Transfiguration Thursday

Funny, that the Solemnity of the Transfiguration should fall on the same day of the dropping of The Bomb on Hiroshima. We celebrate God's glory revealed; we remember hell unleashed.

Thinking about the Transfiguration and what it means for us, I am reminded of something the Cheshire Cat once told me, back when I first knew her, oh, seven years ago. She said, “It would not be good for this world to be perfect, because then what joys could heaven hold?” The Transfiguration, like the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, is a glimpse of Heavenly Glory. I’ve heard said that on that mountain, when Christ revealed Himself in His Divine Splendor to the three apostles, they missed the point – they were thinking of worldly things, of setting up tents and ministering. Given the propensity of the apostles towards density (a propensity that we all have) I would not be surprised. Still, I think there is something else at work here. They glimpsed Christ glorified, they heard the voice of God, they tasted Heaven, yet they could not retain it. The moment passed. I wonder if, in the moment of splendor, they were merely reaching for a way to hold on to this revelation. Yet the moment passed. There was work to be done, both by Christ in his immediacy, and later through the apostles. I wonder if Peter and John and James ever reached out, longing to regain that moment on the mountain top.

How often are our lives like that? When we experience moments of extraordinary Grace and consolation, what do we do with them? Do we listen to Jesus speaking to us in silence and love, do we abandon ourselves to Him, or do we grasp at it, trying to keep it for ourselves, and miss the point? And what, pray tell, do we do when the outpouring of Grace has faded and we are cast back into the world, to struggle every day with the forces of evil? We truly are blessed in the Eucharist, for each day, if we so desire, we can be present when heaven and earth kiss, and the veil is parted ever so slightly, giving a foretaste of what is to come.

May we experience the Transfiguration in our lives each day, to be reminded of God’s love, glory, power, majesty, and grace. Let us strive to work diligently in service to the Lord, seeking His guidance, imploring His mercy, and begging that our lives may be pleasing in His sight. When those outpourings of Grace come, let us rest in Him. When we are troubled, let us rest in Him. Let us cast ourselves always at His feet.


Anima Christi, sanctifica me.