Today we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of the
Lord. Why? Why August 6? It seems like such a random day. We read the account
of the Lord’s Transfiguration of Mount Tabor every year on the 2nd
Sunday of Lent, but Scripture is not clear that the Transfiguration took place
near Good Friday, only that the Transfiguration occurred shortly after the Lord
made his first prediction of his Passion.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the feast was
adopted in the liturgy about the tenth century in many dioceses, and was
celebrated mostly on 6 August. In 1456, Pope Callixtus III extended the feast
to the Universal Church in memory of a victory over the Ottoman Turks in
Belgrade on August 6, 1456.
Many have noted that August 6 is 40 days prior to the feast
of the Exultation of the Cross, which is a much older feast, going back to
Constantine’s dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in
335.
And that explanation makes sense to me, the Transfiguration
cannot really be understood apart from the cross.
The Transfiguration occurs in Luke’s Gospel directly after
Christ calls His followers to pick up their Cross and follow Him: “If any man
would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and
follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his
life for my sake, he will save it.”
The liturgy itself makes this connection. In the Eucharistic
preface, we will hear that Jesus “revealed his glory in the presence of chosen
witnesses and filled with the greatest splendor his bodily form which he shares
with all humanity, that the scandal of the Cross might be removed from the
hearts of his disciples”.
The Lord foretells how being his disciple includes carrying
a cross, suffering, enduring challenge and trial, and dying to self in order to
accomplish the Father’s will. And yet, in the Transfiguration, the Lord gives
us a glimpse of heavenly glory. St. Paul writes to the Romans, that we have
been made “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.”
Heavenly glory awaits those who are willing to suffer with
Christ to accomplish God’s will on earth. This is why we labor and toil and
risk persecution. The promise of heaven. The cross is the road to
transfiguration.
May we bear our crosses with faith, hope, and live, dying to
self, that we may live for God, dying with Christ, that we may live with Him
forever, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
For the Church, that inspired by the glimpse of glory
revealed in Christ's Transfiguration, we may have the courage to take up our
crosses daily. Let us pray to the Lord.
For our parish community, that our participation in the
Eucharist may transfigure us and provide us the strength to bear witness to
Christ in our daily lives. Let us pray to the Lord.
For those facing trials and sufferings, that they may find
strength and consolation in the promise of Christ's glory, just as the apostles
were strengthened for the journey ahead. Let us pray to the Lord.
For those who have died, that they may share in the fullness
of Christ's glory in heaven, which was glimpsed on Mount Tabor, especially N,
for whom this mass is offered. Let us pray to the Lord.
Heavenly Father, You revealed the glory of Your Son on Mount
Tabor, strengthening the disciples for the journey ahead. As we bring these
petitions before You, transfigure our hearts with Your grace, that we may
faithfully bear our crosses and reflect Your light in the world.
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