Jijo Kandamkulathy, CMF
Claretian Publications, Macau
FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD
Mt 17:1-9
Today we read in the Gospel of the Transfiguration of Christ. Jesus took Peter, James and John, the closer companions, up the mountain to pray. It was probably not the first time. Jesus may have inculcated in them the habit of praying alone, quite different from the usual Jewish traditions. That day, unusually, he was transfigured. His figure, His clothes, His face, all began shining. It was as if the veil of His humanity moved away from His face for a while, and his divinity was shining through in the sight of His close disciples.
We cannot forget how Moses went up to the mountain and met God in a similar way. On his return, he had to use a veil to cover the brightness of his face. Moses was somehow reflecting the radiance of God. For Jesus, it was not just the face, but His whole body was transfigured. These are changes that happen to people who encounter the Father.
The disciples, meanwhile, experienced the presence of Moses and Elijah with them. It was euphoric. They wanted to build booths there, to freeze the moment, like taking a selfie or a screenshot of the moment to make it eternal and live there in that experience. “Templing the experience” is how my friend, Fr. Paulson CMF, wrote about this moment. They wanted to preserve the experience. He said it is futile as someone trying to capture the mist of the Niagara in a bottle, or like the old game of children trying to capture sunshine in a matchbox.
Their proposal came from a dreamlike sleep. “Sleep” is the term the scripture uses for lack of perception of the gravity of the situation. We read about the sleeping virgins, sleeping stewards, sleeping servants, sleeping disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, all referring to the failure to recognize the gravity of the moment. To live in the glorious moment forever is one of the temptations that Jesus faced emerging from Peter to which Jesus did not respond. Jesus tells him later that he would have to undergo a violent death. After the Transfiguration, Jesus brings them down to reality to the foot of the mountain.
Beyond the theological meditations of this text, it is also pertinent to think over: when do our faces begin to look like that of God? When can we radiate the light of God to others? When do people begin to think that in us they see God? It requires a huge transubstantiation in us. This is a term we use for the change that occurs in the host during the Consecration in the Mass. The essence of the host is transformed into the essence of Christ. When our substance is converted to a divine profile, a change occurs in us too. Our substance changes when we think and feel like Christ. Our appearance changes when we do what Christ did.
Mother Teresa had developed this divine countenance. When someone asked her, “For a million-dollars, I would not do the kind of job that you do.” She replied, “Nor will I. But I do this because I see the suffering Christ in every one of them.” Some of these poor people called Mother Teresa, God, goddess and other names equivalent to divinity. It is the mystery of transfiguration. When we are able to see the face of God in the poor, in the suffering, they too see the face of God in us. It is the experience of Christ meeting Christ, the experience of the suffering Christ meeting the compassionate Christ.
This is the mirror effect of a genuine spiritual transfiguration of life. It happens through a long process of polishing ourselves. It is much like the practice of making old-fashioned metallic mirrors. After making the shape of the mirror with molten metal in a mould, the craftsman begins to polish the surface with different objects for days until one sees one’s own face reflected without a blemish on the surface.
We have all been made in the image and likeness of God. That face has been blemished by our human perspectives. Our lives need a lot of polishing until we can see the face of God mirrored in the poor, in the needy. The moment that we begin to see the face of God in the other, that is the moment they are able to see God’s face in our faces too.
The polishing most poignantly is perfect when we become like God in acts of mercy. Jesus tells us, be merciful like your heavenly Father is merciful. Jesus taught this value when He narrated the last judgment story. Have you been merciful when I was hungry, thirsty, lonely and naked? Now we know where we need the grinding and polishing! Lent is one of the best times to do it. But we must begin today!
Indebted to Fr. Fernando Armellini SCJ
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