August 6 Transfiguration

John and Thommy

Good morning
I love you

August 6th doesn’t have any saint who meets our criteria but it’s a biggie nonetheless….

Unfortunately, I planned on going to the seven p.m. Mass
Nevertheless, I missed Mass today. On a feast day that has startling revelations and penetrating readings – a good feast to immerse into as well as one to be at church for, to ponder the extraordinary events of our savior, brother, God….


Transfiguration of our lord
August 6

Reading 1
Dn 7:9-10, 13-14


As I watched:

Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne.
His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as wool;
his throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.
The court was convened and the books were opened.

As the visions during the night continued, I saw:

One like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven;
When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him,
The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.


A vision of our God. We each are privy to God, revealed by God to us, in our unique fashion. And from the very beginning, at the time of Deuteronomy to now, the visions are similar, across centuries, millennia – it cannot be a mass psychosis or the deception of an Elmer Gantry or a koolaidjuicedupmodernsavior. Our God, the Ancient One, the One from before forever and until beyond forever, our God and the symbols He uses for us to see Him, to grasp Him, to understand Him, the Infinite beyond all sight or understanding…. Ancient…. Upon The throne…. White as snow clothing…. Throne aflame in fire…. Fire flows from His Throne…. Thousand/myriads attend Him, minister to Him… not only symbols of Him, but visions of our relationship to him….

And then there is One like the Son of Man, on Clouds, coming to the Ancient One - - even in Deuteronomy the author had a vision of the Persons of Godness, a Trinity more clearly revealed in Jesus and His teaching us about The Father and The spirit….
The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.

How is it that Deuteronomy saw Jesus before he could possibly have an inkling? The Ancient One gave The Son of Man dominion…. Glory…. Kingship…. So that we all might serve Him – people of all ages, people of all nations, people of all languages, all people, catholic, privileged to serve Him. Have you yet had the experience of deep gratitude for the opportunity to work for some one, to learn from some one? Imagine how greater should be our gratitude for being in the presence of God and having the grace to serve Him, learn from Him, work for Him????
His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.

There is nothing you, anyone everyone could possibly do to put a detrimental dent in God’s dominion. You cannot take it away. You cannot destroy God’s kingdom nor His dominion over you. Not unlike the two year old who closes his eyes and sticks his fingers in his ears and wails ‘I can’t hear you! I can’t see you!’ implying that ‘you’ do not exist, that you are there does not matter, that what you say is not relevant. That’s the best anyone can do to ‘take away’ God’s dominion, His Kingship. Try to block Him, deny Him, ignore Him does not change Him. Not unlike the Gauls who pishawed Caesar’s foray into their country; or the French who centuries later build the marginot line…. You can run but you cannot hide from God’s loving dominion over you, God’s gift of selecting you, creating you, to be His servants….. oremus….


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 9

R. (1a and 9a) The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him, justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the LORD of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice, and all peoples see his glory.
R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
Because you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth,
exalted far above all gods.
R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.


The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him, justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne
Immerse yourself in the imagery, the effort of psalmist to express his relationship with the lord his God, his King. We have so many kings in our lives, so many people who claim sovereignty over us, to whom we choose to offer submission to [or not]. And our choosing God as our Lord and King brings us joy, gladness because, in part, we know that He is in the midst of everything created and His relationship with us, the foundation of his throne is Justice and Judgement….

The heavens proclaim his justice, and all peoples see his glory.
The psalmist knows he is not alone in seeing and serving God. Not only do the heavens, the being of God’s natural habitat, proclaim him to be Just [try Paradise Lost once again] but All Peoples see, SEE, genuinely authentically SEE God’s Glory. And if you don’t, then you should know you are missing not only the boat but the Truth…. [ok, you’ll retort, there is not Truth, only truths. And you say that tautologically. You assert this premise as not ‘a truth’ but the foundational Truth – thus in the saying there is no Truth you are demonstrating that our natural pursuit of Truth [because we are created in the image and likeness of God who is Truth] is in part based on our acknowledgement that we know there is Truth.


Reading II
2 Pt 1:16-19

Beloved:
We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received honor and glory from God the Father
when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory,
“This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven
while we were with him on the holy mountain.
Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.
You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.


Peter speaks from personal experience. We find the Truth of our faith in Scripture and Tradition. And here Peter gives us both. He was there! He brings you there in the telling of his experience. Listen to his witnessing – ole denying Peter has surrendered to his love of Jesus and embraced the infusion of the Spirit. Peter is telling his story so that you too can love his friend, his Lord, his God, the Son of God, the Son of The Father…. Just like Andrew rushed off to find his brother Simon to come hear this man, obviously the Messiah, whom John had pointed to… so too does Peter tell you his story so you too can, may, should believe with all your heart and soul, overwhelming the intellectual temptation to reject this man’s eye witness….

“This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
You are my beloved sons with whom I am well pleased [even acknowledging the with whom I am deeply disappointed]. Well pleased in God’s gift to me, your mother, our families, each other, and the world we have been placed in…. Deo Gratias.

