Feast of Transfiguration

Homily by Fr. Jerry Cusumano, SJ
Feast of Transfiguration [A] at 12 Noon Mass
St. Ignatius Church, Tokyo

The Miracle of the Transfiguration

 During his Public Life, Jesus performed many astounding miracles. However, none of those miracles are as astounding as the miracle of the Transfiguration. It is totally unique because it is not a miracle that Jesus performs for or on someone else. Rather it is a miracle that happens to Jesus himself. Thomas Aquinas called it the greatest miracle because it showed the perfection of life in heaven. 

And yet, seen from a different point of view, it is not so much a new miracle as the temporary cessation of an ongoing miracle, namely, the veiling of divine glory in the humanity of Jesus. Miraculously the Son of God became man, and miraculously His divinity was hidden in His humanity, and now miraculously that divinity is allowed to show through for a few moments on the top of a mountain.

To call attention to the greatness of this feast St. John Paul II added the Transfiguration to the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary which he proclaimed in the year 2002.


The Transfiguration according to Matthew (Mt. 17, 1-9)

The Gospel for today’s mass is taken from Matthew so let us look more carefully at his account.

  1. Mountain
    Jesus takes his three apostles up a mountain because the mountain is where human nature meets God, and Jesus himself is the connecting point. They will be given a glimpse of the glory the Son has in heaven in order to fortify them for the coming pain of seeing Jesus suffer and die. Peter wishes to stay in the realm of glory rather than face the suffering so he offers to build three tents on the mountain.
     
  2. “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.”
    These are the same words uttered from the cloud at the baptism of Jesus. However, now they are addressed not to Jesus but to the three apostles witnessing the transformation of Jesus. The Father is instructing the apostles directly. “Up to now you have listened to Moses, the great Lawgiver, and Elijah, the great Prophet, but now I want you to listen to my Son.” 
     
  3. “It is good for us to be here.”
    The apostles have witnessed many miracles of Jesus and listened to his teaching many times, but nowhere do they manifest a reaction as strongly as here. Peter exclaims out of sheer joy that it is good for them to be there on the mountain with Jesus.

“You are my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well pleased.”


The words from the cloud are addressed not only to Jesus but to each and every one of us. The voice is not that of an angry God, but of a God who is pleased with you and me. “You are my beloved” without any strings attached, without any conditions to be met. This is the unconditional love that Moses and Elijah tried to convey to Israel, and that Jesus showed on behalf of all by his life and death.


Human beings also are capable of great love. We have only to think of those who marry and promise to take care of each other till death no matter what may happen. We see all around us the sacrifices parents make for their children day after day. And at times we see heroic acts of self sacrifice of our fellow human beings even to the laying down one’s life for another. And yet these human loves still remain far removed from the voice from the cloud addressed to us.