The Transfiguration

As I prepare to go to a noon holy day Mass for the Feast Day of the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, I am doing a little personal reflecting on the day. I have always loved this day in the Church cycle. Back when I was a Protestant seminarian, I was ordained to the ministry (Holy Order of MANS/Christ the Saviour Brotherhood)on August 6th, 1976 by the Rt. Rev. Philip McCaffrey. It was a great day for me, one of the best of my life, along with my wedding day, the day my three children were born and the day our granddaughter was born. That is not dimmed by the fact that I was then not an Eastern Catholic, that day I was dedicating myself to the lifelong service of Christ, the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Lady.

Somewhere along the way I read the script on the icon of Blessed Deborah, which reads thus (From Judges 4:6 ) "Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw nigh toward Mount Tabor." Some biblical scholars claim the the very name "Deborah" is a rendition of the word meaning "one who is of Tabor." I am very happy to claim the Transfiguration as my special day on the calendar of the life of Our Lord! This is the showing forth of His true divine nature to the disciples, and a prefiguring of their own following of Jesus, ending eventually in sainthood and theosis. What a happy day! The Feast of Light, the feast of shining forth, the feast of sudden and radical illumination!

DJY

~~~

Matthew 17:1-7 - After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Eli'jah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Eli'jah." He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear." And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead." (RSV)