Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”

The disciples had heard the same voice, the same message, at Jesus’ baptism. Why did it sound so different today? Why were they so amazed at what happened? Obviously, the presence of Moses and Elijah was something totally unexpected. But they had been with Jesus for some three years. They heard him preach, teach, work miracles, and raise the dead. They had to have been aware that there was something special about Jesus. But it took the transfiguration to drive that fact home.

Are we any different? We are aware of the basic outlines of Jesus’ life. We know of his miracles, the sublimity of his teaching, especially the fact of his having risen from the dead. We read of his love, especially in the epistles. We see miracles of grace in our own lives or the lives of others, but we rarely see them as works of God on our behalf. We chalk it up to good luck, or to some coincidence which makes us so set in our own ideas that our minds are shut.

How many Christians go to church every week, but tune out those around them, failing to act like true Christians? Society puts an enormous amount of pressure on us to focus our vision, our energy, and our drive on the pursuit of a career. On celebrity status, a bigger car, a bigger house, and a larger office. We end up giving our attention to these things with such total devotion that we become insensitive to the world around us.

Should not Mass, where we listen to the Word and receive the Bread and Wine, make us realize that such common things harbor the very presence of God?

Let Us Pray:

Oh, Jesus, do we need a Moses and Elijah to recognize you as the Son of God? What will it take for us to take your word seriously? Fill us with your spirit!