Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen. (Luke 9.28b-36)
The transfiguration was an absolutely amazing event. It is an experience where words truly fail us, and you just had to be there! I was. Really. Not on the top of a mountain during a trip to the Holy Lands. Not in a quiet moment of contemplative prayer.
It was in a hospital room visiting a young teenage boy, who was dying. We spent time talking. Actually, he talked – I listened. And he shared with me how very afraid he was of dying, afraid that he would never see, or be with, his Mom and Dad, his sisters and brothers, how he feared the loneliness. Yet in the course of those visits, something changed. As he and I shared our thoughts about life and about death, about love and about God, he lost his fear of death. He lost his fear of being alone.
He was transfigured.
And the change was palpable, was real. You could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice. Oh, how we cherished the moments we spent with him. How the visits with him brought his family, the nurses, the doctors, and me, a sense of peace. How we were inspired. How we, too, were transfigured. His room became a sacred space, a grace-filled space. And how we longed to stay in that space with him.
But just as Peter, James and John came down from the mountain, so too did we. Just as Jesus began his journey toward Jerusalem and his death, so too did this young boy. And when that young boy died, we entered, really, viscerally, into the valley of the shadow of death. Yet, our journey in that valley was made somehow less painful because of our encountering of this boy’s transfiguration. We, in the midst of the shadows of grief, saw the light of hope. The presence of God.
You see, the transfiguration was not just an event that occurred 2000 years ago. It is an event that continues to occur in every day and age, if we but open our eyes to see it. An event that not only reveals God’s presence to us in Jesus’ transfiguration, it also transfigures us, and it transfigures the world through us.
Jesus transfigured, God’s presence revealed, in the heart of that dying boy.
Jesus transfigured, God’s presence revealed, in the wrinkled hands of the elderly person we take time to sit with……
Jesus transfigured, God’s presence revealed, in the broken spirits and troubled minds of the people we lend a listening ear to ………
Jesus transfigured, God’s presence revealed, when we share the gifts of our time and our love with those in need.
Jesus transfigured, God’s presence revealed, in the people who allow us to touch their lives……..
Jesus transfigured, God’s presence revealed, in the Eucharist that we share…..
Jesus transfigured, God’s presence revealed, in us, when we open our hearts to let God’s spirit touch us and share God’s tender compassion to those he places in our path through life