TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD - 06th Aug

 The Transfiguration of Christ is the culminating point of His public life, as His Baptism is its starting point and His Ascension its end. 

    Mount Tabor was the site of the revelation. On July 22, 1456, Crusaders defeated the Turks at Belgrade. News of the victory reached Rome on August 6, 

    and Pope Callistus III placed the feast on the following year. A Church first raised there in the 4th century was dedicated on August 6. At His Transfiguration, 

    Christ showed his disciples the splendor of his beauty, to which he will shape and color those who are his: ‘He will reform our lowness configured to the body of his glory’ 

    (Phil. 3:21) The Transfiguration also echoes the teaching by Jesus that God is not "the God of the dead, but of the living". 

    Although Moses had died and Elijah had been taken up to heaven centuries before, they now live in the presence of the Son of God, 

    implying that the same return to life can apply to all who face death and have faith. The Transfiguration was a special event in which God allowed certain Apostles to have a 

    privileged spiritual experience that was meant to strengthen their faith for the challenges they would later endure. But it was only a temporary event. 

    It was not meant to be permanent. In the same way, at certain times in this life, God may give certain members of the faithful special experiences of his grace that strengthen 

    their faith. We welcome these experiences for the graces they are, but not expect them to continue indefinitely, nor be afraid or resentful when they cease. 

    They may have been meant only as momentary glimpses of the joy of heaven to sustain us as we face the challenges of this life, 

    to help strengthen us on the road that will--ultimately--bring us into the infinite and endless joy of heaven.




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