Today is the Feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration. Today’s scripture readings are filled with incredible imagery, which I claim to be one of my favorite scripture readings, in addition to our epistle which is also inspiring from the testimony of St. Peter.
In today’s epistle from St. Peter, we read of his genuine conviction and reaction. St. Peter says, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you the power and the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ: but having been made eyewitnesses of His majesty.” It means that St. Peter announced his personal conviction as he was transformed to preach about Jesus to others. The influence of that experience on top of Mount Tabor, as he references hearing the voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased,” (2 Peter 1:17) is that his belief had changed tremendously by the way he testified together with other Apostles; they did not speak the gospel as myth but as wholehearted faith, as authentic witnesses of Jesus’ majesty as God.
I invite you to discern the many valuable lessons we get from this account of the Lord’s Transfiguration:
First, there is a movement that echoes the transfiguration account. This movement pertains to the biblical story when Moses received the fullness of the law on a mountain top at Mt. Sinai. Jesus, on the other hand, gave the “sermon of the Mount” in Matthew’s account. Both Moses and Jesus unfold the revelation of God in order to accept His power and absolute authority in our lives.
Second, Jesus together with His three disciples climbed to the mountain top, to witness Jesus’ glory even before His death. This transfiguration speaks about the Lord’s Messianic Mission, the revelation of the Trinitarian life of God, and His prophetic fulfillment of God’s plan. Hence, the prize of glory to come for us is imminent.
Third, this event of Jesus’ Transfiguration, revealed to Peter, James, and John, proposes challenges especially to each one of us to embrace Christ’s mission. However, the temptation appears that to succumb to stay and build tents, as Peter suggests, would distract from that mission. We are beloved by a mighty God and called to continue our work for the fulfillment of salvation.
Today the principal message is the revelation and unfolding of what we hope for in Christ. It is also a sign encouraging us to hope for the transformation of the world. When confronted with our spiritual life, in many ways, it is a way of training our vision to see that the road is really there for us in glory. We pray for wisdom and strength to make this available to us.
The glorious transformation and the intimate affirmation by God, I believe, did not only happen to Jesus, but to the three apostles with Him as well, in order to direct them to a greater mission. Peter suggested that building three tents would distract from that mission. We are beloved by a mighty God and called to continue working for man’s salvation. We need to be successful in our mission through love, support, and forgiveness which must be available in all circumstances. They are needed to actualize our mission with our keen attention to our prophetic message to the world which brings hope and to fix our eyes to the promise of God’s glory. May we pray for one another and recognize in one another the transformation for mission that God accomplishes through us, His Beloved.
Finally, let us ask what is in our hearts as we follow St. Augustine’s admonition to search God interiorly; then, when we find Him, we are assured of internal transformation and possess God. Then we would say, “It is good for us to be here.”
God bless you.
Fr. Arlon, osa
