For Jesus the Transfiguration was a turning point in his life and ministry.

For Jesus the Transfiguration was a turning point in his life.  Till now, the attraction and the ministry of Jesus was gaining momentum.  His preaching and teaching and miracles and the way he accompanied his disciples was inspiring and life-giving.  Now the Transfiguration was a climax to the initial stage of the ministry.  The apostles Peter, James, and John were given a glimpse of the Resurrection as Jesus was transfigured in glory on the mountaintop.  For the apostles it was an awe-inspiring experience.  Overcome with joy, Peter exclaimed, "Lord, it is good for us to be here."

However, this was a turning point in the ministry of Jesus as the mountaintop  experience lasted for but a moment; now Jesus and the apostles were to descend from the mountain and go into the valley and begin the journey to Gethsemane and Calvary.  The apostles were now to experience the challenges of discipleship.  The apostles needed now to embrace suffering and the cross as necessary components of their discipleship of the Lord Jesus.

As the Transfiguration was an affirmation  to Jesus of the Father's love, so too, it gave  the apostles a preview of sharing in the joy of the risen Lord.  On Mount Tabor, the mountain of the Transfiguration, the apostles didn't want to leave.  But in the challenge of discipleship that led to Jerusalem, in the Garden of Gethsemane, they didn't want to stay.  When Jesus was arrested they all fled.

Can we not all identify with the apostles?  In the mountain-top experiences of joy, we want to stay. We want them to go on forever.  But then in the moments of trial we want to flee.  May we pray over the cost of discipleship:  "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him take up his cross daily and follow me."

The Transfiguration was the mountain-top experience of the apostles which prepared them for future trials.  May the mystery of the Eucharist be a mountain-top experience that prepares us for the challenges of this day.  The Mass is not a transfiguration but a transubstantiation, in which bread and wine are transformed into the glorious Risen Jesus.  The mystery of the Eucharist leads us to the sending words:  "Go in peace and glorify the Lord by your lives."  We are missioned to go forth into the valleys and the mountain-top experiences of the day.  But having been nourished at the Table of the Lord, we know that "nothing can separate us from the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Have a Blessed day.