20210806 MOUNTAIN TOP SPIRITUALITY EXPERIENCE
06 August, 2021, Friday, 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 | Mark 9:2-10 © |
This is my Son, the Beloved
Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone by themselves. There in their presence he was transfigured: his clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them. Elijah appeared to them with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter spoke to Jesus: ‘Rabbi,’ he said ‘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 to say; they were so frightened. And a cloud came, covering them in shadow; and there came a voice from the cloud, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’ Then suddenly, when they looked round, they saw no one with them any more but only Jesus.
As they came down from the mountain he warned them to tell no one what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They observed the warning faithfully, though among themselves they discussed what ‘rising from the dead’ could mean.
MOUNTAIN TOP SPIRITUALITY EXPERIENCE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [DN 7:9-10, 13-14; 2 PT 1:16-19; MK 9:2-10]
The mountain has always been seen as a place of God’s revelation. God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai and revealed His glory to Him. Elijah also encountered God at Mount Horeb. It is not coincidental therefore that the Transfiguration of our Lord took place at a high mountain. It is traditionally believed that this happened at Mount Tabor, although many scholars think it is Mount Hermon as it is nearer to Caesarea Philippi where a week earlier, Peter confessed in Jesus as the Christ. Furthermore, Mount Tabor is only about 1000 feet high whereas Mount Hermon is more than 9000 feet. But it does not really matter, what is important is that the Transfiguration event really took place.
It was important for the Church that Peter, James and John witnessed the event themselves. St Peter 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.” Indeed, this event was very significant for the apostolic witnessing because it confirmed the identity of Christ and His role in our salvation. Again, Peter wrote, “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.” It was only in the light of Christ’s death and resurrection that they could understand more fully the implications of the Transfiguration event. For the evangelist told us that “As they came down from the mountain he warned them to tell no one what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They observed the warning faithfully, though among themselves they discussed what ‘rising from the dead’ could mean.”
It is said that a religious experience or a God-encounter cannot be fully described or recounted because it cannot be put adequately into words. Unless a person has a similar God-experience, it would be difficult to identify with what is shared. Even then, every God-experience is unique and different. So, when the disciples said, “his clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them”, what they were saying is that they had a glimpse of the glory of God in Jesus. But more important than what they saw was the message that came from the experience. This is what Emmanuel Kant often reminded us, “Perception without experience is empty; experience without perception is blind.” When God reveals His glory to us, it is never meant to entertain us or to impress us. Rather, it is to reveal what is necessary for our salvation. So, what is the significance of the transfiguration of our Lord?
Firstly, it confirmed Jesus as the Eschatological Prophet, the one foretold by Moses and Malachi. Moses told the Israelites, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.” (Dt 18:15) Malachi said that God would send His messenger to restore the covenant. (Mal 3:1) And before the messenger comes, God will send the prophet Elijah to bring the people to repentance. (Mal 4:5f) This connection between the transfiguration and the restoration of the covenant is reinforced by the location of the event as this reminds us of the glory of the Lord descending on Mount Sinai after six days as well. (Ex 24:16)
Secondly, this event proclaims Jesus as the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. Jesus was very much in continuity with the Old Testament. He has not come to abolish the law and the prophets but to bring it to fulfilment. (Mt 5:17) Jesus is the New Moses who has come to give us the Law and the New Elijah who is the symbol of the Prophets. In other words, Jesus sums up the Law and the Prophets in Himself. More than Moses whose face glowed after encountering God at the mountain, Jesus was radiant with the glory of God. However, in the case of the Transfiguration, the glory of God did not descend upon the mountain, and neither on Moses nor Elijah, nor any of the apostles except our Lord Himself. Another significant difference is that the cloud, symbolizing the presence of God, appeared only after Jesus had been transfigured. The presence of Moses and Elijah served to confirm His identity and His mission to fulfil the scriptures and restore the Covenant.
Thirdly, Jesus was confirmed as the Messiah, which is defined not by the popular understanding of a political liberator from the Roman conquerors. Earlier on when Peter confessed in Jesus as the Christ, although he got the right answer, he had a mistaken notion of what it meant. Hence, when Jesus spoke of His imminent passion, “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” (Mk 8:32) He, like the rest of the apostles, did not understand that Jesus would be a suffering Messiah, something illogical for them because if He suffered death, how could Jesus liberate them from the Romans? This explains why Jesus never called Himself the ‘Messiah’, and forbade the Devil to reveal His identity as the Messiah. Nevertheless, He hinted of His Messiahship by connecting Himself to the Son of Man in the book of Daniel who would come on the last day to judge the world and also as the Suffering Servant of Isaiah. Although both the Son of Man and the Suffering Servant in their historical context was a collective term for Israel, Jesus applied it to Himself because He is the embodiment of the Kingdom of God in Him. Jesus is the representative of Israel. What must not be forgotten is that the Messiah had to suffer before He came into His glory.
Fourthly, Jesus was confirmed as the Son of God. The Transfiguration event brings us to the baptism of Jesus where the words from the cloud (Mk 1:9-11, 9:7) were almost identical, except that Jesus was not transfigured in His baptism and no one heard the voice of the Father except Himself, whereas in the Transfiguration, the voice was addressed to the apostles. His baptism points to the fulfilment of John the Baptist’s prophecy about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Clearly, Jesus is the Son of the Father and in His name, the Father would send us the Holy Spirit to bring us all into adoption as His sons and daughters.
Consequently, the Transfiguration points not just to the resurrection but rather to the certainty of the Second Coming of Christ. This is particularly important for us today because the world has lost hope for the future and of eternal life with God. St Peter was asserting his apostolic authority with regard to the second coming of Christ because the people in his time, similar to ours, were living only for this world. He wrote, “you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming?'” (2 Pt 3:3f) Christ’s coming will usher in the fulfilment of the prophecy of Malachi on judgement. (2 Pt 3:7) It is in view of His Second Coming, which is definite, that we are called to repentance and to live a life of holiness and godliness. (2 Pt 3:8-11)
In view of what has been said with regard to the Transfiguration event, it is therefore necessary for us to experience some mountain-top encounter with God to strengthen us in our faith so that we may not lose sight of the goal ahead of us. Without this mountain-top experience of encountering Jesus personally and having Him reveal Himself to us in a memorable way, we will lack the power of witnessing and conviction. But to be sure that our experience is genuine, we must be able to substantiate with scriptures, otherwise, our visions and experiences could be man-made, psychologically induced. A religious experience that is authentic cannot contradict scriptures or the Apostolic Tradition. Still, we must never forget that spiritual life is not just an ever-increasing mountain-top experience, climbing higher and higher, with one religious experience after another. If we are seeking such mystical experiences, it is not faith but emotionalism. It shows a lack of faith. True faith is seen when we are in the valley of life, carrying the cross with Jesus, walking towards Mount Calvary because this is the only path to Mount Zion, our heavenly city, Jerusalem.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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