Every year,
a version of the Transfiguration Gospel is read on the Second Sunday of
Lent. This year it is from St. Matthew.
Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them
up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face
shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold,
Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said
to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three
tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was
still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the
cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased. Listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell
prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came
and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the
disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. Matt 17:1-9
This Gospel happens
just six days after Jesus told his disciples to ‘Take up your cross, and follow
me.’ and ‘You will see the Son of Man come in the glory of His Father.’ I always want to know what the disciples were
thinking during those six days. I wonder
if the disciples ever really understood what Jesus told them was going to happen
to him as they were bumbling toward Jerusalem. Because they were thick headed, God had to pull out all
the stops and show the disciples who Jesus really is.
Jesus appears all resplendent, glorious
in appearance. It dawns on the
disciples that this Jesus whom they have been following, is not just any
ordinary man, despite all the healings and the multiplication of loaves and fishes.
And Jesus conversing with Moses and
Elijah! How can they explain that?
Is Jesus from all eternity?
Is Jesus from all eternity?
Then a Voice spoke from the cloud. Seeing
Jesus bright and shiny wasn’t enough. Imagine the disciples awe at first seeing a
glorified Jesus and the prophets, and then the terror of a voice thundering
from the bright cloud enveloping them.
It must have seemed that God, enthroned on his cloud of glory, came down
to tell them, ‘You
guys just aren’t getting it.’ “This is
my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
This is the second time Matthew writes this saying, the first
time being at the Baptism of the Lord, but this second time God adds, “Listen
to him.”
The glory of the transfigured Jesus: face like the sun, clothes
white as light; and a Voice in the bright enveloping cloud would sure make me
believe that Jesus is One with the Father from
all eternity.
Then there
is the little bit at the end where it says, ‘…they saw no one, but Jesus alone.’
This reminds me of Bl. Celeste who says,
‘…fix your gaze on this God-made-Man...’
Then the
Gospel ends with, ‘Rise, and do not be afraid.’
Thank goodness that’s over. Everything
is back to normal. But is it?
What is
Transfiguration? Transfiguration is a complete change of form or appearance into a more resplendent
state. In Jesus’ case, his
transfiguration shows his glorious, resurrected state and Oneness with the
Father.
What, then,
is transformation? Transformation is a
process of change of appearance or character.
Where do we
come in all of this?
Jesus’ transfiguration
happened in an instant. The veil between heaven and earth parted for a moment
revealing the Son of God.
Our
transformation takes a little longer. We
are all a work in progress. My sister,
Theresa, and I were joking that we were both late bloomers. I said, “I still have a lot of blooming to
do.” I think we all feel that way at
times simply because life is a process.
But what do
we want to become? Be transformed into
what? And why do we want to be
transformed?
I dug around
Blessed Maria Celeste’s writing and found some advice.
Warning: For our purpose, I changed pronouns
and edited Bl. Celeste writings, arranging her thoughts for us to better understand
her meaning. As I’ve said before at
other times, Celeste can be quite verbose.
Simply put
Celeste says, “So that you might enable Jesus to be reborn to the world in the
souls of all his dear ones.” Clearly,
this means that our transformation is not for our sake only, but for the
salvation of our sisters and brothers.
How can this
happen? We sound like Mary questioning
Gabrielle at the Annunciation.
God tells Celeste,
“I have given you, out of immense love, my Only Begotten Son, and by Him I have
given you my divine Spirit to make you divine in life… The Spirit transforms us and changes us into a
new creature in God by stamping on your spirit the features, the virtues of
Christ’s life.”
Then Celeste
shares mystical experiences that helped her transform into her Beloved. She says, “The phrase recited at the Creed of
the Mass, ‘consubstantial with the Father,’ was pronounced in the center of my
soul, and I understood that God-Man’s virtues should regulate all the actions
of my life.
