to Jesus, the one who was “the Beloved and the Chosen.”  From them, this “listening” would require never-ending obedience to and confidence in Jesus, and the same demands would be extended to Christians of all ages.

Because of the Transfiguration, we believe the Apostles were given insight into an eternal focus that would sustain them during the trials to come.  And this reality would be tested just a short time afterward when they traveled to Jerusalem and experienced the great difficulties of the passion, the death, and the burial of Jesus.  And then, after Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead, and his Ascension into heaven, remembrance of the Transfiguration gave the disciples a sense of how they would also share in that same and promised future glory (cf. 2 Peter 1:16-19).  From this perspective they would clearly understand the words Jesus had spoken at the Last Supper when he said: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be” (see John 14:3).

This same Jesus, whom the Apostles witnessed in glory at the Transfiguration, is present to us today as we gather to celebrate the Mass.  In fact, the Eucharist we celebrate, share, and receive, and the Resurrected Jesus, are one and the same; we aren’t simply partaking in the flesh and blood of the man who walked the dusty roads of Galilee, but rather it’s the eternal Lord Jesus Christ who reveals himself, and who gives himself to us in this Sacrament.  And he does so in all of his heavenly glory!  Today, the same Jesus who was transfigured on the holy mountain before Peter, James, and John, is also made present to us on the altar around which we gather.  And so, like them and in a sense, we ascend that same holy mountain of the Transfiguration every time we participate and celebrate in the Mass.  Therefore, and as it was for those Apostles, it is “good” for us to be here!  And so in this place, we too recognize “the Beloved and the Chosen one” to whom God the Father commands us to listen and to obey, and we too are blessed with a “glimpse” into heavenly glory!  This great Sacrament gives us an eternal focus, and it promises to sustain us through both our difficulties and our triumphs, and in whatever else may also come our way!  In the Transfiguration, in the Resurrection of Jesus, and in the Eucharist that we share, we are promised the place prepared for us in the glory of heaven!  My friends, let’s encourage each other with this message!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

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