Moving towards Transfiguration of Christ! From Upper Room to Foothills and Atop Mount Tabor

We are moving into the sixth season of our Liturgical Cycle; after Pentecost to the Season of Transfiguration. In this period the Church commemorates the crowning of the saints and Martyrs. The essence of the Transfiguration is revealed in its symbols. An unusual gathering” that has deep eschatological meaning, giving us a glance His Second Coming and a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. This event reveals to us our ultimate destiny as Christians, the final destiny of all men and all creation to be transformed and glorified by the majestic splendour of God Himself, thus foreshadowing the transformed reality of the whole creation and future glory.

In Resurrection we are reborn; we die and are resurrected with Christ. This new resurrected nature is then shaped and molded by the Holy Church on Pentecost with cleansing and enrichment by the Holy Spirit. Our journey to transformation which was begun at Holy Resurrection is further fulfilled and perfected, in the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and this should take the effect of transforming and shaping the soul into more perfectly in taking on His own image and likeness, as we journey to the Mount of Transfiguration.

A little while before His Passion and His death on the Cross, our Lord withdrew Himself for prayer on top of a hill, which is known by the name Tabor. With Him were present His three most beloved and trustworthy Disciples, Peter, James and John. This event was theophanic in nature as revealing the identity of Jesus is manifested to the Apostles. Christ did not manifest His glory to all people at once, nor even did He show himself transfigured to the entire company of the Apostles; rather, He chose only the three – Peter, James the Greater, and John the Beloved – as witnesses to His Transfiguration.

The mountain is a silent, serene, solitary place which makes it easier to engage in prayer and helps us unite our restless mind with God. The name “Tabor” translates as purity or light. Whoever comes to an awareness of his actions and repents of what he has committed is freed of spiritual uncleanliness and is able to see the divine uncreated Light. Christian teaching sees the spiritual meaning of life precisely in the attempt to acquire this Light and deify human nature.

Jesus Christ privileged, Peter, James, and John at the Transfiguration. Let us have the privilege to be transfigured with Him! His uncreated light as this only comes to those who are pure of heart as were Peter John and James, the only ones He took with Him to Mount Tabor. That is not only the unusual change in His appearance and the inundation of light which emanated from His face, but the witnessing of the voice of the Father and the presence of the two most holy people from the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah are confirming without a margin of doubt the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Transfiguration of Jesus Christ is to respond to the invitations of Grace in our daily lives to grow more fully into the Image and likeness of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord revealing His Transfigured glory to a world waiting to be born anew. Christ did not manifest His glory to all peoples at once, nor even did he show Himself transfigured to the entire company of the Apostles; rather, he chose only the three – Peter, James the Greater, and John the Beloved – as witnesses to his Transfiguration.