20170806
TRANSFIGURED FOR HUMANITY IN CHRIST
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 ©
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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.
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.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 96(97):1-2,5-6,9 ©
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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.
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Second reading
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2 Peter 1:16-19 ©
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It was not any cleverly invented myths that we were repeating when
we brought you the knowledge of the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ; we had seen his majesty for ourselves. He was honoured and glorified by
God the Father, when the Sublime Glory itself spoke to him and said, ‘This is
my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour.’ We heard this ourselves, spoken from
heaven, when we were with him on the holy mountain.
So we have
confirmation of what was said in prophecies; and you will be right to depend on
prophecy and take it as a lamp for lighting a way through the dark until the
dawn comes and the morning star rises in your minds.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt17:5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
This is my Son, the Beloved:
he enjoys my favour.
Listen to him.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 17:1-9 ©
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Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led
them up a high mountain where they could be alone. There in their presence he
was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white
as the light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking
with him. Then Peter spoke to Jesus. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘it is wonderful for us to
be here; if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses
and one for Elijah.’ He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered
them with shadow, and from the cloud there came a voice which said, ‘This is my
Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’ When they heard this the
disciples fell on their faces overcome with fear. But Jesus came up and touched
them. ‘Stand up,’ he said ‘do not be afraid.’ And when they raised their eyes
they saw no one but only Jesus.
As they came
down from the mountain Jesus gave them this order, ‘Tell no one about the
vision until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.’
TRANSFIGURED FOR HUMANITY IN CHRIST
What is the
purpose of building a Church? The Church exists for the world and for
society.
We must be clear from the outset that the Church does not exist simply for the
Christian Community to gather together for worship, formation and fellowship.
That is why the Church is missionary in nature. The Church is founded for
a mission, which is to extend the Kingdom of God’s rule of justice, peace, love
and unity among all men and women. This is what the vision of St John in
the first reading tells us. “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.” We are called to
radiate Christ to the world. Many are seeking hope, meaning and purpose
in life. Many are seeking God. We are called to show forth the
glory of God in our lives.
Of course,
before the Church can exist for the world, she must exist first and foremost
for the Christian community. The Church is the Sacrament of Christ, the symbol of His
presence in our lives and in the world. It is through the Church as
a community of believers that Christ is seen in the world. But before
Christians can be a sign of His presence in the world for humanity, they must
first receive the love and truth from the Lord. They must be transfigured
in Christ and become another Christ. They need to encounter the Lord in a
special way as the apostles did at Mount Tabor. Without a
Christ-experience encounter, our faith in Christ would be weak because it is
based only on hear-say information and testimonies. Indeed, St
Peter confirmed this prophecy rendering the basis for their belief in the
resurrection of Christ. He wrote, “It was not any cleverly
invented myths that we were repeating when we brought you the knowledge of the
power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; we had seen his majesty for
ourselves. We heard this ourselves, spoken from heaven, when we were with him
on the holy mountain. So we have confirmation of what was said in
prophecies.” (cf 2 Pt 1:16-19)
Indeed, this
was the case for Jesus in His Transfiguration. This event happened
firstly for Jesus Himself. We note that the Transfiguration took place after the
confession of Peter that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
From that moment onwards, Jesus started to speak about His imminent suffering,
passion and death. He knew that the only way to establish the love of His
Father was for Him to go up to Jerusalem and face the authorities.
However, He needed a final impetus to find the courage and confirmation to go
ahead. It was in this context that the Father once again reaffirmed Jesus
in the same way He affirmed Him at the beginning of His mission at His baptism
in the river Jordan. Again, the Father said to His Son, but this time
addressed to the apostles, “This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour.
Listen to him.” At the same time, appearing with the Lord was
Moses, the Lawgiver and Elijah, the greatest prophet in the history of
Israel. By so doing, the heavenly Father confirmed Jesus as the Word of
God in person, for Jesus sums up the laws and the prophets. He said, “On
these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” (Mt 22:38)
Jesus is the love of God in person, and He loved His Father with all His heart,
mind and soul and loved His neighbor as Himself.
