Transfiguration Sunday

Yesterday was Transfiguration Sunday. Late in the day, I found a sermon that gave a (to me) fresh perspective on the miracle--the idea that the glorified form of Jesus prepared his three disciples for what was to come. This is from a sermon by Pope Saint Leo the Great.

"The Lord reveals his glory int he presence of chosen witnesses. His body is like that of the rest of mankind, but he makes it shine with such splendor that his face becomes like the sun in glory, and his garments as white as snow.

"The great reason for this transfiguration was to remove the scandal of the cross from the hearts of his disciples, and to prevent the humiliation of his voluntary suffering from disturbing the faith of those who has witnessed the surpassing glory that lay concealed.

"With no less forethought he was also providing a firm foundation for the holy of holy Church. The whole body of Christ was to understand the kind of transformation that it would receive as his gift. The members of that body were to look forward to a share in that glory which first blamed out in Christ as their head."

From The Liturgy of the Hours, II, Lenten Season, Easter Season (New York: Catholic Book Publishing Corp., 1976), 149.