“Of all the
times of my life, the most precious were the sacramental communions... At Holy
Communion the Lord caused me to feel transformed into Jesus: in a divine light,
I felt with utmost joy, all the virtues of the holy Life of Our Lord Jesus
Christ stamped upon my soul. All my
feelings and passions became sanctified by Jesus and were transformed into his
feelings.”
Celeste goes
on to advise us, “Unite yourself with Him and be transformed into God. By the
irrevocable gift of the Eucharist, Christ made himself the real food in the
Sacrament of the Altar.
It gives us
such a risen life in God that it transforms us into the eternal life of God, as
we await the dawning of that new day.”
What is this new day? How do we
arrive at it?
Again God instructs Celeste, “You must desire to see yourself on Calvary
with my
This is the very thing Jesus had been telling his disciples six days before
the Transfiguration, ‘Take up your cross and follow me,” and, “You will see My
Father’s glory.”
So, that was
what Bl. Celeste said helped her: her faith and understanding in living out the
virtues of the God-Man by purging her passions; the enlightenment and
nourishment she received from the real food of the Sacrament of the Altar; and
union with her Beloved on the cross. This
is the meaning of the Viva Memoria charism: with eyes fixed on Christ in all we
think, feel and do, Jesus lives and works his salvation for the world in and
through us.
But how do
we follow Christ and become transformed in our own day? Let us turn to your Constitutions for some
insight.
The love of
Christ the Redeemer which constitutes the spirit of our Association implies
that we will gradually be transformed in Him and therefore that we will
gradually die to ourselves to the extent that we may be able to say with the
apostle Paul..."I live now not with my own life but with the life of
Christ who lives in me." Gal
2:20 #9
Baptism is
the beginning of our transformation in Jesus Christ. It marks our first and fundamental
consecration as children of God. We are
called to continue this transformation in order to become both personally and
together, a Living Memory of the Paschal Mystery of the Redeemer. #12
The more we
progress in this transformation of ourselves in Him, the more we will be able
to be a living witness of His charity.
It is through the revelation of this charity that our brothers and
sisters will discover in Jesus Christ the one Truth and the one Hope. #14
It is
fitting for us who must be transformed in Him throughout our lives to act as He
did in His most holy life. #15
"God
has sent into our hearts the Spirit of His Son crying: Abba, Father." The more we allow this Spirit to invade us
with His transforming presence, the better will we exercise the priesthood of
our baptism, by offering ourselves to the Father as a living eucharist for the
world. We find light and strength in the
Word of God and in the sacraments so that we can, following the example of
Christ, make of our whole life a sacrifice of praise to the glory of the
Father. #21
Love of the
cross is essentially love and imitation of Jesus Christ. Jesus has freed the world by embracing our
painful death so as to transform it into His redemptive death. He passed from death to life, from the
fragility of the flesh to the supreme glory of the resurrection. "Was it not ordained that the Christ
should suffer and so enter into His glory?" Lk 24:26 Such is the Paschal Mystery in which we are
given a share. #2
As we bumble
about our daily lives this Lent, we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, recalling Christ’s
Transfiguration as our transformation slowly takes shape. Just
like in prayer, we get off course by distractions: your family is driving you up
a wall, those pesky people at work bother you, your friends don’t call, all the
rain is making you blue… Where’s the
glory? Like it or not, each person, each
situation is a gift; an opportunity to see and listen to God. Somewhere in that pesky person is a spark of
Jesus. With patience and in turning
again to see Jesus alone, there is the invitation to see and hear Jesus in that
person. By seeing and hearing and loving
that person as Jesus does, we are transformed.
By nourishing ourselves and uniting ourselves with Christ in the
Sacrament of the Altar, the transformation of our mind and heart, and hopefully
theirs, will steadily grow and bloom.
St Paul says
we are, “co-heirs with Christ: sharing in Christ’s sufferings and sharing in
Christ’s glory.” Rm 8:17 Ultimately,
in this sharing we find Christ’s Transfiguration is our transformation.
'STAINED GLASS' CROSSES
All these
bits and pieces glued together look a bit of a mess, but when you turn it
around and hold it up to the light it is transformed into something beautiful.
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