“it is good that we are here”
The Entrance Antiphon for this Sunday is “My heart says to thee, ‘Thy face, Lord, do I seek. Hide not thy face from me.” [1] Jesus in the Transfiguration shows the brilliant face of the Son of God to the three Apostles. The three of them saw a glimpse of Heaven.
Why does Jesus show it to them for only a second? Jesus wanted to show them a view of great glory and hope even for just a moment. It was to give them hope of heaven.
How did they see him after the Transfiguration? They see the “ordinary Jesus”. “They see Jesus they know, who is sometimes hungry, sometimes tired, who tries to make himself understood. They see Jesus without any special manifestations of glory.” [2] Soon they see the same Jesus bloody, beaten, and bruised. For us though, we must seek Jesus in the “ordinary” things of our lives. We must seek Him, “in the midst of our work, in the streets, in the people around us, in our prayer. We have to find Him, when he forgives us in the Sacrament of Penance and, above all, in the Holy Eucharist, where He is truly, really and substantially present. Normally, he does not show himself to us with any special manifestations. Rather, we have to learn to find Our Lord in what is ordinary, every day, and we must flee from the temptation of ever wanting anything extraordinary. [3]
Why did God reveal the Transfiguration in the first place? To show there is a light at the end of a dark tunnel. The darkness of what Jesus had to go through with His
Passion and death was only a means to His glorious resurrection. “The principal aim of the Transfiguration was to banish from the disciples’ souls the scandal of the Cross.” [4] “Only the three closest disciples – Peter, James and John – are privileged to witness it, the same ones who would be present later at the agony in Gethsemani, as if to indicate that glory and suffering are two inseparable aspects of the unique mystery of Christ.”. [5] Lastly, as St. Bede comments, “in a loving concession allowed Peter, James and John to enjoy for a very short time the contemplation of the happiness that lasts forever, so as to enable them to bear adversity with greater fortitude.” [6]
How does the Transfiguration relate to us? This story helps us to understand what we must go through in order to see Jesus in dazzling white. “Man’s existence is a journey towards Heaven, our dwelling place. [7] It is a journey, which is, at times, harsh and laborious because we often have to go against the current of opinion and we will have to struggle against many enemies both inside and outside of ourselves. But God wants to strengthen us with the hope of Heaven, in a special way at the more difficult moments or when the weakness of our condition makes itself more felt.” [8] What are some of the enemies we struggle with inside and outside of ourselves? How has God strengthen us in times of great temptation?
St. Catherine of Siena was an amazing saint who was caught up in ecstasy. Ecstasy is a vision or encounter with God. The first first Apostles experienced a form of ecstasy and awe in front of Jesus transfigured.
Regardless of length of time, to have a glimpse of Heaven is to give more hope in Christ than anything else. Why? Because, “There, all is repose, joy and delight; all serenity and calm, all peace, splendor and light. It is not a light such as we enjoy now, and which, compared with that light, is no more than a lamp placed beside the sun…For there, there is no night, or twilight, heat or cold, or any change in one’s way of being, but a state such as can be understood only boy those who are worthy to possess it. There, there is no old age, or sickness, or anything allied to corruption, because it is the place and the home of immortal glory. And above all this the everlasting presence and possession of Christ, of the angels…everyone perpetually of like mind, without any fear of Satan or the snares of the devil or the threats of hell or of death.” [9]
[1] Entrance Antiphon, Ps. 26:8-9
[2] Fernandez, In Conversation with God 2, 12.3
[3] Fernandez, In Conversation with God 2, 12.3
[4] St. Leo the Great, Sermon 51,3
[5] Divine Intimacy vol. II pg. 30
[6] St. Bede, Commentary on St. Make, 8, 30:1,3
[7] cf. 2 Cor. 5:2
[8] Fernandez, In Conversation with God 2, 12.2
[9] St. John Chrysostom, Epistle 1 to Theodore, 11