Peter makes a much superior recognition of the Voice of God the Father declaring for us his Son! Peter didn’t ask to put his fingers in the wound, he’d seen the transfigured Christ and recognized him in the resurrected Jesus [we’ll skip over the interlude before the cock crowed three times…. We each have our disbeliefs, concupiscence is a powerful force; but not stronger than grace. Peter had his period of denial but could not deny his own experience with the loving Jesus. Your experiences of Jesus, Father, Spirit are not deniable either…. Embrace the Transfigured, Risen Jesus as the light shining in the darkness, as the morning star rising in your heart….


Gospel
Mt 17:1-9

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John, 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 in reply, “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.

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.”

Meditate upon this scene. Weave in Peter’s testimony to his experience. Put it in the framework of the Deuteronomy visionary. See God. See Jesus. In your life. In you. In all those around you – transfigured but always present to you in all others….

Listen to Him. God is not known for His subtlety. We, mankind, had not listened to the Father. We had not listened to His messengers, the angels. Not had we listened to the prophets. So He sent His only begotten Son. Listen to Him. Be also transfigured like Him, Elijah and Moses. The Law and the Prophets, be transfigured by them to be like Jesus.

And when we hear the admonition to Listen to Him, we are afraid. When your father tells you to Listen to Him, you are afraid. Afraid of the consequences of Love? Afraid of the embracing of His Word, e.g., the sermon on the mount or the commandments or the our Father or or or???

Do Not Be Afraid…. Listen to Him and do not be afraid. Eliminate your fear so that you might Listen to Him!

The Son of Man has raised from the dead so do not hesitate to tell others what you have seen….



History:
The feast of the Transfiguration of Christ celebrates the revelation of Christ’s divine glory on Mount Tabor in Galilee
Three gospels report this scene. Not only did it happen but it was so important to our early church to the evangelists that three of them tell us the story.

St. Matthew writes, "he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow." Do you think this is a direct allusion to Deuteronomy? As the csi-ny guy says, it’s all connected…. Follow the connections. Give yourself the blessing of reading and meditating and following the bouncing revelations….

As Christ was transfigured, two others appeared with Him: Moses, representing the Old Testament Law, and Elijah, representing the prophets.

These representational interpretations help us fathom the miracle of Jesus’ revealing His essence and see that He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. But try to put your heads around the essence of this revelation on Tabor….

Matthew liked the “this is my beloved Son” line – he used it twice: also at the baptism by John. The Son of God as well as the Son of Man. Listen to Him….
Thus Christ, Who stood between the two and spoke with them, appeared to the disciples as the fulfillment of both the Law and the prophets.

Despite the importance of this event, the Feast of the Transfiguration was not among the earliest of the Christian feasts. It was celebrated in Asia starting in the fourth or fifth century and spread throughout the Christian East in the centuries following. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that it wasn't commonly celebrated in the West until the tenth century. To celebrate the great Christian victory at the Siege of Belgrade in 1456, during which the Muslim Turks were routed and the Islamic advance into Europe was halted, Pope Callixtus III elevated the Transfiguration to a feast of the universal Church and established August 6 as the date of its celebration.



From the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of US website:
Icon of the Feast - - you'll have to go to the site to see the icon....

In the icon of the Feast of the Transfiguration, Christ is the central figure (1.), appearing in a dominant position within a circular mandorla. He is clearly at the visual and theological center of the icon. His right hand is raised in blessing, and his left hand contains a scroll. The mandorla with its brilliant colors of white, gold, and blue represent the divine glory and light. The halo around the head of Christ is inscribed with the Greek words O on, meaning "The One Who is".


1. Christ appears in the center of the icon blessing with His right hand
and dressed in bright white robes (detail).
Elijah (2.) and Moses (3.) stand at the top of separate mountain peaks to the left and right of Christ. They are bowing toward Christ with their right hands raised in a gesture of intercession towards Him. Saint John Chrysostom explains the presence of these two fathers of the faith from the Old Testament in three ways. He states that they represent the Law and the Prophets (Moses received the Law from God, and Elijah was a great prophet); they both experienced visions of God (Moses on Mount Sinai and Elijah on Mount Carmel); and they represent the living and the dead (Elijah, the living, because he was taken up into heaven by a chariot of fire, and Moses, the dead, because he did experience death).

2. The Prophet Elijah, appears on Christ's right-hand side (detail).

3. Moses, who is seen holding the Ten Commandments, appears on Christ's left-hand side (detail).

Below Christ are the three Apostles, who by their posture in the icon show their response to the transfiguration of Christ (4.). James has fallen over backwards with his hands over his eyes. John in the center has fallen prostrate. Peter is kneeling and raises his right hand toward Christ in a gesture expressing his desire to build the three booths. The garments of the Apostles are in a state of disarray as to indicate the dramatic impact the vision has had on them.

4. The three Apostles who accompanied Christ to the moutain, Peter, John, and James, react to the vision of Christ's Transfiguration.

5. The garments of the Apostles are in state of disarray (detail). 6. The Apostle James reacts to the vision by falling to the ground and attempting to cover his eyes (detail).

The feast points to the great and glorious Second Coming of our Lord and the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God when all of creation will be transfigured and filled with light.


My roommate in college is Greek Orthodox. Growing up I had a couple of friends who were Greek Orthodox. There’s a lot about their rites and rituals and the stuff of their churches that are foreign to me, even in their majesty. But the icons, stylized renditions of events and people, the icons are worthy of not only your admiration but to be used as they are intended – to help you bring your full senses to the experience of, in this case, the Transfigured Christ….

Go for it….

I love you
Dad