The Feast of Transfiguration of the Lord occurs on August 6, this year on a Wednesday. We read the story of the Transfiguration every year on the Second Sunday of Lent, but we place it in a distinctive setting celebrating it during Ordinary Time outside of the penitential nature of Lent. Jesus is transfigured, that is to say, Peter, James, and John see him in all his glory in his divine form. These same three were with Jesus the night before he died in the garden of Gethsemane. They saw his agony and his glory.
Jesus is both human and divine. Moses and Elijah appear. Moses and Elijah both fasted for 40 days and then went up a mountain to meet God. Moses represents the law, and Elijah represents the prophets. This story tells us that Jesus came to fulfill everything found in the law and in the prophets, he is the fulfillment of the covenant.
An unusual thing about this event is the way that St. Peter refers to it in his second letter that we hear on this day. St. Peter says that he was an “eyewitness” and saw Jesus in his majesty and heard the “voice from heaven.” We don’t often read about a corroboration of a gospel story in one of the letters. The letter gives authenticity to the account as Peter describes what the event meant to him.
The Transfiguration is one of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. I learned all of the Mysteries of the Rosary as a child and can recite them to this day. I never learned these newest Mysteries, but I think that they each make good subjects for whatever kind of meditation might suit someone. Each conveys a key aspect of the public ministry of Christ. The five Mysteries are 1) Baptism in the Jordan; 2) Wedding at Cana; 3) Proclamation of the Kingdom; 4) Transfiguration; and 5) Institution of the Eucharist. They fill-in between the Mysteries of Christ’s incarnation (Joyful) and his suffering and death (Sorrowful). They are the Mysteries of Light because they illumine the richness of Christ’s life and message.
You may or may not attend daily Mass, but in any case, this Feast of the Lord can be an important meditation about Jesus as human and divine. Can you see Jesus as 100% human and 100% divine? (Don’t give me any math arguments here). Have you ever had a mountain top experience of Jesus? Why do you think Martin Luther King’s speech on April 3, 1968 was titled, I’ve Been to the Mountaintop? How do these two events relate to one another?
