The Transfiguration of Our Lord

Last updated on: August 5, 2012 at 7:24 pm by Dave Griffey

The Transfiguration of Our Lord 2012-08-05T19:24:00-04:00 Dave Griffey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Tomorrow, on August 6, is the Feast of the Transfiguration. In short, that’s when the three disciples closest to Jesus during his earthly ministry got a dose of just who and what the Christ really was:

And after six days Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him.

And Peter answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.

And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them: and said to them, Arise, and fear not. And they lifting up their eyes saw no one but only Jesus. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man be risen from the dead.

Matthew 17:1-8

So there you have it, that wonderful moment we all long for when God gives us a little glimpse of the beyond, the world past this veil of here and now.

Now this got me to thinking, as I am wont to do. I admit I had a bit of a rant earlier, and part of me was tempted to delete the post in hindsight. But I think not. I admit it, it’s frustrating that, at times, it appears I gave everything up in life for this faith that appears to have moved on without me. Looking at the hardships it has placed on my family, on my kids especially, I can get a bit broody. But that’s the way of it, if you think about it. Take for instance the passage that will be read for August 6.

Now, the reading ends with Jesus telling his disciples not to tell, which He often did after some flagrant showing of just Who He Was. What follows this passage in Matthew’s Gospel is a little bit of water thrown on the face. Jesus and His three disciples come down from the mountain, who knows what they’re feeling – elation, rapture, the touch of the Divine. But when they get down, what happens? A man comes to them and begs Jesus to cast out a demon that has possessed his son. He explains that he asked Jesus’ disciples, but they couldn’t do it. And this is what Jesus says:

“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”

You get that? You can almost hear Jesus sigh in frustration. Coming down from this moment in which Jesus was able to be Who He Was, and show his closest followers a brief glimpse, now he had to come back down and deal with reality.

Well, guess what. Welcome to religious life. That’s something I need to remember. For me, my mountain top experience started at a Catholic monastery in southern Indiana on a cool, cloudy November week in 1999. I hadn’t planned on anything too spiritual (it was a Catholic place after all). But once I was there, the presence of God hit me like a ton of bricks. From that point on, I wanted to find a way to capture what I felt in such a small portion, eventually taking steps to enter into the Catholic Church about seven years later.

There have been some more ‘Mountaintop’ experiences, I must admit. But there have been some valleys, too. And I have to say, because of the sheer reality of things in the world, it seems more like valley than mountain in the last several years. And yet, that’s how it is. We all wish we could, like Peter, just build a little place in the sun on that mountain and stay there. That’s natural. But that’s not what God calls us to be about. Unlike so much ‘spritiualism’ of today, that centers on me and how awesomely spiritual I am, God calls us to get down off that mountain and go, go back to the man and the demon possessed boy, and those disciples who just don’t have the faith to do what they should be able to do.

So as we approach the day set aside to remember the Transfiguration, it’s worth noting that we’ll all have moments in life where we feel like this. And we wish that it wasn’t so. But it’s what we’re called to be about. When we have those uplifting spiritual revelations or experiences, great! But remember, they’re really just pit stops, designed to get us back to the meat and potatoes of our religious lives, and that is the living out of God’s love for the sake of all His children. Just a thought on the eve of the Feast of the Transfiguration.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 5, 2012

God bless those at the Sikh Temple

Next Post

August 8, 2012 Why don't conservatives trust Mitt Romney?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Atheism Awesome things Bigotry for the hip American Blogging Books Catholic Catholic Teaching Catholics on the Internet Christian Persecution Christian Unity Christianity and America Christianity in the Post-Modern World Christianity in the world Culture of Death Culture of Life Current Events Decline and Fall of the Christian West Defending Liberty Fun Stuff Global Warming Good Causes Good News Gun Control Health Care History Holidays Homeschool Humor Important things Inspiring Stories Interesting Insights Interesting Stories Islam and the West Liberal "Tolerance" Liberal observations Life in a post-Christian world Memorial Movies Musings News Other Blogs Our Big Politically Correct Bother Politics Popular Culture Post Modern Values Prayers Pro Life Promoting LGBT Protecting Liberty Racism in the world today Scientism Social Observations Sports Strange Stories The Boys The Catholic Church and the Left The Decline and Fall of the American Dream The end of liberty The Faith and the Left The Faith and the Right The Family The Greatness of God The Internet The Leftist Juggernaut The LGBT Question The Media The Pope The post-liberal Left The Power of Propaganda Tributes Twilight of the American Experiment Uncategorized Uneducating Postmoderns When the Church is wrong Why learn from history when we can repeat it instead Wisdom in the Post Modern Age World Events

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the father of John the Baptist?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Joseph Zechariah Simeon Nathan