When we started the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday, the call to conversion or repentance could not be missed. When our foreheads were marked with ashes, the words that were pronounced were: You are dust and unto dust you shall return, or the other version is: Repent and believe in the Gospel. Repent – from things that get in the way in our relationship with the Lord. And how do we know those things that get in the way of our relationship with God? Well, the Gospel last Sunday, about the temptation of Jesus in the desert, was a point of reflection for us of those things that we battle with that divert us from the path to eternal life. In the first week of Lent, if we took up that call of repentance seriously, it could be emotionally and psychologically draining, uncomfortable, and at times, even discouraging. It’s difficult to change; what is easier is to fall back again to what is usual and what is familiar. That’s why if we are feeling that way, if there is a strong urge not to continue on the path of repentance, we have to listen intently to the Gospel this Sunday about the story of the Transfiguration. If one is feeling discouraged and is losing hope in that desire to change for the better, the Lord is telling us to keep going, to persevere because our own transfiguration is yet to come. The opening prayer in today’s Mass expresses this profound reality: “O God, who have commanded us to listen to your beloved Son, be pleased, we pray, to nourish us inwardly by your word, that, with spiritual sight made pure, we may rejoice to behold your glory.” Powerful words – we listen to the command of God to repent so that he can nourish our sluggish spirits marred by sin, thus seeing things according to the eyes of God, which brings us to behold his glory or his transfiguration. Wow!
What does the Transfiguration of Christ mean to us? The significance of this event does not lie so much on Jesus changing his appearance into dazzling white, but rather on the fact that he appears to his disciples together with two of the most important personalities in the Old Testament and the Jewish tradition-Moses and Elijah. Moses symbolizes the Law/Commandments, which is so central to the Jewish life and faith, while Elijah is considered to be the most important prophet in the Jewish tradition. It is safe to say that after God or Yahweh, it is the person of Moses that comes next as the most important figure in the Jewish tradition. While Elijah, whose name literally means in Hebrew “Yahweh is my God,” was prophesied to return before the coming of the final judgment, thus making him a harbinger/forerunner of the Messiah. What has been proclaimed by the prophets for hundreds of years (represented by Elijah) and the inspiration and the fulfillment of the Commandments (represented by Moses) is now in their midst in the person of Jesus Christ. I can not blame Peter asking Christ if they could just stay there on the mountain forever. It must have been an experience
beyond words being in the midst of the three people who have been central to your life and tradition. “Master, it is good for us to be here.” The Hebrew word used here for good, is “Kalon,” which is the same word used in the book of Genesis after the creation of the world: “God saw that everything was good.” It implies perfect beauty, for indeed, it is only when we are in the presence of God that we can truly behold the beauty and perfection that we all long for, though at times we think that we can find it elsewhere.
At times we can be like Peter who just wanted to stay, feeling the high of spiritual experience, but Jesus in the gospel today reminds us that salvation happens or is realized by doing the will of God for us,
just like Jesus needed to go down from the mountain and fulfill the plan of God for him to suffer and die on the cross. Have you ever had that experience when you felt incredible peace in a place, and you just wanted to stay, but you knew that you couldn’t because you had to go back to our regular life? To be transfigured is not really to escape from our usual life and routines, but rather, it is about transforming our day-to-day routine as daily encounters and meeting places with God. The promise of eternal life that we all aim for can only be realized by being faithful to our own unique vocation (our day to day life), which is the concrete plan of God for us, and this is not found in a secluded mountain or retreat house. It is found at your home address; there, transfiguration should happen each day – we are like Peter and John beholding the Lord so that as we grow in our gaze and “beholding” of him, we may also see our future glory, that promise of resurrection and eternal life. But the transfiguration was not yet the final
manifestation of who he is and his divinity. That’s why he told his disciples not to tell anyone yet of what had happened because the ultimate manifestation of who God really is, is on the cross, which is central to our Lenten celebration. It is his crucifixion and resurrection that complete the event of the Transfiguration. It is on the cross that God really transfigures himself beyond all
imagining. Where do we see a God who humbly and willingly offered himself/his very life for the sake of the people? That’s transfiguration in its ultimate sense.
If the transfiguration is God manifesting himself to us, do our lives manifest or show that we are indeed a people who have been redeemed by God? Do our lives show forth the joy of being
redeemed by Jesus – or, do we find ourselves in a life of despair and regret? – Fr. Cary