Transfiguration Of The Lord Reflection
Franciscan Reflections From The Hermitage – Transfiguration Of The Lord – (Matthew 17:1-9)
The feast is celebrated on August 6. This was the date of the dedication of the first church built on Mount Tabor, which is traditionally considered to be the “high mountain” of the Transfiguration. Others locate the Transfiguration on Mount Hermon or the Mount of Olives
… there was solitude, the height of the mountain, great quietness, a transfiguration full of awe, a pure light and a cloud stretched out (Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria).
Canterbury Cathedral… A beautiful pearl of timeless prayer in an ever-changing vista of colour and moods… truly beautiful and glorious… awesome.
A lucid recognition of a procession of people, slowly beginning then ever quickening from those close to family and friends in a distant homeland … from the living to those long since gone in the train of ancestors.
Falling into the forgotten past. The great events and people of history and their crumbling monuments slip through moments of awareness into the blazing explosion of galaxies and stars.
Another moment and then a churning fall through the brilliant light into the abyss of Stygian darkness… no up or down… no this way or that… the emptiness of nowhere and the desolation of unknowing. A giddy, nauseous falling into darkness, a ‘letting go of letting go’. NOTHING to hold on to.
This was an experience of cold, grey; joyless and hopeless. Everything that had been important becomes absolutely meaningless. Functioning in such a sea of despair was impossible during this period of desolation.
The apostles Peter, James and John recognise the glory of God in Jesus beyond fear through a tear in the fabric of their reality. They see the dead who are alive and who talk to the living. Their truth is torn away in an instant and the illusions are gone and Truth who is Light revealed.
It is the touch of the Light that is within us that transforms our reality so that we may see the Light of God’s Being that is reflected in every grain of sand, blade of grass and moment of history. Something must die… something must be given away … sacrificed so that transformation can take place. This is our Transfiguration also… to see past death to the life that lies beyond… only then can we be freed from all fear and move into joy and awe that can never end.
Each glorious moment of encounter, each glorious achievement already contains in its moment the seeds of fear knowing that all comes to an end and knows decay.
“We fear that this moment will end, that we won’t get what we need, that we will lose what we love, or that we will not be safe. Often, our biggest fear is the knowledge that one day our bodies will cease functioning. So even when we are surrounded by all the conditions for happiness, our joy is not complete.”
Only this grace of sacrifice, this “death” can lead us beyond all the beautiful glories that are our fading idols, the accolades that we hoard in our little treasure chest; these posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position.
In Christ is the Light that gives light. In Christ is the Life that gives life. In Christ is the Truth that gives Wisdom. In Christ, we too are transfigured, becoming transformed beings. In Christ we see our own glory reflected in each bead of creation. Even through dimming vision or blinded eyes like St Francis, the Light of Christ is always burning … and so our joy is complete.
The Transfiguration speaks to each one of us… an ending… a new and glorious re-birth… a redemption.
- The Church Year and Advent - December 1, 2024
- Easter Sunday Reflection: The Way – Love Overcomes Violence & Death - March 29, 2024
- Palm Sunday Reflection: Re-Espousing And Anointing - March 22, 2024
