20250806 PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION THROUGH DISCERNING PRAYER
06 August 2025, Wednesday, The Transfiguration of the Lord
First reading |
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 |
His robe was white as snow
As I watched:
Thrones were set in place
and one of great age took his seat.
His robe was white as snow,
the hair of his head as pure as wool.
His throne was a blaze of flames,
its wheels were a burning fire.
A stream of fire poured out,
issuing from his presence.
A thousand thousand waited on him,
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
A court was held
and the books were opened.
I gazed into the visions of the night.
And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven,
one like a son of man.
He came to the one of great age
and was led into his presence.
On him was conferred sovereignty,
glory and kingship,
and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants.
His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty
which shall never pass away,
nor will his empire ever be destroyed.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 96(97):1-2,5-6,9 |
The Lord is king, most high above all the earth.
The Lord is king, let earth rejoice,
let all the coastlands be glad.
Cloud and darkness are his raiment;
his throne, justice and right.
The Lord is king, most high above all the earth.
The mountains melt like wax
before the Lord of all the earth.
The skies proclaim his justice;
all peoples see his glory.
The Lord is king, most high above all the earth.
For you indeed are the Lord
most high above all the earth,
exalted far above all spirits.
The Lord is king, most high above all the earth.
When a Feast of the Lord falls on a weekday, there is no reading after the Psalm and before the Gospel.
Gospel Acclamation | Mt17:5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
This is my Son, the Beloved:
he enjoys my favour.
Listen to him.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 9:28-36 |
Jesus is transfigured before them
Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ – He did not know what he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen.
PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION THROUGH DISCERNING PRAYER
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [DN 7:9-10, 13-14; OR 2 PT 1:16-19; LK 9:28-36]
Many of us live empty lives. We feel that something or someone is missing. The truth is that when God is absent in our hearts, life can never be complete. A phenomenon today is that an increasing number of people are rediscovering the power of prayer. Yet, even though we see the need for prayer, many of us are disillusioned that we are not transformed or enriched by it. Why is that so? Perhaps one of the main reasons is that we have reduced prayer to a matter of emotional experience and petitions. It is not surprising, therefore, that many people are attracted to religious gatherings that offer sensational experiences, such as healings, miracles, visions, apparitions, and some spectacular happenings. Indeed, like the apostles in prayer, we hope that we might also have such visions in our lives to have a euphoric experience. This is not to say that such visions are unimportant or useless for spiritual growth: they can help us to be initiated into the mystery of God’s life and love.
However, when we are too pre-occupied with all these external phenomena, we are just like Peter in today’s Gospel. Like him, we remain half-awake and would like to cling on to this religious ‘opium’. For Peter, it was about building the three tents; for us, these become the criteria for an authentic religious experience. When we cling to such forms of religious experiences, then, like Peter, we do not know what we are saying. The truth is that if we think the way to encounter the glory of Christ is in a transcendent sphere apart from His incarnate existence, we would be following a ‘cleverly devised myth’, as the Second Letter of Peter warns us. Rather, we encounter Christ in His historical existence, which is extended to us in the Word and sacrament – we encounter Christ concretely in our daily lives.
Indeed, we find fulfilment and meaning in life not by seeking refuge in esoteric experiences, as these are often merely emotional and psychological. We should not use prayer as a means to obtain special powers and visions. Miracles, apparitions, and visions do not change us – and even if they do, the change is often momentary. Just look around and consider how many people who boast of seeing these spectacular events have actually become better and more loving. Great mystics and contemplatives, such as Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, never failed to warn us of the dangers of self-delusion, stating that true visions and revelations are not granted to a soul until it has reached the stage of spiritual betrothal.
