Matthew 17:1-9 for the
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
At
the very center of what we are witnessing in the Gospel today, Peter tells Christ:
Lord,
it is good that we are here.
For
any of us, it would be the privilege of a lifetime to stand before Christ, to
see him with our own eyes, his body and his clothes shining like the sun.
But
he made a promise to be in our midst whenever even just two or three of us
should gather in his name.
So,
he is here now.
As
we witness his Gospel today, we have him with us.
We
are, then, real witnesses of his Transfiguration.
He
is here, revealing himself in his own Gospel.
We
are real witnesses of his Transfiguration.
Lord, it is good that we are here.
Today,
with Peter, James and John, we see Christ in the glory of the kingdom.
His
entire appearance changes— his body and his clothes shine like the sun.
Today
in his Gospel we hear him link his Transfiguration and his Resurrection by
telling Peter, James and John that they are not to speak of what they have seen
today until he has risen from the dead.
Each
year at Easter we witness and celebrate his resurrection.
Each
Easter, we, his baptized faithful, renew the vows of Baptism.
We
are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Today
in the Transfiguration, we are witnesses of all three of them, Father, Son and
Spirit.
First,
Christ the Son is here, his body and clothing revealing the light of heaven.
As
we stand before him, the embracing cloud of the Spirit adds its own
confirmation to the splendor of Christ.
Now
the Father speaks to us of Christ.
This is my beloved
Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.
We
have been baptized into the Father, the Son and the Spirit.
In
Baptism, God in Christ has brought us to the mountaintop of heaven and
enveloped us in the light of the Spirit.
In
Baptism, God in Christ has clothed us with the Spirit of adoption, so that God
already counts us as risen out of death into glory as his sons and daughters.
Through
Baptism, what we celebrate in the Transfiguration and the Resurrection is no
longer about Christ only.
It
is about the Father and the Spirit, and it is about our very selves.
That
the body of Christ and even his handmade clothing with its woven cloth, stitches
and seams should shine with heaven’s glory is a sign of the high dignity that
God has given to our human body, human life and human culture.
This is my beloved Son.
In
Christ, God has passed judgment on our world, and his is a judgment of
fatherhood and love.
It
is with great confidence, then, that we should face our lives in the world.
At
this very moment we are approaching the Eucharist.
In
this Blessed Sacrament, the same Body and Blood that shone in the
Transfiguration are really present.
In
this sacrament, Christ crucified bodily and bloodily, Christ dead and risen in Body
and Blood is really present.
In
this sacrament, he really and truly breathes out the Spirit of the Father upon
us, within us, in body, in spirit and in truth.
In
this sacrament, he gives us a share in his bodily resurrection and its meaning:
that the very life and glory of God himself dwells in and finally transfigures
the flesh and blood of his sons and daughters.
How
good it is to be here!
Lord, it is good that we are here.
Turn. Love. Repeat.
