Daily Reflections

1 John 3:1-2

See how great is the love the Father has given us;
– we are called God’s children
and that is what we are.

We know that when He appears,
we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He really is.
– We are called God’s children
and that is what we are.

FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

The feast of the Transfiguration is a celebration of God’s revelation. The glory of God that was veiled in the law and prophets—from Moses to Elijah—is now unveiled before the Church, to the Apostles and us who receive their message. This feast does not simply point to a God who is brilliant upon a mountain. It also prepares us to remain faithful to a God crucified on a mountain. We ourselves have been saved through this vision of Christ in glory and Christ on the Cross, and are now continually transformed by both Tabor and Calvary. “And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the LORD, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect; this is the work of the LORD who is Spirit” (2 Co 3:18).

This festival was originally commemorated on the Vigil of Ember Saturday in Lent. With the decline of liturgical understanding a special festival was instituted in its honour, in order to arouse popular devotion to this mystery. It is now the patronal feast of the Lateran Basilica, and of all churches under the title of Holy Saviour.

From a sermon on the Transfiguration of the LORD by Anastasius of Sinai, Bishop
(Nn. 6-10: Melanges d’archéologie et d’histoire 67 [1955], 241-244)

It is good for us to be here

Upon Mount Thabor, Jesus revealed to His disciples a heavenly mystery. While living among them He had spoken of the Kingdom and of His second coming in glory, but to banish from their hearts any possible doubt concerning the Kingdom and to confirm their faith in what lay in the future by its prefiguration in the present, He gave them on Mount Thabor a wonderful vision of His Glory, a foreshadowing of the Kingdom of Heaven. It was as if He said to them: “As time goes by you may be in danger of losing your faith. To save you from this I tell you now that some standing here listening to me will not taste death until they have seen the Son of Man coming in the glory of His Father.” Moreover, in order to assure us that Christ could command such power when He wished, the evangelist continues: Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John, and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. There, before their eyes, He was transfigured. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as light. Then the disciples saw Moses and Elijah appear, and they were talking to Jesus.

These are the divine wonders we celebrate today; this is the saving revelation given us upon the mountain; this is the festival of Christ that has drawn us here. Let us listen, then, to the sacred Voice of God so compellingly calling us from on high, from the summit of the mountain, so that with the LORD’s chosen disciples we may penetrate the deep meaning of these holy mysteries, so far beyond our capacity to express. Jesus goes before us to show us the Way, both up the mountain and into Heaven, and—I speak boldly—it is for us now to follow Him with all speed, yearning for the heavenly vision that will give us a share in His radiance, renew our spiritual nature and transform us into His own likeness, making us for ever sharers in His Godhead and raising us to heights as yet undreamed of.

Let us run with confidence and joy to enter into the cloud like Moses and Elijah, or like James and John. Let us be caught up like Peter to behold the divine vision and to be transfigured by that glorious Transfiguration. Let us retire from the world, stand aloof from the earth, rise above the body, detach ourselves from creatures and turn to the Creator, to whom Peter in ecstasy exclaimed: LORD, it is good for us to be here.

It is indeed good to be here, as you have said, Peter. It is good to be with Jesus and to remain here for ever. What greater happiness or higher honour could we have than to be with God, to be made like Him and to live in His Light?

Therefore, since each of us possesses God in his heart and is being transformed into His divine image, we also should cry out with joy: It is good for us to be here—here where all things shine with divine radiance, where there is joy and gladness and exultation; where there is nothing in our hearts but peace, serenity and stillness; where God is seen. For here, in our hearts, Christ takes up His abode together with the Father, saying as He enters: Today salvation has come to this House. With Christ, our hearts receive all the wealth of His Eternal blessings, and there where they are stored up for us in Him, we see reflected as in a mirror both the first fruits and the whole of the world to come.

