My dear friends in Christ,
The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported in the New Testament when Jesus is revealed in all His glory upon a mountain. On the mountain, Jesus begins to shine with bright rays of light. Then the prophets, Moses and Elijah, appear next to Him and He speaks with them. At the time of the Transfiguration, Jesus’ earthly ministry was coming to a close. He had acknowledged that He was the Messiah and predicted His Death and Resurrection. He revealed Himself to Peter, James, and John and told them not to tell anyone until after His Resurrection. The Transfiguration provides further evidence that Jesus was the divine Son of God. It is not coincidental that this happened soon after Jesus had acknowledged Himself to be the Christ, the one who left heaven’s glory to come to earth. One could only wonder what it would have been like to stand there on the Mount of the Transfiguration and witness such a miraculous event. Would we be able to realize that the Trinity had made itself known? As St. Thomas Aquinas put it: “The whole Trinity appeared: The Father in the Voice; the Son in the Man; and the Holy Spirit in the shining cloud” (Summa Theologiae, III, 45, 4ad 2). The Transfiguration allows us to experience the Second Coming of Jesus even before it happens in History! When Jesus returns in glory at the End of Time, our bodies will be like His. We are warned that we might have to suffer and be persecuted in order to enter the Kingdom of God.
May God bless you all!
Fr. John