by Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle*
Rome – We publish the homily delivered by Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle during the Mass celebrated today in Rome, on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, in the chapel dedicated to St. John Henry Newman, in the Palace of Propaganda Fide.
§§§
We thank God who has gathered us as a community on this feast of The transfiguration of theLord Jesus.
The account of the transfiguration we just heard from the Gospel is confirmed in the second reading by Saint Peter, one of the eyewitnesses of the event. We recall that before the Transfiguration, Jesus asked his disciples, “who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus quickly said that Peter’s knowledge of Jesus came from a revelation of the Father. Only the Father can reveal who Jesus truly is.
Later Jesus revealed that He, the Messiah, would suffer, be killed and be raised on the third day. Peter protested against this type of Messiah. But Jesus quickly called him Satan, a stumbling block that did not depend on God’s revelation but on human thinking.
Only the Father can reveal who Jesus truly is. By closing his mind to the Father’s wisdom, Peter “disfigured”Jesus.
A week later, on a mountain, Jesus was “transfigured” before Peter, James and John. The voice of the Father revealed Jesus as His beloved Son. Conversing with Moses and Elijah, Jesus was revealed as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. His radiant face and clothing revealed that Jesus was more than Moses, for He was the Son of God. Jesus’ body that would one day be crucified and buried was revealed as the glorious body of the Son of God in his resurrection.
The transfiguration of Jesus is the Father’s revelation to the disciples and to us of the true identity and mission of Jesus. The Father transforms our view of Jesus. The Father commands us to listen to Jesus, if we desire to follow him. What Peter “disfigured”, God the Father “transfigured”.
Look at Jesus as The Father reveals Him, not as we want him to be. Listen to Jesus, as the Father speaks through Him, not as we expect him to speak. By imposing our ideas and expectations of Jesus, we might disfigure him, and we also disfigure ourselves. The Father patiently transfigures Jesus in our sight and hearing, so we could also be transfigured as His disciples. What the world disfigures, the Father transfigures.
On August 6, 1945, eighty-one years ago, at 8:15 in the morning, a burst of light illuminated the city of Hiroshima in Japan—light from a nuclear bomb that brought the darkness of destruction, sickness, and death. Some say that day “transfigured” the world because it led to the surrender of an enemy, thereby contributing to the end of World War II. Now we ask: Is the war really over? Can we truly call war a transformation? Why can’t we call war by its true name:disfigurement? Only God’s revelation—not war—can bring transformation to humanity.
*Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.