"This is my beloved Son. Listen to HIm,"

 

TRANSFIGURATION  2023

 

 

Today the Gospel presents the Transfiguration.  Jesus “took with him Peter and James and John his brother and led them up a high mountain apart” (Mt 17:1). The mountain in the Bible represents a place close to God and an intimate encounter with Him, a place of prayer where one stands in the presence of the Lord. There up on the mount, Jesus is revealed to the three disciples as transfigured, luminescent, and most beautiful. And then Moses and Elijah appear and converse with Him. His face is so resplendent and his robes so white that Peter, awe-struck, wishes to stay there, as if to stop time. Suddenly from on high the voice of the Father resounds proclaiming Jesus to be his most beloved Son, saying “listen to him” (v. 5). This word is important! Our Father said this to these Apostles and says it to us as well: “listen to Jesus, because he is my beloved Son.”

The ‘brightness’ which characterizes this extraordinary event symbolizes its purpose: to enlighten the minds and hearts of the disciples so that they may clearly understand who their Teacher is. It is a flash of light which suddenly opens onto the mystery of Jesus and illuminates his whole person and his whole story.

 

By now decisively headed toward Jerusalem, where he will be sentenced to death by crucifixion, Jesus wanted to prepare his own for this scandal — the scandal of the Cross — this scandal which is too intense for their faith and, at the same time, to foretell his Resurrection by manifesting himself as the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus was preparing them for that sad and very painful moment.

 

 

Going back to the Gospel account, Jesus appeared to Peter, James and John in his risen glory. They then heard a voice from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

 

What does it mean to be beloved of the Father for Jesus? You might think Jesus would have a permanent mountaintop experience? Not so! The transfiguration was a preparation for his final entry into Jerusalem where he was to suffer and to die on the cross…. Still, he certainly was the Father’s beloved.

 

You would think that as the beloved of the Father life would be a bit more extravagant for Jesus. The best of everything -- a vacation in the high rent district of the Sea of Galilee, or an unlimited checking account or something.

 

Yet, his transfiguration was not far removed from the cost of discipleship. This Jesus who was the beloved of the Father would empty himself, suffer and die on the cross.

 

In fact, Jesus was already revealing himself as a Messiah different from their expectations, from how they imagined the Messiah, how the Messiah would be: not a powerful and glorious king, but a humble and unarmed servant; not a lord of great wealth, a sign of blessing, but a poor man with nowhere to rest his head; not a patriarch with many descendants, but a celibate man without home or nest.  And the most bewildering sign of this scandalous overturning is the cross. But it is through the Cross that Jesus will reach the glorious Resurrection, which will be definitive, not like this Transfiguration which lasted a moment, an instant.

Transfigured on Mount Tabor, Jesus wanted to show his disciples his glory, not for them to circumvent the Cross, but to show where the Cross leads. Those who die with Jesus, shall rise again with Jesus. The Cross is the door to Resurrection. Whoever struggles alongside him will triumph with him.

 

Jesus was God’s beloved Son. God’s plan for his beloved Son included the scandal of the cross – his suffering and death. In Baptism, we too are God’s beloved. But like Jesus, this does not mean we get a free pass from suffering and the cross. God’s love is unending but like Jesus God’s love for us includes the scandal of the cross.

For us to trust in God’s love for us in the crosses of life, we need transfiguration moments that sustains our faith in our journey that leads to the cross as our entrance way to sharing in the risen life of Jesus. Our transfiguration moments occur in times of prayer. Our prayer can come in many forms. This past week, I experienced a prayerful transfiguration moment in experiencing the beauty of sunset over Lake Ontario. Another moment was spending time with my sister during a game of golf.

These blessed transfiguration moments sustain my trust that Jesus is with me in all experiences of life.

 

From the event of the Transfiguration, I would like to take two significant elements that can be summed up in two words: ascent and descent. We all need to go apart, to ascend the mountain in a space of silence, to find ourselves and better perceive the voice of the Lord. This we do in prayer.

 

But we cannot stay there! Encounter with God in prayer inspires us anew to “descend the mountain” and return to the plain where we meet many brothers and sisters weighed down by fatigue, sickness, injustice, ignorance, poverty both material and spiritual. To these brothers and sisters in difficulty, we are called to bear the fruit of that experience with God, by sharing the grace we have received.

 

And this is curious. When we hear the Word of Jesus, when we listen to the Word of Jesus and carry it in our heart, this Word grows. Do you know how it grows? By giving it to the other! The Word of Christ grows in us when we proclaim it, when we give it to others! And this is what Christian life is. It is a mission for the whole Church, for all the baptized, for us all: listen to Jesus and offer him to others. Do not forget: this week listen to Jesus!

 

As we ponder the meaning of the Transfiguration Gospel, know that we are God’s beloved. May we listen to how the Lord speaks to us in our prayer. May we recognize many prayerful experiences throughout the day. May we know that we then are missioned to come down the mountain and to share the love of Jesus with one and all.

 

Have a Blessed day.