AUGUST 6, 2017
7:30 AM, 9:00 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES
12:00 NOON EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS
In 2002, Pope St. John Paul II wrote the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, in which he proposed the Luminous Mysteries – or the Mysteries of Light. Those being five significant moments in the life and ministry of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Luminous Mysteries are:
- Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan,
- His first miracle at the Wedding of Cana,
- His proclamation of the Kingdom of God,
- His Transfiguration, and
- His institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.
Historically, it was elevated to a Feast by Pope Callixtus III in celebration of the victory at the Battle of Belgrade in 1496.
In the Orthodox tradition, the Transfiguration is one of the 12 Great Feasts; while the Copts consider the Transfiguration one of the 7 Minor Feasts, albeit a joyful one.
The basic understanding of the Transfiguration is that it is an event in Jesus’ life … the revelation of His Divinity to three disciples … as a way to balance … or to offset … the sorrow or sadness of His passion, crucifixion, and death … by showing forth His glory and His divinity.
The Transfiguration is also a Trinitarian moment in the Life of Christ as recorded in the three synoptic Gospels. Jesus, indeed is present … the voice of the Father is present … and the Holy Spirit is present in the radiance and luminescence of glory.
The Transfiguration also reveals for us aspects of the Liturgy.
Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets – a symbol of the entire Old Testament.
And the Gospels in the Person of Jesus, as well as the Epistles – six of which were written by Peter, James, and John … symbolizing the New Testament.
Indeed, Christ’s presence in one sense can be seen as the Gospel reading – but even moreso in His Transfiguration, we see a foreshadowing of His presence in the Most Holy Eucharist.
Yet, regarding the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor … we may make the mistake of thinking that Jesus is somehow being changed.
But God is un-changeable.
The real transfiguration occurs to the three Apostles … in three very significant ways.
First: through the action of the Holy Spirit their eyes are opened to a fuller revelation of the divinity of Jesus Christ … a spiritual enlightenment which we all share through the graces of Baptism.
With their eyes of Faith thus opened, they are able to share with Christ’s in the glory of the Most Holy Trinity – which transforms them … and all of us … into living icons of Christ through the action of the Trinitarian life in us.
And then filled with the power of the Spirit, and more intimately united with Christ, they … and we … are drawn into an even deeper union with Christ … and with each other … and with the Church – sharing in the divine filiation as daughters and sons of God the Father.
And so, the Transfiguration is more about our own relationship with the Triune God … and is manifested in the Eucharistic liturgy: Christ’s sacrificial offering to the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Through our actual participation in this work of God … and through our worthy reception of the Eucharist … we are transformed through the same Spirit into the Mystical Body of Christ … uniting us as members of that body to Christ our head.
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ … may we be transfigured and transformed … through the infinite graces flowing from this altar … into a deeper relationship of fellowship with the Most Holy Trinity … Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
