"This is my beloved Son . . . listen to him"
Dn 7: 9-19; 13-14
2 Pt 1: 16-19
Mt 17: 1-9
The very popular speaker
and Catholic author Matthew Kelly coined a phrase that has become often
quoted. It goes simply: “Becoming
the best version of yourself.”
Now we may look at
that as a challenge to improved physical fitness: “I need to lose weight, I need to walk more,
eat less, and get regular exercise. I should lay off the smoking and replace it
with much healthier habits.” Or maybe a return to some further study or career
development. Perhaps I recognize my need to lower my indebtedness and be more
careful about spending and saving.
While all these
things may improve my life and lead to a “better version” of myself, the real
call that Kelly and our Feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration presents to us
today, is far more about a call to conversion of heart, a healthier
relationship with the Lord, and a stronger foundation of prayer to stand
on. In other words, about God’s
invitation to every one of us, to become the best of what he has created us to
be – the best version of ourselves. Up
on that mountain, as Peter, James and John experienced a revelation of Jesus
they had never seen before, they saw the fullness of Christ and the complete
purpose of his mission as he brought to its completion the purpose of the
sacred Law of God and the answer to the call of the ancient Jewish prophets. Jesus is now the new Moses and the new Law of
God fulfilled.
Our second reading
today has Peter, who reflects on this experience, telling us: “We made known to you the power and coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ but we had been eyewitnesses to his majesty . . . You will do well to be attentive to it,
as to a lamp shining in a dark place . . .”
If
we are attentive to the voice of our Lord, we hear the Father’s affirmation of
his Son’s mission from this mountain top and again the Father’s wakeup call: “Listen to him.” The first to hear these
words was of course these three disciples.
What did they understand this to mean?
Peter’s
naive but sincere desire to erect three tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah may
tell us that at least he was so overcome by this that he certainly wasn’t ready for it to be over anytime soon. It’s
understandable why they wanted to hold on tight to this mountain top glory and
not end the party very soon.
But,
in their Jewish minds, they would have understood that this Jesus was the
ultimate fulfillment of everything they heard in their Law and Prophets and
what they hoped is now made new in this Jesus who stood in his
divine glory before them.
Yet,
while this was certainly an ancient promise now answered in Jesus, this vision was
also an invitation to pay attention. The
best version of ourselves is only fulfilled through the call to conversion, the
best version of what God has created us to become. Here we are speaking about a
new way of living. We speak of Jesus’
“transfiguration” which is another way of saying that he was changed not just
in appearance but transformed in a kind of resurrection glory and his divinity
shined through brightly.
Though
his passion had not yet come, and this event would serve to encourage the
perplexed disciples as that time, this momentary revelation of the full and
best version of Christ prepared them for that time to come in the very near
future.
Here
we see Jesus is not just a wise teacher, a man of virtue called to reform, or
the leader of some new life-style, or a wonder worker with great charisma. He
is neither a Prophet of old return nor even a Saint. He is the living, eternal,
and true Word of the living God – as St. Peter himself, inspired by the Holy
Spirit, had proclaimed not long before this event.
Well,
we may still be gazing at this vision of glory but like Peter, James and John,
we can’t stay here. We must return to
the level valley below and once again deal with the stuff of everyday
life. Is this moment just a memory or a one-time
open window to the mystery of God? Now is the time to listen to him.
There
are moments, surely, when we can recall personal mountaintop experiences. There are moments when we find connections
with our faith through the sacraments: baptisms, first communions, weddings,
graduations, rewards for certain accomplishments. Or maybe just moments when we felt the
presence of great peace in our prayer; an assurance that God is with us or some
new insight into a person or deeper understanding of how God was present to us
when we thought he was silent.
It
is at those times that we found ourselves being more than we normally are – a better
version of ourselves. Maybe we finally
let go of some unhealthy habit or felt that our efforts to improve our prayer
life were showing some affirmation.
Maybe we saw the good we had done was coming back to us in more ways
than we had originally offered.
Jesus
calls us to live differently and our faith assures us that his word is
true. An ancient adage states: “God became human so that humans may become
God.” That doesn’t imply that God will now turn over the responsibilities
of the universe to us but that God has shown us a better way to be through his
Son. Knowing that we are not excluded from the glory of heaven through the
forgiveness of our sins, opens the door for us to change.
We
are reminded that the Christian Gospel is not just about being nice to one
another, about having good morals or fair ethics. It is about this person, this Jesus who is God’s
beloved Son in who we put our entire faith and existence. To “become God” is more to become transformed
by the power of this person we profess as the way, truth and life.
In
Christ, our Lord shows us the way to be in the world. To hear his voice is to follow the way of
leaving the old person behind and reshaping what we are to become a better
version of what God calls us to be. In a
sense we are “transfigured,” shaped, molded, conformed more into the image of
this Son of God by his grace.
Our
sharing in the Eucharist is an invitation to allow his presence to transform
our lives.
O God, who in the glorious Transfiguration
of your Only Begotten Son
confirmed the mysteries of faith by the witness of the Fathers
and wonderfully prefigured our full adoption to sonship,
grant, we pray, to your servants,
that, listening to the voice of your beloved Son,
we may merit to become co-heirs with him.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
(Collect of Feast)
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