The WORD in other words (2009) by Fr Antonio Pernia, SVD – Rome, Italy
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord – C
Tabor and Gethsemane. In both places, Jesus came to pray. To both places, he took with him the same three disciples – Peter, James and John. In one he was “transfigured”. In the other he was “disfigured”.
In the garden, Jesus prayed and saw the horror of his imminent passion. “His sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground.” An angel of the Lord appeared to him to strengthen him. The disciples were sound asleep “from grief.” On the mountain, Jesus prayed and saw the splendor of his promised resurrection. “His face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning.” Moses and Elijah appeared talking with him. The disciples were “heavy with sleep but kept awake”.
Tabor must be seen along with Gethsemane. For the transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor took place precisely in order to throw light on his passion and death which began in the garden of Gethsemane. The transfiguration allowed the disciples to get a glimpse of what lay beyond the agony in the garden and the death on Calvary. Jesus’ passion and death are not a cause for despair but a reason to hope. For Jesus’ passion and death are the necessary path to true transfiguration in the resurrection to new life.
The transfiguration transformed not only Jesus but also his disciples. The experience on Mount Tabor gave the disciples a new perspective, a new mentality, a new way of looking at things. They begin to see Jesus in a new light – no longer just the itinerant prophet from Galilee, but the Christ, the Savior of the world. With the transfiguration of Jesus, the disciples learned to see the world with the eyes of Lord. Seen with the eyes of the Lord, suffering and death no longer signify defeat and failure, but privileged means toward glorious resurrection and true life.
The Feast of the Transfiguration invites us to open ourselves to the transfiguration of our way of looking at the world. It invites us to learn to look at the world with the eyes of God. Indeed, how different would our world be if we all learned to see it with the eyes of God. For under the gaze of God’s eyes, enemies would become friends, separating walls would become open doors, strangers would become brothers or sisters, borders would become bridges, diversity would lead not to differences but to unity. A transfigured world begins with our transfigured way of looking at it.
But a transfigured way of looking at the world can only result from an attentive listening to the Word of God. “This is my son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.”
