The Transfiguration of Jesus - A Reflection on the 2nd Sunday of Lent, Year B

We, along with Peter, James and John, encounter the transfigured Jesus this Sunday.  We behold Jesus as he really is. The clothes, the occupation, and others’ preconceptions of Jesus suddenly stripped away, unveiling to the naked eye the Jesus the Father knows.

 So what? So what does this story of Jesus and the three apostles have to do with us today? We can assign it to the place where we generally place all gospel stories of extraordinary events, like the feeding of the 5000, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, a kind of gospel “fairy tale” realm, so to speak, and nonchalantly walk away from it. The story has nothing to do with real life, or does it?

We don’t need to be on a mountain top in Palestine, and see someone conversing with ancient prophets to have the Transfiguration occur in our lives. There are Transfigurations occurring every moment in the mundane moments of our lives, if only we open our eyes to see them. People are transfigured before us all the time.

 I remember seeing Ruthie (my wife, for those not in the know) for the first time, a beautiful brunette haired girl with a warm, dazzling smile who welcomed the new kid (me) into the high school band. I remember our first date, no longer dressed in St Bernard’s school uniform drab, she was all dressed up to go out with me. I remember her resplendently dressed in white, escorted by her dad, as she processed down the aisle of the church at our wedding. I remember vividly, each and every one our four children’s births, as they emerged from within her body. These are but a sampling of the Transfigurations I have seen in my life. The list of Transfigurations in the life of my family can never be exhausted.

 The question for each and every one of us is, who has had the power to transfigure us? There are people we have known who have had the power to reveal to ourselves and to the world the hidden gifts and potentials we possess. These are people who can see beyond the veils under which we hide ourselves. These people may include our spouses, our  parents, our siblings, relatives, educators, scout masters, neighbors, clergy, religious, work colleagues, and so on. 

 Our purpose in life is to not hide ourselves away from people, but to reveal ourselves, ourselves as God created us to the world. Transfiguration is not a one time event in our lives, but rather it is the ongoing process of one’s lifetime. The full revelation will occur when we pass from this life to the next. However, until that time let us rejoice in the Transfigurations we see around us and rejoice in those who have the ability to Transfigure us.