Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
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Scripture Readings
First Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Second Philippians 3:17-4:1
Gospel Luke 9:28b-36
1. Subject Matter
• The Transfiguration as provocation, invitation, and preparation for the Passion
• Christ uses beauty and wonder to draw us into the mystery of his Person
• The truth of the Transfiguration is revealed in the change that happens in our lives
2. Exegetical Notes
• “When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming
torch, which passed between those pieces:” “Then Abraham sees a smoking fire pot and
flaming torch pass through the split animals—not unlike the pillar of cloud and fire by which
the Lord would lead his people out of Egypt. Thus the ‘Lord made a covenant with Abram’
(Genesis 15:18). For God walks through the split animals in the form of smoke and flame.
Nowhere in the text, however, does it say that Abraham walks through the animals! Abraham
is in a deep sleep. Only God walks through the animals; thus the covenant rests on God’s
faithfulness alone. The unfaithfulness of Abraham’s descendants cannot break it. In not
requiring or even allowing Abraham to walk through the animals, God mercifully
acknowledges before Abraham the weakness of us humans who cannot remain faithful to our
promises. God reveals to Abraham his own steadfast love by walking through alone, saying
in essence, ‘I will be faithful to my promise, and when you and your descendants are not
faithful to the promise, it is I who will be sacrificed that the covenant may be honored.’” (Fr.
Richard Veras, Jesus of Israel: Finding Christ in the Old Testament, p. 33).
• “The Lord Jesus Christ…will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body:” “By
becoming Christians we are made into the image of Christ by his Spirit that is Jesus himself;
we are united to him, gazing here by faith upon him and his meaning, able to advance to
greater perfection” (J. Fitzmyer, JBC).
• “While Jesus was praying his face changed in appearance…:” “By his unique mention of the
‘exodus,’ Luke emphasizes the suffering that Jesus is headed toward. This great Old
Testament event is a pattern for the ultimate event in God’s plan…. Luke presents the
Transfiguration as a major event of confirmation…. Three disciples hear the heavenly voice
testify to Jesus’ uniqueness…. The one who follows Jesus must be taught by him about
suffering, sharing in that suffering, and pleasing God…. ‘Be assured’ is the note given to the
reader (cf. Lk 1:4). Jesus is who he claims to be. Those who follow him are to heed his new
teaching and to trust in his person…. When one is with Jesus, one is in the cloud of glory.”
(Darrell L. Bock)
p. 305: “Jesus’ divinity belongs with the cross—only when we put the two together do we
recognize Jesus correctly.”
p. 307: “Exodus 24—Moses’ ascent of Mount Sinai. Not, this chapter, which recounts how
God seals the Covenant with Israel, is indeed an essential key to interpreting the story of the
Transfiguration.”
p. 308: “The mountain serves…as the locus of God’s particular closeness.” [check out the
entire paragraph regarding “the various mountains of Jesus’ life”]
p. 309: “The mountain is the place of ascent—not only outward, but also inward ascent; it is a
liberation from the burden of everyday life, a breathing in of the pure air of creation; it offers a
view of the broad expanse of creation and its beauty; it gives one an inner peak to stand on
and intuitive sense of the Creator.”
p. 310: “The Transfiguration is a prayer event; it displays visibly what happens when Jesus
talks with his Father: the profound interpenetration of his being with God, which then
becomes pure light. In his oneness with the Father, Jesus is himself ‘light from light.’ The
reality that he is in the deepest core of his being…—that reality becomes perceptible to the
senses at this moment: Jesus ‘being in the light of God, his own being-light as Son.”
p. 310: “Jesus…shines from within; he does not simply receive light, but he himself is light
from light.”
pp. 317-318: “On the mountain the disciples learn that Jesus himself is the living Torah, the
complete Word of God. On the mountain they see the ‘power’ of the Kingdom that is coming
in Christ…. They personally experience the anticipation of the Parousia, and that is how they
are slowly initiated into the full depth of the mystery of Jesus.”
7. Other Considerations
• Like the Temptations in the desert, the Transfiguration serves as a kind of provocation to the
followers of Jesus Christ. The mystery appeals to their freedom—they must make a judgment
about the event. They must decide how to make sense of the Transfiguration so that it has
meaning for their life, for “more than a Messiah is portrayed here” (J. Fitzmyer). The
provocation of the Transfiguration happens by way of wonder. “Wonder is the strongest
expression of one’s self” (Lorenzo Albacete). “Devoid of wonder we remain deaf to the
sublime” (Abraham Heschel). Msgr. Luigi Giussani wrote, “Becoming aware of an inexorable
Presence! I open my eyes to this reality which imposes itself upon me, which does not
depend upon me, but upon which I depend. It is this awe which awakens the ultimate
question within us…. The wonder of the Presence attracts me, and that is how the search
within me breaks out” (The Religious Sense, pp. 101, 102). This search, this “awakening of
the ultimate question within us” is the engagement of our freedom. For freedom is the
capacity for a relationship with the Infinite, with God. It is the capacity for complete self-
fulfillment, for totality, for happiness. Freedom is the capacity to possess one’s own meaning.
As Giussani expresses it, “An Other is this truth about myself: this fullness of my being is
You, my meaning is You. Much more deeply than a capacity for choosing, freedom is the
humble, passionate, faithful, and total dedication to God in daily life…. Freedom is
dependence upon God. Either we depend upon the flux of our material antecedents, and are
consequently slaves of the powers that be, or we depend on What lies at the origin of the
movement of all things, beyond them, which is to say, God” (The Religious Sense, pp. 88-89,
92). Christ in the Transfiguration appears as a vision of this Beyond in order to strengthen
our will to penetrate it. Giussani continues, “The humanity of Christ is what allows us to keep
our eyes, hearts, and minds open, directed to the true goal for which our parents conceived
us and gave birth to us: our relationship with the infinite.” The Transfiguration convinces us
that “Christ is something different from everything and thus posits the difference that we
would not have thought possible.”
Recommended Resources
Hahn, Scott:
http://www.salvationhistory.com/library/scripture/churchandbible/homilyhelps/homilyhelps.cfm.
http://sc.fhview.com/sc_customplayer/seriesitems/1/119117
Check the Sunday Preacher’s Resource archives for the 2nd Sunday of Lent, Cycle C