Feast of God’s Mountain

I, too, stand today joyfully on this holy peak, this mountain, lovingly celebrating. Stretching out my hand, I cry out in a loud voice from this mountain, inviting all the mountains to worship Christ our God, bowing your peaks towards Mount Thabor!… Join in the songs of praise and in the joyful celebration of Christ on Mount Thabor with a single voice, singing to Him together and saying:

Hail, O Creator of all things, Christ our LORD, divinely born Bearer of Light, You who gave shape to all creation together, and who form it into something better still! Hail, Mary, living mountain of God, holier than all the saints: you who formed Christ in flesh without transforming Him—Mary, countrywoman of Nazareth, God-bearer, Virgin Mother! Hail, holy town, sacred dwelling of God: Nazareth, before all cities and all places the first of all cities! Hail, O icon of the heavenly kingdom, holy, All-holy Mount Thabor: beautiful with a loveliness beyond all mountains! Hail to you, too, O nearby Jordan: most divine and precious of all rivers: in your waves of joy—in your forbidding waters—you revealed, as did John the Forerunner, the rebirth that comes from God! Hail to you, too, Sea of Tiberias: at once small and yet more famous than all seas; when you were trodden upon by those dry and holy feet, you were also made holy!… Hail, children of Christ! Hail, boast of all the faithful peoples of the Church: for this present festive celebration is a time of joy and happiness, in which God’s people has come together for this brilliant feast of God’s mountain! Dance with one soul and one voice with the angels, move in a circle with the stars; proclaim the word with the Apostles, lead the way with Moses, cry out with Elijah; reveal the Truth from the peak, thunder from the cloud, bear witness from Heaven, shout from the mountaintop, trumpet forth from the rock; invite Nazareth, call Galilee together; make your festival brilliant, deck yourself with speeches of praise, shine out with lamps, skip with the mountains, dance with the maidens, resound with the sea, serve the people with the Jordan; walk up on the mountaintop, celebrate on Mount Thabor with Christ, the universal king—the true God, Our LORD Jesus Christ!

Saint Anastasius of Sinai

Saint Anastasius of Sinai († 8th century) was a Greek priest, theologian, and monk. [From Light on the Mountain: Greek Patristic and Byzantine Homilies on the Transfiguration of the Lord, Brian E. Daley, s.j., Tr. ©

DAILY MEDITATION 

“The exalted King of Glory, come, let us adore Him.” With these words the Invitatory of the Divine Office introduces today’s feast. The Transfiguration of Christ is a feast which celebrates the exaltation of Christ, the LORD. The patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament, represented by Moses and Elias, give testimony on Tabor, and confess Him to be the Messias predicted in the Old Testament. The voice of the Father is heard from Heaven, saying: “This is My beloved Son;… hear ye Him“ [Gospel]. Christ’s Transfiguration on Mount Tabor assures us of His Divinity and confirms us in our Face and our Hope.

We believe firmly in Jesus, the King of Glory, who will come again with power and glory to judge the living and the dead. “We have not followed, cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and the presence of Our LORD Jesus Christ [His Second Coming with great power]; but having been made eyewitnesses of His majesty [Transfiguration]. 

“For He received from God the Father honour and glory; this Voice coming down to Him from the excellent glory: ‘This is, My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased, here ye Him.’And this Voice we heard brought from Heaven when we were with Him in the holy mount“ [Epistle]. The glory in which Peter saw the transfigured LORD on the mountain, gives Peter, and all of us, the certainty that the LORD will later reappear in His Glory, and that, even as man, He is the King of Glory. “Glory and wealth are in His house, and His justice remaineth  forever and ever” [Offertory]. 

Although He was the Son of God, “He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death on the Cross. For which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name, which is above all names. That in the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow,… in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that the LORD Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father“ [Philippians 2:8–11]. The prophets of the Old Testament also give testimony of Him [see Acts 10:43]. We who see Him in His glory on Tabor through Peter “have the more firm prophetical word, whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day  dawn, and the daystar arise in your hearts“ [Epistle]. We believe; we adore the King of Glory. “I speak my words to the King” [Gradual]. My thoughts, my wishes, my time, my strength, my love, my sacrifices, all centre on Him.

Dom Benedict Baur [d.1963] – German Benedictine, respected theological, and arch abbot of Saint Martin’s Abbey in Bueron

Matthew 17:2, 3; see Luke 9:32, 34

His face shone like the sun;
– when the disciples saw His Glory,
they were filled with wonder and fear.

Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared before them
speaking with Jesus.
– When the disciples saw His glory,
they were filled with wonder and fear.

“The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.” – Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen