GOD UNVEILED FOR MORTALS


THE FEAST OF TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD

2 Pet 1:16-19; Ps 97:1-2,5-6,9; Mt 17:1-9

The Revelation of God

God, in his infinite mercy and compassion, deigns sometimes to give us a sign that would help our poor and sinful nature to continue on the path of faith in Jesus Christ. We are so immersed in the physical world that walking by faith is such a burden to our poor, corrupted nature. God demonstrates a profound understanding of our plight and is always eager to assist us. He gives us daily signs and gestures to comfort us in our pilgrimage. He showers visible favours on us as sensible messengers of his love and providential care for us. We must see with the eyes of faith to interpret and understand these divine gestures and messengers on our path. The enemies of our salvation would always attempt to make us see these divine gestures as common by giving alternative interpretations of the sources of the favours we receive from God. They make us believe that they are coincidences that happen to the faithful and sinners alike. When we choose to walk with God, we must walk the path that is dark to the senses. Our communion with God is real. Walking in the light of faith brings us to understand that there is no coincidence in the world, but that God plans everything for the good of his faithful. We must let our faith illuminate and guide every aspect of our lives. Doing this makes our Christian walk fruitful and enriching.

The apostles and disciples of our Lord, who had the singular privilege of walking visibly with the Son of Man, had their own doubts on the true identity of the Saviour. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, used words, friendship, miracles, and visible consolations to strengthen their faith in him. It was never easy for them to believe, and it would never be easy for us or anyone to walk the path of faith in Jesus Christ. They witnessed his miracles, signs, and wonders, teaching, but still had doubts. One of the greatest of the gestures of God to help the faith of the apostles is the transfiguration, which took place before the passion of Our Lord. Saint Peter recounts the deep impression the event made on them. “It was not any cleverly invented myths that we were repeating when we brought you the knowledge of the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; we had seen his majesty for ourselves. He was honoured and glorified by God the Father, when the Sublime Glory itself spoke to him and said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour.’” Peter recalled this event and presented it to us as a worthy ground for our belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Notwithstanding the deep impression the event of transfiguration had on him, he still denied the Lord during his passion, which points to us the misery and weakness of our fallen nature without God.

But as Saint Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:7, we hold this treasure, which is the life of God, in an earthenware jar. So, our bodies and mortal lives remain fragile, yet sustained by the divine mysteries we have come to believe. Our profession of faith in Jesus Christ makes the Holy Spirit dwell within us. It is the same Holy Spirit that gave the apostles a lasting conviction of the truth of the Gospel, which their experience of the Transfiguration could not give them. With the light of the Holy Spirit, they could penetrate the mystery God unveiled for them at the mountain of transfiguration. “Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone. There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking with him.” In this experience, God revealed to them the sublime glory of the Son of God, who was with them in human nature; they experienced the mystery of God and heard the voice of the Father. “This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.” The divinity of the Son of Man is the central mystery of our Christian life. These three apostles witnessed it and confirmed it to be true. We celebrate it because it implies we have received divine life. “The Lord is king, most high above all the earth.”

Let us pray: O God, who is the glorious Transfiguration of your Only Begotten Son confirmed the mysteries of faith by the witness of the Fathers and wonderfully prefigured our full adoption to sonship, grant, we pray, to your servants, that, listening to the voice of your beloved Son, we may merit to become coheirs with him. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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