A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 4, n. 37)
The Transfiguration of the Lord, Year B – August 6, 2006
“A Vision of Glory”
BIBLE READINGS
Dn 7:9-10, 13-14 // 2 Pt 1:16-19 // Mk 9:2-20
N.B. This new series of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY presents a biblico-liturgical study of the First Reading of each Sunday Mass to serve as background for a better understanding of the Gospel proclaimed in the liturgy. For a biblico-liturgical study of the Gospel for each Sunday, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US.
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
Shortly after his conversion, the young man Mike McGarvin, the future founder of the Poverelo House in Fresno, volunteered to help out at a huge home for elderly people in San Francisco. The job kept him depressed and he finally had to quit. Mike explains: “I would get so depressed after helping there; I was just blotting it all out. I had a real fondness for older people, probably because I loved my grandmother so much. It tore me up to see that in America, the land of opportunity, old people just got shelved away in places like that, with nobody to care about them. I decided I couldn’t keep getting soused on Sundays, so I finally quit going to the home.” Before Mike McGarvin left that dreary place, he was able to experience a vision of glory. He narrates:
The very last time I went to Mass there, I had an upsetting experience that brought about a good change in me. I had wheeled a couple of ladies to the service, and I sat by them. The Mass came to the point at which we turned and greeted each other, shook hands, and said, “Peace be with you.” A woman turned around, and she was the most grotesque person I’d ever seen. She apparently had the same disease as John Merrick, “The Elephant Man”. I had never seen anyone so horribly disfigured, even at Poverello. I tried hard not to react, shook her hand, and quickly said the peace greeting. Afterward, I was haunted by the fact that despite her deformity, she had the most beautiful smile that I had ever seen. It was disturbing, to see that disfigurement and that smile all in the same person. I said a little prayer for her, because I couldn’t imagine how hard it was for her to go through life like that. She must have truly felt God’s joy, because her smile was so radiant. One of the things I’ve tried to do since then is to get people to smile, no matter what their circumstances. A smile is a gift, and it erases misery, if only for a few seconds.
In that grotesque woman with a joyful smile, the beauty that springs forth from union with God radiates through her hideousness and ugliness. Mike McGarvin’s vision of glory in her deformed face, transfigured with the beauty of a smile, gives us an idea of the meaning of the Lord’s transfiguration: suffering is an itinerary to glory.
Indeed, the almighty God, in his tender compassion and ineffable kindness, gives us glimpses of glory to strengthen us in difficulties and trials and to put our sufferings in proper perspective. Today’s feast of the transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ (August 6) is an invitation to contemplate the radiant, glorious life that flows out from the paschal experience of Christ’s death and suffering. Forty days before the feast of triumph of the cross on September 14, we celebrate the Lord’s transfiguration in the light of the Easter mystery and as an event to illumine the enigma of the saving cross.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 7, comment: “The light of Easter completely fills the celebration of August 6: In the shining clouds the Spirit is seen. By celebrating this mystery, the Church gives thanks for her participation in the brilliant light that transformed the face of Christ, and prays that all who communicate in the body of the Resurrected One may one day be radiant with his glory … The account of the transfiguration of the Lord is full of biblical reminiscences and is presented as a sort of preview of the glory of the resurrected Christ. Peter, James, and John were chosen to be present, to the exclusion of all the others. After Easter, when they shared this experience with all the disciples, it became their common property. The words that came from heaven will from then on be proclaimed on the roof tops, and will echo down the ages until the end of time: This is my beloved Son, listen to him. This is why all the disciples of Christ must keep the memory of the transfiguration of the Lord engraved on their hearts. While only three of them were actually witnesses that one day, they were given this experience for the sake of all.”
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 7, then continue to delineate the vital role of the Lord’s transfiguration in the life of the suffering disciples: “All Christians must summon up from their innermost depths the memory of this revelation whenever they see the Son of God dead on the cross, or the Church in agony, or when they are overwhelmed by personal tribulations, or on the edge of despair or of losing faith. If they do, they will find the strength to pull themselves up from these depths and climb to the heights of the mountain, no matter how difficult the way. Through mists and tears, they too will be graced with a glimpse of the figure of the resurrected Christ surrounded by light.”
The transfiguration event acquires deeper meaning against the backdrop of the Old Testament reading (Dn 7:9-10, 13-14) from the Book of Daniel, which was written during a difficult time for the Hebrew people. Struggling against the Hellenistic domination, a revolt led by the family called the Maccabees led to the establishment of an independent kingdom. In the period of revolution that was frightening and costly, the Book of Daniel provided hope during the bloody struggle – a hope based not on human abilities, but on God’s intervention. In his prophetic vision of the majesty of God, Daniel assures the suffering people of God who were downtrodden, oppressed and persecuted by the powerful of this world, that God is not absent or reduced to impotence. On the contrary, this divine personage of incomparable majesty and power bestows dominion, glory and kingship on one who looks like a “Son of Man” – a figure of the kingdom of the Holy Ones. In this prophetic vision of Daniel, the Church identifies the “Son of Man” as the primordial Man Jesus Christ, perfect image of God and the qualified representative of humanity.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 7, conclude: “It is therefore not surprising that Jesus himself should be called the Son of Man. As such, he is master of the Sabbath and pardons sins. His death on the cross will, paradoxically, make manifest his glory and his heavenly origins. He will go back to where he came from, and he will come back on the clouds of heaven. He will be seated on his throne of glory to judge the living and the dead. But it is even now that the Lord exercises his powers to save his people, in particular, by giving them his flesh as food for eternal life.”
