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06 ago 2023

06/08/2023 – The transfiguration of the Lord- year A

06/08/2023 – The transfiguration of the Lord- year A

Reading 1 DN 7,9-10.13-14 Psalm 96 Reading 2 2PT 1,16-19 Gospel MT 17,1-9

Today we celebrate an almost secret event: the three witnesses have kept this hidden for months, maybe even years, before telling their friends and brothers. Jesus Himself had ordered: «Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead». There are moments in life, nay, in our experience of faith, which need to remain secret, known only to ourselves. Telling others would diminish those very moments and, in addition, it would mean taking away the possibility of making up our own understanding of them and prevent them from bearing fruit. What happened was called by the Lord Himself a «vision», because the three, Peter, John and James have seen with their very eyes things that normally you cannot see.

They had climbed with Jesus on a «high mountain», as Abraham, as Moses, as Elijah. Jesus wanted to go up. We know that, when Jesus was taking time away, He did so with the intention of praying. And what did happen? The three see Him different from the usual. They could see His face all lightened up more than Moses’s when he had come down the mountain, and the clothes «dazzling white» as never before. They saw a completely different Jesus. To see Him again like that they will need to wait for His resurrection, when He will no longer belong to this world.

They could see how Jesus is when He prays, immersed in the light and in the life of God, His Father. They could see something of God. They cannot tell about it, because nobody would understand it, nay, they themselves would not know how to tell it.

And, to reassure them that the event is really new, but true, there are two witnesses, Moses and Elijah. They are the two representatives, witnesses of God’s love for the people of Israel. Their life with their mission was a prophecy of that of the one who had to come, the promised Messiah.

They talk, have a conversation with Jesus. They become His peers. They have the same interests, they same goals, the same mission, the same destiny. Moses is the guide of the people, Elijah its spiritual guide and Jesus is followed by the crowds like Moses was and restores and refreshes their faith, as Elijah did. Jesus will follow their lead: they are His prophets. In the way they had to suffer to the point they were in danger of being killed, so Jesus will find Himself facing it for real. And just like nobody knows where Moses was laid to rest, nobody will find Jesus’s body. And as Elijah was taken into heaven on a fire carriage, witnessed by Elisha, so Jesus will be taken from death to heaven in front of all His disciples.

Moses listened to God who was talking to Him with thunders and the sound of trumpets, and Elijah could hear Him in the silence and in the breeze, Jesus instead listens to Him while also the three apostles can hear Him: «This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!». The words heard exiting the mysterious cloud are a Father’s words. These are known words, the psalms, Abraham’s life, the father of Isaacs, and the revelations of the prophets are summarised by this sentence so joyful and reassuring. The last word is for the three disciples: «Listen to him». So, this is the only thing they will need to do to please God.

Moses’s writings and Elijah’s words were always advising listening to God. «Listen, Israel», «If only you would listen to me », «You did not listen», God was always saying. Now God Himself says: «Listen to him», so, listen to Him, the Son, the beloved. The disciples now are convinced they need to be in front of Jesus with the certainty that His Word is God’s Word. They will make extra effort then, and they will be an example for the other nine.

We can ask ourselves why Jesus has asked only three disciples to accompany Him on the mountain. What about the other nine? Why had He left them alone? We could imagine that some strong experiences are reserved to some people, and they then will tell about them. And also, all the apostles will be educated and used to the idea that among them some will receive different roles, will have different experiences, and all of them will be prepared to trust one another. Everyone will hear the Word of their Lord from someone else! The first reading, from the prophet Daniel, has prepared us to see Jesus dressed in priestly robes, introducing Himself as a king, even with attributes really divine. And Saint Peter, in his second reading, is describing the vision he had on the mountain, which had stayed crystal clear with him: that moment has been for Him very important, and it keeps giving him courage, in His ministry of aposle, to tell us about Jesus with certainty, to support himself stably also on the testimonials of the prophets and patriarchs. Having seen Moses and Elijah next to Jesus, who they then leave all alone, this is also very important for Peter. Now «only Jesus» is in his heart, and also in ours!