THE TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS
A foretaste of the kingdom: From the day Peter confessed
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master "began to show
his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. . . and be
killed, and on the third day be raised."
Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the
others understand it any better than he.
In this context the mysterious episode of
Jesus' Transfiguration takes place on a high mountain,
before three witnesses chosen by himself:
Peter, James and John. Jesus' face and clothes become dazzling with light, and
Moses and Elijah appear, speaking "of his departure, which he was to accomplish
at Jerusalem".
A cloud covers him and a voice from heaven says: "This is
my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
For a moment Jesus discloses
his divine glory, confirming Peter's confession. He also reveals that he will
have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to
"enter into his
glory".
Moses and Elijah had seen God's glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets
had announced the Messiah's sufferings.
Christ's Passion is the will of the Father:
the Son acts as God's servant;
the cloud indicates the presence of the Holy
Spirit. "The whole Trinity appeared: the
Father in the voice; the
Son in the
man; the Spirit
in the shining cloud."
You were transfigured on the mountain, and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ our God, so that when they should see you crucified they would understand that your Passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you truly are the splendor of the Father.
On the threshold of the
public life: the Baptism; on the threshold of the Passover:
the Transfiguration. Jesus' Baptism
proclaimed "the mystery of the first regeneration", namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration "is the sacrament of the second regeneration"; our
own Resurrection.
From now on we share in the Lord's Resurrection through the
Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body of Christ.
The Transfiguration
gives us a foretaste of Christ's glorious coming, when
He "will change our lowly
body to be like His glorious body."
But it also recalls that "it is through many
persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God":
Peter did not
yet understand this when he wanted to remain with Christ on the mountain. It has
been reserved for you, Peter, but for after death. For now, Jesus says:
"Go down
to toil on earth, to serve on earth, to be scorned and crucified on earth.”
excerpts from
THE MYSTERIES OF CHRIST'S LIFE in the Catechism of the Catholic Church
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Read more:
Culminating Point of His Public Life
