The Transfiguration of the Lord

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This wonderful event of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ is described to us by all three synoptic evangelists, and is referred to by the Apostle Peter in his second letter. The mystery of the Transfiguration of the Lord is closely related to the mystery of Christ’s death and Resurrection. As it was with the Lord Jesus, so it will be with us: our glorification and resurrection also begins with our pains and crosses on this earth. When people want to express something abstract, they have long used various symbols and images. For example, the symbol of love is the heart, the symbol of happiness is a four-leaf clover, the symbol of peace is a dove. And we see something similar in the Scriptures: The scribes also resort to symbols, images, comparisons, when they want to bring us at least a little closer to the unimaginable and incomprehensible concept of God.

Today’s gospel of the transfiguration of Christ the Lord also uses similar images to indicate to us that the Son of Man came close to God, that he was completely filled with God’s presence, that he was completely united with his heavenly Father. The holy evangelists use three symbols that are often used in the Scriptures to express this fascinating event of the Transfiguration of the Lord: it is an image of a mountain, a light, and a cloud. The mountain is mentioned as the place where the Lord Jesus meets the heavenly Father. In biblical expression, the mountain is the place of God’s presence and God’s action. We also like to climb mountains. The ascent is strenuous, but the experience above is worth it. A view from above tells us of our insignificance, of the greatness of the Creator, of the beauty of God’s world. At the top, we feel somehow closer to God, we run more to the safety and protection of God’s hand.

Christ the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration is surrounded and transformed by radiant brightness – great light. Light banishes darkness, uncertainty, fear. Light means God’s nearness. In the fire of a burning bush, the Lord announces His presence to Moses in the wilderness. The psalmist often identifies God with light: “Lord, you are my light and my salvation!” And finally we have a cloud. In the Bible, the cloud is often the place from which God speaks. The cloud, the cloud brings rain, is a sign of the harvest. The cloud gives a beneficial shadow in the sun. The mountain, the sunshine, and the cloud — the three basic elements of nature — are a symbol of God’s mysterious closeness in the Bible. The invisible Lord of heaven and earth speaks of them.

Today’s Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, therefore, teaches us receptivity to the signs of God’s closeness. But today’s holiday also reminds us that we too must change. Not as suddenly as the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, not so perfectly — perhaps once in heaven. But we are to change gradually, daily, unnoticed. We change, of course – it is enough to meet a classmate after years and see how he has changed – and he sees in us how we have changed. We change, but it is meant to be a change to beauty, not a kind of bitterness. The beauty of a youthful face should mature into the beauty of the whole personality.

At the end of the school year, he asked the children’s catechist which topic they liked the most. The fifteen-year-old boy replied without hesitation, “The transformation of the Lord on Mount Tabor!” You have told us, after all, that the Lord Jesus has done what concerns us all. He showed the three apostles what we would be like after death. Here we can be sick and weak, here they can persecute and kill us, but all this is nothing. We will transform as the Lord Jesus! And then we learned that after the Resurrection the wounds of the Lord Jesus shone. Therefore, we do not have to be afraid of suffering and persecution. We can really look forward to changing! ”

The boy actually expressed great hope. Hope for eternal life, hope for a better future. However, we must keep in mind that the prelude to our mountain Tábor – the prelude to our transformation – is our personal cross. Christ the Lord did not invite all the twelve apostles to Mount Tabor, but chose only three of them — Peter, James, and John. The team wanted to emphasize that only the elect will be worthy of this mystery. He says to each of us: Your cross, dear brother, dear sister – your persecution will one day be so glorious! So this is a reflection of the joyful message of today’s Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord. We, the brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus, are also to be transformed into the ever-increasing beauty of God’s children. So let us try – at the transformation in the Holy Mass – to see with the sight of our heart a piece of the beauty of the transformed Christ the Lord. Let us also be transformed a little by the loving gaze of Jesus, because he lives and reigns from this time to the ages of ages.