There is only one sure criterion for authentic religious experiences: the fruits they manifest in us. A true religious experience is transformative. What will truly make us happy in life is being transformed into the glory, or into the person, of Jesus. True happiness comes from sharing in the fruits of Jesus’ love, joy, peace, forgiveness, patience, and kindness. What is important is not so much that the apostles saw Jesus’ glory on the mountain, but that they came to see His glory in His earthly life and were transformed by Him. It is not about whether we have visions of Jesus; what truly matters and can change us is whether we have the vision that Jesus had.
The only vision on life worth seeing is sharing in Jesus’ vision of life and love. Only by sharing in His vision can these fruits be made present in our lives. That is what we are called to share in today’s liturgy, not some strange visionary experience. This is well illustrated in the Gospel. After Peter spoke, a cloud covered them, and a voice said: “This is my Chosen One, listen to him.” In other words, it was more important for them to be able to see what God wanted to speak to them through Jesus than it was to see the vision itself. The message and the selfless life of Jesus are historically more important than the vision.
What we urgently need in life is an over-arching vision to give us a sense of direction. The trouble is that we are doing so many fragmented things, many of which are unnecessary and unimportant. Consequently, we need a vision that can help us see the reality of what life is about and how we fit into that framework. However, no vision can be considered adequate apart from the vision of Jesus, because His vision is God’s vision for all of creation. But how can one come to share in that vision without engaging in prayer? God cannot impart that vision to us unless we dialogue with and listen to Him in prayer.
How can this be brought about? The story of the Transfiguration provides us with the essentials of a real prayer life. Firstly, in prayer, we become united with Jesus just as Jesus was with God. In prayer, we meet God in the depths of our hearts. We bring before him all our existential needs, our problems, and our short-comings. That was what Jesus did. He must have been anxious about the events befalling Him. So, the first stage in prayer is entering into and being with Jesus, or with God. But we enter not just to complain to God about our problems; we don’t go there like spoilt children demanding that God take away our problems. Instead, we go as adults, albeit with a child-like faith and confidence, trusting that He will inspire us in what we should do. For that to happen, we should listen to Him. Again, that is what Jesus did; He listened to the Father, conversing with Him.
Listening is part of the whole process of finding clarity in our lives. This clarity brings about a clear vision. Prayer is a time when we clarify our values and vision for life and the ways we can bring that vision to fruition. A lack of conviction and zeal in our lives can be explained by this ambiguity of vision. But that is not all that happens in prayer. Clarification is also confirmation. The mystical experience was important for Jesus because He received confirmation from the Father that the path He was on – proclaiming the Kingdom – was the right one, and that the Father’s Kingdom could only be established through the cross. So, immediately after the vision, He took the road to Jerusalem to be crucified before entering His glory. For us, too, it is essential that we discern the kind of life we are living so we can live confidently with faith, love, and conviction.
Confirmation, therefore, leads to action. St Teresa says that if prayer is really genuine, it must be reinforced with virtues. She writes in the Way of Perfection, that progress has nothing to do with enjoying the greatest number of consolations in prayer, or with raptures, visions or favours often given by the Lord. Rather, it is the virtues of love for one’s neighbour, detachment, and humility that are cultivated and manifested. In the same vein, St Teresa also said that a person who spends much time in prayer and does not possess these virtues is mentally sick.
Truly, the apex of Christian contemplation, and therefore fulfilment in life, is when one embodies these virtues. A person who is full of love, humility, and detachment is really free, with no real worries or anxieties to dampen his happiness or take away his peace. Living in the freedom of God, in the Spirit, is precisely what makes us truly happy. This is the glory of the Son of Man mentioned in the first reading, when He is said to have assumed full sovereignty over all of creation. This power is also given to us. Anyone who lives freely is truly a master of himself and of all creation.
In conclusion, prayer can offer us a vision with transformative power in our lives. The Transfiguration is not just for Jesus; it is also for each one of us, now and hereafter. There can be no real transformation in our lives unless we are immersed in prayer, in union with God – being with Him, listening to Him, clarifying His will, and being convinced of His vision of life for our lives. The real miracle of prayer is when our lives are changed and we do the will of God.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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