From: Mark 9:2-10

The Transfiguration

[2] And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led
them up a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before
them, [3] and His garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on
earth bleach them. [4] And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses; and they
were talking to Jesus. [5] And Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is well that we are
here; let us make three booths, one for You and one for Moses and one for Eli-
jah.” [6] For he did not know what to say, for they were exceedingly afraid. [7]
And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My
beloved Son; listen to Him.” [8] And suddenly looking around they no longer saw
any one with them but Jesus only.

[9] And as they were coming down the mountain, He charged them to tell no one
what they had seen, until the Son of Man should have risen from the dead. [10]
So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead
meant.

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Commentary:

2-10. We contemplate in awe this manifestation of the glory of the Son of God
to three of His disciples. Ever since the Incarnation, the divinity of our Lord has
usually been hidden behind His humanity. But Christ wishes to show, to these
favorite disciples, who will later be pillars of the Church, the splendor of His di-
vine glory, in order to encourage them to follow the difficult way that lies ahead,
fixing their gaze on the happy goal which is awaiting them at the end. This is
why, as St. Thomas comments (cf. “Summa Theologia”, III, q. 45, a. 1), it was
appropriate for Him to give them an insight into His glory. The fact that the
Transfiguration comes immediately after the first announcement of His passion,
and His prophetic words about how His followers would also have to carry His
cross, shows us that “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of
God” (Acts 14:22).

What happened at the Transfiguration? To understand this miraculous event in
Christ’s life, we must remember that in order to redeem us by His passion and
death our Lord freely renounced divine glory and became man, assuming flesh
which was capable of suffering and which was not glorious, becoming like us
in every way except sin (cf. Hebrew 4:15). In the Transfiguration, Jesus Christ
willed that the glory which was His as God and which His soul had from the mo-
ment of the Incarnation, should miraculously become present in His body. “We
should learn from Jesus’ attitude in these trials. During His life on earth He did
not even want the glory that belong to Him. Though He had the right to be trea-
ted as God, He took the form of a servant, a slave (cf. Philippians 2:6)” (St. J.
Escrivá, “Christ Is Passing By”, 62). Bearing in mind WHO became man (the
divinity of the person and the glory of His soul), it was appropriate for His body
to be glorious; given the PURPOSE of His Incarnation, it was not appropriate,
usually, for His glory to be evident. Christ shows His glory in the Transfiguration
in order to move us to desire the divine glory which will be given us so that, ha-
ving this hope, we too can understand “that the sufferings of this present time
are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans
8:18).

2. According to Deuteronomy (19:15), to bear witness to anything the evidence
of two or three much concur. Perhaps this is why Jesus wanted three Apostles
to be present. It should be pointed out that these three Apostles were specially
loved by Him; they were with Him also at the raising of the daughter of Jairus
(Mark 5:37) and will also be closest to Him during His agony at Gethsemane
(Mark 14:33). Cf. note on Matthew 17:1-13.

7. This is how St. Thomas Aquinas explains the meaning of the Transfiguration:
“Just as in Baptism, where the mystery of the first regeneration was proclaimed,
the operation of the whole Trinity was made manifest, because the Son Incar-
nate was there, the Holy Spirit appeared under the form of a dove, and the Father
made Himself known in the voice; so also in the Transfiguration, which is the
sign of the second regeneration [the Resurrection], the whole Trinity appears —
the Father in the voice, the Son in the man, the Holy Spirit in the bright cloud;
for just as in Baptism He confers innocence, as signified by the simplicity of the
dove, so in the Resurrection will He give His elect the clarity of glory and the re-
freshment from every form of evil, as signified by the bright cloud” (”Summa Theo-
logiae”, III, q. 45, 1.4 ad 2). For, really, the Transfiguration was in some way an
anticipation not only of Christ’s glorification but also of ours. As St. Paul says,
“it is the same Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children
of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, pro-
vided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (Ro-
mans 8:16-17).

10. That the dead would rise was already revealed in the Old Testament (cf. Da-
niel 12:2-3; 2 Maccabees 7:9; 12:43) and was believed by pious Jews (cf. John
11:23-25). However, they were unable to understand the profound truth of the
death and Resurrection of the Lord: they expected a glorious and triumphant
Messiah, despite the prophecy that He would suffer and die (cf. Isaiah 53).
Hence the Apostles’ oblique approach; they too do not dare to directly question
our Lord about His Resurrection.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading

Genesis 22:1-2,9-13,15-18 ©

God put Abraham to the test. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he called. ‘Here I am’ he replied. ‘Take your son,’ God said ‘your only child Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you.’

When they arrived at the place God had pointed out to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son Isaac and put him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and seized the knife to kill his son.

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he said. ‘I am here’ he replied. ‘Do not raise your hand against the boy’ the angel said. ‘Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your son, your only son.’ Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt-offering in place of his son.

The angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time from heaven. ‘I swear by my own self – it is the Lord who speaks – because you have done this, because you have not refused me your son, your only son, I will shower blessings on you, I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants shall gain possession of the gates of their enemies. All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, as a reward for your obedience.’

Psalm

Psalm 115:10,15-19 ©

I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.

I trusted, even when I said:

‘I am sorely afflicted,’

O precious in the eyes of the Lord

is the death of his faithful.

I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.

Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;

you have loosened my bonds.

A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;

I will call on the Lord’s name.

I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.

My vows to the Lord I will fulfil

before all his people,

in the courts of the house of the Lord,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.

Second reading

With God on our side who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give. Could anyone accuse those that God has chosen? When God acquits, could anyone condemn? Could Christ Jesus? No! He not only died for us – he rose from the dead, and there at God’s right hand he stands and pleads for us.

Gospel Acclamation

Mt17:5

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

From the bright cloud the Father’s voice was heard:

‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

Gospel

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.