Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord Mr 9,2-10

Dear brothers and sisters. Essential decisions and announcements in our lives are usually first told to our closest people. And it happens in a confidential atmosphere. For example, whether we decide to enter marriage, priesthood, or fundamentally change our direction in life by changing jobs or moving. Even in today’s Gospel for the Feast of the Transfiguration, Jesus communicated his essential message with the three apostles in a confidential atmosphere. He took them on top.

The evangelist Matthew recorded that when they were awake alone, the face of Jesus lit up as well as his clothes and he was transformed in front of them. What is the meaning of transformation? The transfiguration is the revelation of the person of Jesus, his deep reality. The eyewitnesses of the event, i.e., the three apostles, are speaking. that they were overshadowed by a bright cloud, which in the Bible always represents the presence of God, and they heard a voice that said to them: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Mt 17, 5). In addition to Jesus and the apostles, Moses and Elijah were present, and God appeared to them during their lifetime.

Jesus had a revelation of God’s will on Mount Sinai – the Ten Commandments. Elijah again had God’s revelation of the mission he was to carry out on the mountain. Unlike these two episodes, Jesus in the Transfiguration is not the one who received the revelation of God, but it is in him that God appears, showing his face to the apostles. Whoever wants to know God must look at the face of Jesus, at his transformed face. Jesus is the perfect manifestation of the Father’s holiness and mercy. However, Jesus, like Elijah, did not receive a revelation about what to do, because it is known to him. Rather, the apostles are those who hear the voice of God in the cloud commanding them: “Listen to him.” God’s will is fully revealed in the person of Jesus.

It wants to live according to God’s will, it must follow Jesus, listen to him, accept his words, and deepen them with the help of the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, just as with the apostles, Jesus communicates his message to each one of us. The fact that he is the Son of God who came to save us and that only he has the “words of eternal life” (Jn 6, 68). Christ offers each of us a life in abundance, which consists in living according to God’s word. Let’s feed on God’s word, let’s grow in the knowledge and love of Christ, whether as individuals or as a parish community. Let’s meet him in the Eucharist, and listen to his words in prayer and love. The parish community is our strength in following Christ.

Jesus, who led the apostles to the mountain to pray and show them his glory, invited us to this Eucharistic celebration. Here we can listen to him, here we can recognize his presence during the breaking of the Eucharistic bread and thus become a living Church, a temple of the Holy Spirit, a sign of God’s love in the world. Let us surrender our lives to God today and let us be filled with his gift to us, which is Jesus Christ. He brings God’s life and light where it is lacking. Into our life situations, problems, and sufferings, he strengthens us and makes us his witnesses. Let us return to our homes with hearts filled with gratitude and joy, because we are part of the Church, whose head is the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ.