The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with our mountain top experiences through which the Spirit reveals the nature and love of God.
The reading from the Book Daniel is a vision of judgement before the Ancient One.
Psalm 97 praises the Glory of God’s Reign.
The reading from the Second Letter of Peter describes the eyewitnesses of Christ’s Glory.
The Gospel of Matthew recounts the Transfiguration.
* [17:1–8] The account of the transfiguration confirms that Jesus is the Son of God (Mt 17:5) and points to fulfillment of the prediction that he will come in his Father’s glory at the end of the age (Mt 16:27). It has been explained by some as a resurrection appearance retrojected into the time of Jesus’ ministry, but that is not probable since the account lacks many of the usual elements of the resurrection-appearance narratives. It draws upon motifs from the Old Testament and noncanonical Jewish apocalyptic literature that express the presence of the heavenly and the divine, e.g., brilliant light, white garments, and the overshadowing cloud.
* [17:1] These three disciples are also taken apart from the others by Jesus in Gethsemane (Mt 26:37). A high mountain: this has been identified with Tabor or Hermon, but probably no specific mountain was intended by the evangelist or by his Marcan source (Mk 9:2). Its meaning is theological rather than geographical, possibly recalling the revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai (Ex 24:12–18) and to Elijah at the same place (1 Kgs 19:8–18; Horeb = Sinai).
* [17:2] His face shone like the sun: this is a Matthean addition; cf. Dn 10:6. His clothes became white as light: cf. Dn 7:9, where the clothing of God appears “snow bright.” For the white garments of other heavenly beings, see Rev 4:4; 7:9; 19:14.
* [17:4] Three tents: the booths in which the Israelites lived during the feast of Tabernacles (cf. Jn 7:2) were meant to recall their ancestors’ dwelling in booths during the journey from Egypt to the promised land (Lv 23:39–42). The same Greek word, skēnē, here translated tents, is used in the LXX for the booths of that feast, and some scholars have suggested that there is an allusion here to that liturgical custom.
* [17:5] Cloud cast a shadow over them: see note on Mk 9:7. This is my beloved Son…listen to him: cf. Mt 3:17. The voice repeats the baptismal proclamation about Jesus, with the addition of the command listen to him. The latter is a reference to Dt 18:15 in which the Israelites are commanded to listen to the prophet like Moses whom God will raise up for them. The command to listen to Jesus is general, but in this context it probably applies particularly to the preceding predictions of his passion and resurrection (Mt 16:21) and of his coming (Mt 16:27, 28).
* [17:6–7] A Matthean addition; cf. Dn 10:9–10, 18–19. (Matthew, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB, n.d.)
George Butterfield comments that transfiguration is the changing of form or appearance. Jesus’ face began to shine, and his clothes became white as light.
Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke with him. For the first time, the divinity of Jesus revealed itself through the physical body of Jesus. Then the cloud appeared, the shekinah of God, and the voice of God proclaimed Jesus to be his beloved Son. Listen to him, the voice said.
“As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, ‘Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’”
The Son of Man has indeed been raised from the dead. It’s no cleverly devised myth.
Tell the vision (Butterfield, 2023)
Don Schwager presents a meditation on “Listen to My Beloved Son.” He quotes “Listen to Him,” by Leo the Great, 400?-461 A.D.
"A voice from the cloud said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. I am manifested through his preaching. I am glorified through his humility. So listen to him without hesitation. He is the truth and the life. He is my strength and wisdom. "Listen to him" whom the mysteries of the law foreshadowed, of whom the mouths of the prophets sang. "Listen to him" who by his blood redeemed the world, who binds the devil and seizes his vessels, who breaks the debt of sin and the bondage of iniquity. "Listen to him" who opens the way to heaven and by the pain of the cross prepares for you the steps of ascent into his kingdom." (excerpt from Sermon 38,7) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 17:1-9 comments that it is good to be with the Lord! It’s what we were created for. Whether we realize it or not, our hearts long for God and an awareness of his presence. He is our greatest good! And Jesus longs to reveal that goodness to us even more than we long to know him. That’s why he took on flesh and became a man. That’s why he poured out his Holy Spirit. And that’s why he is truly and fully present in the Eucharist at every Mass.
Today, Jesus wants to give you a glimpse of his glory. He wants to assure you that he is the Lord: alive, powerful, and close to you. Jesus invites you to lift your eyes and your heart toward heaven and ask the Spirit to give you spiritual eyes to see him. So as the priest holds up the Host and Precious Blood at Mass today, you can proclaim in faith with Peter . . .
“Lord, it is good that I am here with you!” (Meditation on Matthew 17:1-9, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the meaning of the “Son of Man” and the “Son of God” in Hebrew tradition and as references to Jesus. The defence of the Transfiguration in 2 Peter was likely written by a disciple of Peter in the second century to address Gnostic myths about Christ. Friar Jude underlines the importance of the Transfiguration to the apostles who were about to face the Passion of Jesus.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, believes that growth in spirituality involves detaching from our separate or false self and living from our True Self. The terms “True Self” and “false self” from Thomas Merton (1915–1968)— are words he used to clarify what Jesus surely meant when he said that we must die to ourselves or we must “lose ourselves to find ourselves” (Mark 8:35). Merton rightly recognized that it was not the body self that had to “die” (which much of Christian history seemed to believe), but the “false self.” Our attachment to our small, separate, false self must die to allow our True Self—our basic and unchangeable identity in God—to live fully and freely. [2] Thomas Merton memorably describes his mystical experience of the True Self.
In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut [now Fourth and Muhammad Ali Boulevard], in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness.… The whole illusion of a separate holy existence is a dream….
Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed.… I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other. But this cannot be seen, only believed and “understood” by a peculiar gift…. (Rohr, 2023)
We ponder the Transfiguration of Jesus in the light of what and how the Spirit reveals to us the nature of the Presence of God in our lives and our mission to share our transformation history.
References
Butterfield, G. (2023, August 6). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved August 6, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/080623.html
Matthew, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 6, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/17?1
Meditation on Matthew 17:1-9. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 6, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/08/06/750249/
Rohr, R. (2023, August 6). True Self / Separate Self — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC Daily Meditations 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/true-self-separate-self-2023-08-06/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 6, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=aug6a
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