But the
Transfiguration event was not just for the Lord to find strength and
confirmation of His mission to go up to Jerusalem. It was also for the
sake of the apostles. The Father knew that the apostles would lose courage
and faith when the time came for Jesus to go through the passion and finally
meet His death on the cross. The Father knew that the apostles would
betray the Lord. This vision was necessary to sustain them in bad
times. Indeed, when the Lord was arrested, put on trial and crucified,
the apostles and His disciples were in dismay and totally confused and lost.
Later on, when they heard the news of the Lord’s resurrection, it was too
difficult to believe that it was true in spite of the many reports of His
sighting. We can be sure that, reflecting on the passion, death and
resurrection of Christ, they remembered the prophecy given at Mount Tabor
through the transfiguration event.
But more than
just to bolster the apostles’ faith in the Risen Christ, it was for the sake of
the mission in the future. This explains why when the apostles wanted to remain on the
mountain to bask in the beautiful vision they had by building three tents, the
Father told them to listen to the Son. “Jesus came up and touched them.
‘Stand up,’ he said ‘do not be afraid.’ And when they raised their eyes they
saw no one but only Jesus. As they came down from the mountain Jesus gave them
this order, ‘Tell no one about the vision until the Son of Man has risen from
the dead.’” Instead of staying on the mountain and starting an enclave
there, they were to follow Jesus down the mountain to face the reality, the
sufferings and the struggles of life. A Christian community or a
Church is never meant to be an enclave where Christians come together for
worship and fellowship, closed up among themselves. This is not what a Christian
community should do. We are called to be one in love and unity, formed in
faith and discipleship, so that we can go down the mountain and reach out to
others in service and love.
What about
us? Have we had a Transfiguration experience in our lives? St John Paul II wrote
that many people are seeking God. “And is it not the Church’s task to
reflect the light of Christ in every historical period, to make his face shine
also before the generations of the new millennium? Our witness, however,
would be hopelessly inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated his
face. The Great Jubilee has certainly helped us to do this more deeply.”
(NMI 16) All the great apostles had radical encounters with the
Lord. St Peter was converted because of the miraculous catch of fish
before and after his conversion, when Jesus appeared to him after His
resurrection. St Paul encountered the Risen Lord at Damascus and
appointed by Him to be His apostle. St John had this vision of the Lord’s
glory again when he was in exile in Patmos.
Indeed, we
cannot be His witnesses unless we see His face, the face of the crucified and
risen Lord.
Unless we have contemplated on His passion, death and resurrection and seen in
the face of Christ, the love of the Father for us, His compassion and mercy,
there is no mission. For that reason, we need to see the Lord in
the primacy of grace in our lives. There are many occasions when we saw
how God’s hands had helped us to make the impossible a reality. So many
times, in our lives, we had been so broken, hopeless, and we wanted to give up,
but the Lord came to our help.
This
Christ-encounter is mediated through worship and intimacy with the Lord. We see the face of
Christ especially when we hear the Word of God by reading the scriptures and by
hearing the Word proclaimed and shared at mass and among our brothers and
sisters in faith community sharing groups. For this reason, the
Church, as the Sacrament of Christ, becomes the basis for the celebration of
the Seven Sacraments which are means by which a person is Christified, received
into the Church and incorporated more and more into Christ and His body, the
Church. In this way, we become more like Jesus. Together as individuals
and as Church, we become the face of Christ in the world.
In this way,
we will become truly transfigured in Him and become Christ’s presence in our
families, schools, workplace, society and country. It is therefore
important that as Church, we must come together not just to worship but to form
each other in faith and in love, so that strengthened by His love for us we can
be more committed in serving humbly and selflessly, society and the
nation. This is the most visible way of manifesting Christ to the world
through our contributions to society and charity.
Yet, in the
face of struggles and trials in living out the Christian life, we must return
to that Christ-encounter to sustain us. We need to be constantly renewed
in the love of Christ for us. The apostles in their trials
during their apostolate returned to the Transfiguration Experience so that they
would not give up hope in the face of difficulties. We must always go
back to that special moment of encounter with God if we are to be able to deal
with the challenges of life. It is like those who are married. Whenever
we feel like giving up our marriage, we remember the good old days we had with
our spouse. Remembering those memorable and significant events will give
us the courage to continue. The celebration of the Transfiguration of our Lord
is to renew our hope and confidence in Him and in the future that is to come
for us all. May this celebration renew our hope for the future and
sustain our faith in times of trials.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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