The WORD in other words by Fr Dionisio Miranda SVD – Divine Word Seminary Tagaytay
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord – A, August 6
One of the recurring pleasures of a school head is handing out diplomas and certificates at graduation. True, some students come onstage nervous and tense, but they often come down the stairs grinning from ear to ear. Parents called to pin medals on their kids are particularly happy; the joy, contentment, and pride radiate from their faces. Everyone is resplendent in their new shirts and pants, first high heels or jewelry, fresh haircut or makeup, and so on.
Specially touching for me was a widow, clearly of modest background and means, who accompanied her son with unassuming dignity and deep pride shining from her eyes. It was she who made me ponder the extraordinary sacrifices parents often make to give their children the best education they can afford, and thus have every right to savor the psychic rewards of their own “graduation.” Seeking her out after the ceremonies, it was clear that hers came close to what psychologists call a “peak experience” since she virtually recreated the presence of a husband and father lost too early.
Even among peak experiences, a very rare and special type is the “liminal experience,” where a person senses oneself crossing the threshold between the visible and invisible, when time stands still while the past fuses with the present, and both with the future. Imagine a mother gazing with wonder and love at her sleeping infant and realize its allusion to that moment when one comes face-to-face with the Holy.
Evidently, those human experiences cannot compare with the transcendental experience of Jesus as he was baptized by John in the Jordan. The heavens majestically opened, and the Father unconditionally embraced his beloved Son. Both of them relished the gravity of the mission Jesus was accepting. Since then, three years had swiftly passed, and the mission was maturing to its climax. The decision to enter Jerusalem now was so vital that the Father must have felt the need (or so we can only humanly imagine) to reassure Jesus that he remained the Beloved Son and that Abba stood by him in seeing his mission through to the end.
At our baptism into the Church, we are also declared as the beloved sons and daughters of God through Jesus. Whether we actually grow to deserve the same title in the course of our lives and towards the close of our earthly journey depends on our acceptance and fidelity to the mission we realize we have received from our Father-God. Our own transformation lies therein, with or without the benefit of a transfiguring experience.
