Cycle C - Year II

6 August 2022: Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord 

(Liturgical Color: White)

Readings:

First Reading:        Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

Second Reading:   2 Peter 1:16-19

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 9:28-36 

Transfiguration: "The already of the not yet"!

The Catholic Church celebrates The Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord on August 6, and this year it falls on Saturday.

The Transfiguration is one of the five major milestones in the Gospel narrative of the life of Jesus, the others being His baptism, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. In 2002, St. John Paul II introduced the Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, which include the Transfiguration of the Lord.

St. Thomas Aquinas considered the Transfiguration as "the greatest miracle" because it complemented Jesus' baptism and showed the perfection of life in the heavenly kingdom. 

This is a major feast and commemorates the event when Jesus revealed His identity on Mount Tabor before the apostles Peter, James and John. On that mountain, the apostles had the experience of "the already of the not yet" in their lives as they witnessed with their own eyes Jesus' divine nature. 

All three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) tell the story of the Transfiguration with remarkable agreement, and all three place the event shortly after Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus' first prediction of His passion and death. For this year Feast, we use the version of St. Luke: "While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moises and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem." (Lk 9:29-30)

In Christian teachings, the Transfiguration is a pivotal moment, and the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and eternal, with Jesus Himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and earth.

The Transfiguration was a unique display of Jesus' divine character and a glimpse of the glory which Jesus had before He came down on earth in human form. In theological language, the Transfiguration is an experience of "the already of the not yet" for the beloved apostles, so that the "inner circle" of Jesus' disciples could gain a greater understanding of who Jesus really is. Thus, the disciples who had only known Jesus in His human body now had a greater realization of the deity of Christ, even when perhaps they could not fully comprehend yet at that time.

Now, the Transfiguration took place about three years into the three and a half year ministry of Jesus. For months and years the disciples had followed Jesus, they had seen His miracles, and they themselves had done miracles in His name. They knew something about the power and the reality of who Jesus was. And yet, when our Lord began to talk about dying it was staggering to the disciples and they began to wonder if He was really the Messiah.

So the whole purpose of the apostles' Transfiguration experience was to reinforce their staggering faith. So that  the three apostles with Jesus in that sacred mountain never forgot what happened that day. They bore witness to it to other disciples and the countless millions down through the centuries. In the second Reading, Peter recounts the experience: "We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we have been eyewitnesses of his majesty." (2 Peter 1:16)

Today's Feast foretells the glory of the Lord as God, and His ascension into heaven. It anticipates the glory of heaven where we shall see God face to face. Even now, through grace, we already share in the divine promise of eternal life. The message of the Transfiguration of our Lord is that God wants to share His glory with us. And so with the eyes of faith, we, too, may experience the transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist at Mass. When we actually receive Him in the Holy Eucharist, He gives us the grace to sustain us in our difficult and challenging journey through this life. Jesus in the Holy Eucharist makes light our way of the cross in this life. That is why receiving Jesus frequently in the Holy Eucharist is a foretaste of His resurrection and becomes our experience of "the already of the not yet" in our time.  It is our assurance of God's ultimate victory over sin and evil at the end of time.

A blessed Feast of the Transfiguration to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!