What lies ahead in your life?

GLIMPSES OF THE BEYOND

Mt. 17:1-9

How fortunate the Apostles Peter, James and John were!  The three of them were chosen by Jesus to be taken up Mount Tabor - and they saw Him transfigured.  But we shall have to wait until we reach Heaven to know why the other nine were not given the privilege of being present at this momentous event!  In the Preface of the Transfiguration Mass we are told that Jesus took them up the mountain “to manifest to them His glory, to show, even by the testimony of the law and the prophets, that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection.”

Throughout the Bible the idea of Faith involves at least some things that cannot be seen.  It is partially defined, therefore, as trusting in what we cannot see.  We see this faith exercised by Abraham, when God said to him, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”  Granted, God promised to make him a great nation, to make his name great, and to protect him, but Abraham was leaving everything he had ever known, not knowing what lay ahead.  And he was seventy-five years old!  It is no wonder that Abraham became the enduring example of faith and was called “the father of faith.”

Another example, from the New Testament, is in 2 Timothy when Paul encourages him to rely on the power of God and on Jesus Christ, “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.”  In other words, Timothy was being encouraged to have faith, not just in the testimonies of other believers, but in the glorious future made known in Jesus Christ.

These are just two of the many Biblical examples of faith that have an unfinished and future dimension to them.  The God who is our Creator and Redeemer prepares a transcendent future for the faithful ... that eyes have not seen, nor ears heard.  Today we share this perspective. 

For despite the goodness of all that has been revealed by the prophets, the life of Jesus Himself and the teaching authority of the Catholic Church for 2,000 years we, too, await a full and final manifestation of God’s glory.  These three Apostles had come to know Jesus better than we ever could and yet, as is clear from the Gospel account, what they saw and heard was beyond anything they had known or contemplated.  And they wanted to stay where they were in the hope that the experience would last forever.

What happened was that Jesus went with Peter, James and John up Mount Tabor to pray - and the most amazing thing occurred.  Jesus is transformed into an otherworldly reality, His face shining like the sun and His clothes dazzling white.  Then long-dead Moses and Elijah appear talking with Him.  A voice from Heaven says, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with Him I am well pleased; listen to Him!”  Then it ends and Jesus tells them not to mention what happened to anyone until after His death.

What seems obvious is that Moses and Elijah personify the two major streams of Old Testament tradition:  the Law and the Prophets.  The fact that Jesus is the central figure is clearly intended to show both His relation to Moses and Elijah, and His superiority to them.  The Transfiguration lasted only moments, but it revealed what was ultimately true about Jesus and about the biblical history now fulfilled in Him.

Knowing what we know now the Transfiguration was both timely and understandable.  Jesus had just blessed Peter’s confession of faith as the foundation rock of His coming church, and told the disciples of His approaching death - and it was obviously intended to strengthen them and inspire them as the events of the Passover weekend unfolded.  Writing his Gospel as an old man many years later Saint John wrote, "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Son of the Father".  Clearly the Transfiguration was a glimpse of the beyond. 

Not surprisingly, it was far beyond their own experiences, however, for when God spoke, they fell face down on the ground in fear.  That is how we would react, too, if we did not receive Him under the appearance of a simple wafer of bread in Holy Communion but had to approach Him at the altar, shining brightly like the morning sun and dressed in garments glistening intensely white.  God humbled Himself by becoming Man and being born in a stable 2,000 years ago - and He humbles Himself at every Mass so that we might come to know Him by receiving the spiritual food that our souls need to sustain us as His disciples in a pagan world.

Holy Spirit, give us the knowledge and understanding that will inspire us to realise that it is not God’s reluctance to reveal more of Himself to us, but our failure to see more deeply into the things we take for granted.

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