As a glorious preview of his Resurrection, Christ’s appearance dramatically and temporarily changed in front of his closest Apostles on Mt. Tabor. The events of the Transfiguration revealed that Jesus is the divine Son of God.
Soon after Peter proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah and only a week after Jesus first predicted his own passion and death, Peter, James, and John witnessed Jesus’ face change while He spoke with Moses and Elijah on the mountain.
The three Apostles then heard God the Father call Jesus his Beloved Son for the second time.
Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents the prophets. Their presence at the Transfiguration shows that Jesus is the fulfillment of all that had been promised in the Old Covenant.
The Transfiguration of Jesus is the 4th Luminous Mystery of the Rosary and is recounted in all three of the synoptic Gospels. The story is always read on the 2nd Sunday of Lent as a reminder of the gift of hope.
The Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord each year on August 6.
The Gospels give different accounts:
Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone.
Matthew 17: 1-8
Jesus fulfills everything in the Old Testament:
A new Moses on a new mountain:
Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets:
Today, the liturgy invites us to focus our gaze on this mystery of light. On the transfigured face of Jesus a ray of light which He held within shines forth. This same light was to shine on Christ’s face on the day of the Resurrection. In this sense, the Transfiguration appears as a foretaste of the Paschal Mystery. The Transfiguration invites us to open the eyes of our hearts to the mystery of God’s light, present throughout salvation history. At the beginning of creation, the Almighty had already said: “Fiat lux – let there be light!”, and the light was separated from the darkness. Like the other created things, light is a sign that reveals something of God: it is, as it were, a reflection of his glory which accompanies its manifestations. When God appears, “his brightness was like the light, rays flashed from his hand”.
Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus Address, 6 August 2006
What happened to Jesus could happen to us:
His Father is our Father:
The Transfiguration gives us reason to hope:
The mystery of the Transfiguration strengthens faith:
For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter’s confession. He also reveals that He will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to “enter into his glory”. Moses and Elijah had seen God’s glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets had announced the Messiah’s sufferings. Christ’s Passion is the will of the Father: the Son acts as God’s servant; The cloud indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. “The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining cloud.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 555
Worshipping at the site of Jesus’ Transfiguration high on Mt. Tabor:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Teaching night and day, face to face:
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