THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD

"This is the moment when the whole Trinity appeared: 

The Father in the voice;

the Son in the Man; 

the Holy Spirit in the Shining Cloud" (St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III).              

                                           "THIS IS MY CHOSEN SON; LISTEN TO HIM."                        

"And behold, two men were conversing with Him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His exodus that He was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.

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                                            Then from the cloud came a voice that said,

                                          'THIS IS MY CHOSEN SON; LISTEN TO HIM.' " 

                                                          (LUKE 9:28-36).    

During the Transfiguration of the Lord, His Face "changed in appearance and His clothes became dazzling white."  Peter, James and John witnessed the Glory of God transfiguring the Sacred Humanity of Christ Jesus. But then, we are given cause to pause and wonder and be drawn into the discussion that was underway between the Lord and Moses and Elijah who "... spoke of His exodus that He was going to accomplish in Jerusalem."

                It is with utter shock that we begin to understand the meaning of this conversation.

Christ's "exodus" would begin on Holy Thursday evening. His suffering and brutal crucifixion would bring about the completion of the ancient Covenant by means of the required sacrifice of His Own Body on Good Friday. When discussion of Christ's Exodus entered the glorious moment of His Transfiguration, the brilliance of God's Glory held hidden the suffering He would endure during His Passion.

CHRIST JESUS' TRANSFIGURATION AND HIS SUFFERING DURING HIS PASSION ARE ONE.

In the horror of the Passion and brutal crucifixion, the brilliance of God's Glory was hidden in the depths of His unspeakable pain.

                     

             His Glory was never not present.

When we are being blessed with consolations from God that cause our souls to soar in holy joy, our times of suffering are hidden.

             They are never not present.

When we are gripped in sorrow, when we're enveloped in a darkness that suggests the absence of God, when we are engulfed in the depths of spiritual desolations, the glory of God's consolations are hidden in our pain. 

              

            His consolations are never not present. 

"Does He not see our anguish and the burden that weighs us down? Why does He not come and comfort us? ...He knows that it is the only means of preparing us to know Him as He knows Himself, and to become ourselves Divine!" (St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face)

As we sit with Peter, James and John on Tabor, silenced and silent in the Shadows cast from the shining Cloud, in the Presence of the Holy Trinity, what do we hear Christ Jesus say to us when we do what Our Father asks of us...

                    

            "Listen to Him".

A Lenten Reflection

                                              The treasures of Lent beckon us. 

What will we "give up"? 

What will we "take up"?

We may spend these weeks meditating on the Figure of Good Friday.

We may look at the brutal suffering He endured.

We may discover we prefer to observe Him from a safe distance, viewers, who watch His Passion, afraid to get too close, even when He falls. 

And we may then be given to reflect on the words St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face:

"How few there are who accept failure and weakness, few who are content to see themselves on the ground and to be found there by others."

Or, we may get as close to His Mother as we possibly can just to comfort her with our presence and our prayer and our love as she walks every step with Him, in His sights at every moment.

And so we may then find ourselves released from our fear of proximity to such suffering and instead to meditate on the endless outpouring of Self-Lavishing Love that took Him there into that horror, for us.

And finally we may find growing within ourselves a burning desire to stand, walk,  be as close as we possibly can to this majestic Figure of Incarnate Love as He walks in our place to His Death. 

"I should not consider any spirituality worthwhile that would walk in sweetness and ease and run from the Imitation of Christ." (St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel)

        AND IN HIS HIDDEN BEAUTY, WE BEGIN TO FIND OUR LENTEN TREASURES.