Every year during Lent, the Church reads the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus. And every few years, the actual liturgical Feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, falls on a Sunday. So we get to proclaim and reflect upon this wonderful reading, this event in the Life of Christ, twice. And, if you are devotee of the rosary, which every Catholic really should be, we reflect on this great event even more often, as the 4th Luminous Mystery.
In the Year of the Rosary 2002, Pope St. John Paul II made history. He proposed five new mysteries to the devotion of the Holy Rosary, the five luminous mysteries. For nearly 800 years, the rosary had been comprised of the 15 joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries. With the Luminous mysteries, we would now meditate upon Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan, his presence at the wedding at Cana, his preaching of the Kingdom and calling sinners to repentance, his Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and the institution of the Sacrament of Eucharist at the Last Supper.
Pope St. John Paul explained that each of these luminous mysteries “is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus.” In each of those events, the baptism of Jesus, the wedding at Cana, his preaching and miracle working throughout the Holy Land, his transfiguration, and the Eucharist, the veil that separates earth and heaven is drawn back, we in this earthly life catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven, the reality of God. In these events we see God at work, ushering in something new in human history: the revelation that God is Three-in-One, the revelation that he has come to destroy the works of the devil, the inauguration of a ministry of mercy.
And Pope St. John Paul called the Transfiguration “the mystery of light par excellence.” Listen to his words: “The mystery of light par excellence is the Transfiguration, traditionally believed to have taken place on Mount Tabor. The glory of the Godhead shines forth from the face of Christ as the Father commands the astonished Apostles to "listen to him" and to prepare to experience with him the agony of the Passion, so as to come with him to the joy of the Resurrection and a life transfigured by the Holy Spirit.”
So what does the Transfiguration reveal about God? It reveals that the light of Christ will guide us through trials of life, IF, we listen to Him. And IF, we are faithful during the sufferings and trials of life, IF we listen to Him, our earthly journey will lead to everlasting life with God, where we will gaze upon the face of Christ in the eternal kingdom.
In the document in which St. John Paul instituted the Luminous mysteries, he used the phrase “the face of Christ” nine times. Praying the rosary is so powerful because it helps us contemplate the face of Christ: the face of Christ which radiated the light of God on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus’ face—radiating his majesty as the Son of God—was burned into the minds of Peter, James, and John, who would play such important roles in the early Church. His luminous and glorious face would support them as they were arrested, tortured, and faced their own crosses.
The Pope said, “To look upon the face of Christ, to recognize its mystery amid the daily events and the sufferings of His human life, and then to grasp the divine splendor definitively revealed in the Risen Lord...is the task of every follower of Christ" What is our task? To look upon the face of Christ and recognize it in the events of our own life.
Do you believe that God wants to show you the face of Christ in your daily life? In your marriage? In your financial struggles? In the joys of parenthood? In times of doubt and sadness?
IF we are to recognize his face in the daily events of life, we must grow more familiar with his face through prayer. The Pope wrote this document on the Rosary, because the rosary helps us to do just that. At the heart of the rosary, is not simply the repetition of all those rote prayers, but quieting down the mind and heart so that we can gaze upon the face of Christ. We meditate on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary, so that we can discover Jesus with us through our earthly journey.
When we contemplate the face of Christ we are filled with his light, and become ready to face the trials of our life and the difficult task of witnessing to the Gospel and building up the Church in our own dark age. We receive a guiding light for this earthly pilgrimage through our own dark valleys. Many people complain that God remains hidden to them, but they never engage in the sort of prayer life that exposes them to His light. But again, in order to receive this light, you must climb Mt. Tabor yourself. No one can make that journey for you. I can tell about the face of Jesus. I can celebrate a reverent liturgy. But each of us must make that effort ourselves, to seek out the face of Christ through daily prayer, reflection upon the sacred scriptures, and the Holy Rosary.
Padre Pio said, “The Rosary is the weapon for these times.” Concerned about the darkness in the world, in your life, in the lives of your family and friends? Pray the rosary. Expose the darkness to the light.
St. John Paul quoted in his document on the rosary, Blessed Bartolomeo Longo, a great and saintly devotee of the rosary. He wrote, “Just as two friends, frequently in each other's company, tend to develop similar habits, so too, by holding familiar converse with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the extent of our lowliness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme models a life of humility, poverty, hiddenness, patience and perfection”
Pray the rosary. Seek the face of Christ. Conform yourself to Him, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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