Blog & Pastor Letters

The Transfiguration

03-05-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Edward Linton

The Renaissance artist Raphael painted the Transfiguration scene that we hear in the Gospel today. If you have been to the Vatican Museum in Rome, you have seen this painting. If you have been Saint Peter’s Basilica, you have seen a mosaic copy of this painting to the left of the baldachin. If you haven’t been to Rome, google “transfiguration” and you will see it immediately. Many call this the greatest work of art ever painted!

Raphael’s painting is tall. It is twelve and a half feet in height. Since the canvas is so tall, Raphael was able to paint two distinct scenes. On the upper part of the canvas, he shows what happened on the top of the mountain. Jesus is transfigured. His face is bright. He is floating in the air. Everything is light and airy. Moses and Elijah are conversing with him, while Peter, James, and John hide their faces in fear.

On the lower part of the canvas, Raphael shows what was happening at the bottom of the mountain where the other disciples waited. While the scene on top of the mountain is bright, the scene of the bottom of the mountain is dark. While the scene on the top of the mountain is tranquil, the scene of the bottom of the mountain is chaotic. A father has brought his son, who is possessed by a demon to the apostles at the bottom of the mountain. But the disciples are unable to heal the boy. He throws his arms in the air while his father looks on with a mixture of fear and disappointment while persevering in hope. Meanwhile, many of the disciples fling their arms in frenzied confusion. One feverishly scans a book, looking for an answer, while another urgently points to Christ on the mountain. Indeed, we cannot understand what happened on top of the mountain without remembering what was happening at the bottom of the mountain.

Christ has come to save us from the confusion of life.
Christ has come to save us from the hardships of life.
Christ has called us to a holy life so that we might be forever saved, even from the torments of this life.

Of course, suffering remains in our world. There is no need to look too hard for it. Even this reading from Saint Matthew’s Gospel understands this, since it tells of how the disciples could not heal the boy themselves. Even while Christ was being transfigured, suffering remained in the world. But we can say that Jesus was transfigured to offer us hope. Jesus was transfigured to give us a glimpse of the glory that is to come. Christ was transfigured to give his disciples a glimpse of his future resurrection. Christ was transfigured to give his followers a glimpse into how faith in him will transform the world.

I once knew a woman named Mary in a parish where I served. Mary was a very poor woman. She was poor in nearly every respect. She was materially poor. She was poor emotionally since she was abused as a child. She had no family. She had been married for a short time, but he abused her and left her. Yes, Mary was poor in many ways. But Mary’s faith erased all of that and made her feel like the richest woman in the world. She was always the first one in church and the last one to leave. She was always the first to volunteer to serve the poor, to visit the sick, to comfort the grieving. Mary’s faith gave her a glimpse of the glory that was to come for her! You can say that Mary was transformed in the midst of those who worshiped with her Sunday after Sunday. Seeing Mary transformed in the midst of our brutal and hard world gave each and all hope for our own transfigurations.

During this season of Lent, we undergo penitential practices. We don’t undergo these practices simply to suffer. We don’t undergo these practices to lose weight or to get healthy. We undergo these practices to make room for the Lord who transforms our lives with his presence. So, on a Friday during Lent when you have just finished a delicious hamburger because you forgot that it was Friday, don’t get upset with yourself. Think of it as a tap on your shoulder from Jesus. Think of it as Jesus asking you, “Do you remember me? Will you make time for me?” Because when we make time for Jesus, he transforms our lives!

The Good News is that Christ came to transform us! The Good News of this Gospel is that Christ has called us to a holy life so that we might be forever saved, even from the torments of this life.

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