PERSONAL REFLECTION
By Fr. Joseph Tran
Holy Child's Parish, Staten Island, NY-U.S.A.
Have you ever pick up someone at the airport? It is wonderful experience. Usually, airport, train and bus stations, are somewhat confusing places for many people. Sometimes it makes them difficult places in which to meet people. It can be hard for us to find some ones in the midst of such a ground, especially, when we have never seen them in before. We are helped in this if we, at least, have a description, or a picture of that person. It may be hard for us to transpose the clues of the description or picture to the crowd of faces before us in the airport or station.
Therefore, when we finally locate the people we were searching for, they are almost different from what we expected. They still somewhat resemble the description or picture we have, but the living person usually turns out to be far more complex than descriptive words or a photo could capture.
This experience helps us understand why Christ’s actual coming as the Messiah caused some people confusion and panic. As in today’s first reading. The Messiah was repeatedly presented in prophetic images of greatness. Listen again to Daniel’s prophetic vision: “I saw One like a son of man coming on the cloud of heaven. When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, he received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.” From this description, the Messiah could certainly be expected to come in the highest majesty and power.
Daniel’s vision, however, catches only one facet of Christ’s nature. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, the Messiah is called “ the Suffering Servant”; and the Psalms suggest that he will face terrible humiliation. However, some people held and remembered only the prophecies of a splendid and gloriously triumphant Messiah. In this description, the person they were looking and waiting for, completely differed from Jesus Christ. He was not at all what many of them expected. They had thought only in terms of power and might. They were holding only one facet of Christ’s whole meaning and purpose. Certainly, the additional picture of a suffering and crucified Messiah was also in the Old Testament prophecies. These various images of the Messiah had to be brought together to form the living reality of Christ.
The Transfiguration of Jesus happened at a stage in his public ministry when he was pretty much in the same situation as Elisha. His foes were closing in on him and his disciples led by Peter were feeling very much like the servant of Elisha, afraid and anxious for their master’s safety. Just before the Transfiguration, Jesus had asked his disciples who the people and they themselves thought he was. While many of them had no clue, Peter gave the correct answer that he was Christ the son of the living God. Jesus congratulated him and then proceeded to forewarn them and prepare them for his unavoidable suffering, death, and resurrection. But Peter was not ready for this. He protested visibly; he took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Jesus sharply corrected him, telling him that he was seeing things from a purely human point of view (Matthew 16:13-23). He needed, like Elisha’s servant, a vision from God’s point of view, to see that in spite of the death sentence hanging over the head of Jesus, God was still with him, God would see to it that in the end he triumphed over his foes as Elisha did. What Peter and his fellow disciples needed was for God to open their eyes and them give then a glimpse of God’s abiding presence with their master Jesus. The transfiguration was that experience.
The Transfiguration experience was, therefore, God’s way of delivering the disciples from a crisis of faith. The cause of their crisis of faith was the way in which they saw people and things around them. God helped them out of it by enlightening their vision so that, at least for a moment, they could see from God’s own perspective. Seen from below, in ordinary human light, people and things around us may look drab, commonplace, and sometimes repulsive. But seen from above, in the light of divinity, the same people and things take on a more honorable, resplendent, and lovable appearance. This glimpse into the true nature and divine aspect of persons and things can be called a transfiguration experience. It is the kind of experience, which makes us, say with Jacob, “Surely the Lord is in this place, [person, or situation] and I did not know it!” (Genesis 28:16).
Where can one get this Transfiguration experience? Everywhere. Our Sunday worship is a good starting point. Outside the church, right from the church parking lot, we tend to see one another as competitors. On the road, we see other road users as obstacles impeding our speedy arrival to our destinations. In the work place, we see others as rivals vying with us for the ladder of success. Nevertheless, at Mass we have the singular experience of looking one another in the eye and calling them “brothers and sisters" this is indeed a Transfiguration. The challenge for us is to live in the light of this awareness until we come together again next Sunday to renew our faith vision.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. What are the experiences of pain, struggle and affliction that trouble us in the present? Do our trials and difficulties overwhelm us? What is our personal response to these difficult situations?
B. Do we perceive in the event of the Lord’s transfiguration a glimpse of hope that will enable us to overcome our troubles? Are we ready to perceive the vision of Christ’s paschal glory? Are we open to receive the hope that Jesus, the Suffering Messiah brings into our lives? Do we believe that suffering is an itinerary to glory?
C. Do we contemplate the vision of God’s absolute majesty and glory? Do we trust that we, through pain and suffering, participate in the paschal mystery of Christ’s “through death to glory”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Lord Jesus, in your transfiguration on the mountain,
you have given us a glimpse of your Easter glory.
Help us to summon from our innermost depths
the memory of this revelation
to give us strength and hope in all our trials and afflictions.
Renew in us the consoling vision of your Easter glory
whenever death dealing forces weigh upon us,
the world’s afflictions torment us,
and our personal tribulations push us to the edge of despair.
Help us to trust that our suffering in this life
is an itinerary to glory.
We trust and believe in you
for you are both the Suffering Messiah and the Risen Christ shining in glory,
now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory and kingship; all peoples, nations, and language serve him.” (Dn 7:14a)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray for all those whose present afflictions are great so that they may experience a vision of Christ’s Easter glory and be strengthened by it. Be aware of the glimpses of glory that God grants to you gratuitously everyday of your life. Through your care, love and attention, enable a suffering person to have a glimpse of the glorious God and of his Risen Christ at work in their lives.
B. ACTION PLAN: To help us contemplate more deeply the vision of God’s glory and of his Christ transfigured in radiant light of the Holy Spirit, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 2, n. 37): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US