Transfiguration: Embracing the Cross with Faith and Glory

03-16-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Albert

The splendid vision in our Gospel today comes after Jesus had said that “The Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.” This was no good news to the disciples who expected Jesus, as the Messiah, to drive out the Roman army of occupation and restore the kingdom of Israel. Many of them would have begun to have second thoughts: Is Jesus really the expected Messiah? So, a few days after, Jesus invites the three leaders of his group—Peter, James, and John—to go with him up a mountain, to show them another angle on reality.

For many, mountains are a place of encounter with God. Moses encountered God on a mountaintop, and so did Elijah, and it was a favorite place of prayer for Jesus too. It was where the eyes of the Apostles—their spiritual eyes—were opened, and they caught a glimpse of Jesus that their physical eyes could never see. Then they saw that the heavens were on the side of Jesus, and they heard the voice of the invisible God: “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him.” This was all the confirmation they needed that Jesus was indeed the expected one, for heaven itself bore witness. Now they would listen to him and follow him all the way to his suffering and death in Jerusalem. No matter what happens, they are now sure of one thing: God is with Jesus; final victory will therefore be his.

Our lives are a mixture of a 'mountain-top experience' and a 'valley experience.' Jesus' prediction of his suffering and death, followed by the transfiguration experience, reveals this truth in no unclear terms. You can see thorns in a bush full of roses or roses in a bush full of thorns. No matter how you look at it, you cannot change the truth that both thorns and roses are before you. Life's journey is through thorns and roses, mountains and valleys.

When we know that suffering is going to come upon us, it is quite natural that our faces will look gloomy and pale, and people can notice it. But here, at the Transfiguration, Jesus is looking radiant in glory. This scene suggests that when we take up our cross in God's name, we receive strength and grace from the Lord to carry it. The voice of God—“This is my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased, listen to Him”—is not just an endorsement of Jesus’ mission of redemption, but an affirmation that God is always “well-pleased” when we are willing to carry our cross and follow Him. When we are busy carrying our crosses, we can also be sure that God is busy weaving a crown for us. The crown is not beyond the grave, but in this life itself.