Transfiguration of Our Lord (August 6) - Cycle C
1st Reading: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Daniel's Vision (Continuation)
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[9] As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was ancient of days took his
seat; his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his
throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire. [10] A stream of fire issued
and came forth from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thou-
sand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the
books were opened.
[13] I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came
one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented
before him. [14] And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all
peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be des-
troyed.
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Commentary:
7:9-14. Divine judgment is passed on the kingdoms in this scene. God is depicted
as being seated on a throne in heaven, his glory flashing out and angels all around.
Judgment is about to take place, and it will be followed by execution of the sen-
tence. The books (v. 10) contain all the actions of men (cf. Jer 17:1; Mal 3:16; Ps
56:8; Rev 20:12). The seer is shown history past (not laid out according to chrono-
logy: all the empires are included in one glance), and he notes that a more severe
sentence is passed on the blasphemous horn than on the other beasts. They had
their lives extended (v. 12), that is, their deprivation of power did not spell the end;
but the little horn is destroyed forthwith. "Following in the steps of the prophets and
John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgment of the Last Day in his preaching
(cf. Dan 7:10; Joel 3-4; Mal 3:19; Mt 3:7-42)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church",
678).
The one "like a son of man" who comes with the clouds of heaven and who, after
the judgment, is given everlasting dominion over all the earth, is the very antithe-
sis of the beasts. He has not risen from a turbulent sea like them; there is nothing
ferocious about him. Rather, he has been raised up by God (he comes with the
clouds of heaven) and he shares the human condition. The dignity of all mankind
is restored through this son of man's triumph over the beasts. This figure, as we
will discover later, stands for 'the people of the saints of the Most High' (7:27), that
is, faithful Israel. However, he is also an individual (just as the winged lion was an
individual, and the little horn), and insofar as he is given a kingdom, he is a king.
What we have here is an individual who represents the people. In Jewish circles
around the time of Christ, this "son of man" was interpreted as being the Messiah,
a real person (cf. "Book of the Parables of Enoch"); but it was a title that became
linked to the sufferings of the Messiah and to his resurrection from the dead only
when Jesus Christ applied it to himself in the Gospel. "Jesus accepted Peter's
profession of faith, which acknowledged him to be the Messiah, by announcing
the imminent Passion of the Son of Man (cf. Mt 16:23). He unveiled the authentic
content of his messianic kingship both in the transcendent identity of the Son of
Man 'who came down from heaven' (Jn 3:13; cf. Jn 6:62; Dan 7:13), and in his
redemptive mission as the suffering Servant: 'The Son of Man came not to be
served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many' (Mt 20:28; cf. Is
53:10-12)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 440).
When the Church proclaims in the Creed that Christ is seated at the right hand
of the Father, she is saying that it was to Christ that dominion was given; "Being
seated at the Father's right hand signifies the inauguration of the Messiah's king-
dom, the fulfillment of the prophet Daniel's vision concerning the Son of man; 'To
him was given domination and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and
languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall
not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed' (Dan 7:14). After
this event the apostles became witnesses of the 'kingdom [that] will have no end'
(Nicene Creed)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 664).
2nd Reading: 2 Peter 1:16-19
The Transfiguration, an Earnest of the Second Coming
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[16] For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of
His majesty. [17] For when He received honor and glory from God the Father
and the voice was borne to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased," [18] we heard this voice borne from heaven, for
we were with Him on the holy mountain.
Prophecy and the Second Coming
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[19] And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay
attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and
the morning star rises in your hearts.
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Commentary:
16-18. The transfiguration of Jesus Christ, at which the voice of God the Father
was heard (verses 16-18), and the testimony of the Old Testament prophets
(verses 19-21) are a guarantee of the doctrine of Christ's second coming.
"The power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ": this phrase sums up the pur-
pose of apostolic preaching: "power" indicates that Jesus Christ is God and is
almighty like the Father; the "coming (literally "Parousia") means the same as
His manifestation in glory at the end of time. This is not a matter of "myth"; it
will be as real as His sojourn on this earth, of which the Apostles are "eyewit-
nesses". When speaking of the Transfiguration, the sacred writer refers to the
"majesty" of Jesus Christ (an attribute which He always possesses, because
He is God) and the "voice" of the Father confirming Christ's divine nature (cf.
Matthew 17:5). The simple line of argument is that if Jesus Christ allowed His
divinity to be glimpsed just for a moment, He will also be able to manifest it in
its fullness and forever at the end of time.
"On the holy mountain": this wording indicates that he is referring to the transfi-
guration and not to the baptism of our Lord (Matthew 3:16-17). The mountain is
described as "holy" because a theophany occurred there; similarly, in the Old
Testament Zion is called a "holy mountain" because God revealed Himself there
(cf. Psalm 2:6; Isaiah 11:9).
19-21. "The prophetic word" finds its complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ (cf.
Hebrews 1:1). This does not refer to a particular prophecy; at that time "the pro-
phetic word" meant the messianic prophecies or (more usually) all the Old Tes-
tament insofar as it proclaims the enduring salvation to come.
These verses encapsulate the whole notion of biblical prophecy--its value, inter-
pretation and divine origin. They also show the close connection between the
Old and the New Testaments. "The books of the Old Testament, all of them
caught up into the Gospel message, attain and show forth their full meaning in
the New Testament (cf. Matthew 5:17; Luke 24:27; Romans 16:25-26; 2 Corin-
thians 3: 14-16) and, in their turn, shed light on it and explain it" (Vatican II,
"Dei Verbum", 16).
By reaching their fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the Old Testament prophecies con-
firm the truthfulness of what Jesus said and did. Together with the Transfiguration
they constitute a guarantee of the second coming of the Lord.
The comparison of prophecy to the morning star is a very good one, for that star
is designed to bring light and announce the coming of day. Similarly, the fullness
of Revelation which begins with the earthly life of Christ will reach its climax when
He comes in glory.
Gospel Reading: Luke 9:28b-36
The Transfiguration
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[28b] [Jesus] took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the moun-
tain to pray. [29] And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was
altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. [30] And behold, two men talked
with him, Moses and Elijah, [31] who appeared in glory and spoke of his depar-
ture, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. [32] Now Peter and those who
were with him were heavy with sleep, and when they wakened they saw his glory
and the two men who stood with him. [33] And as the men were parting from him,
Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths,
one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.
[34] As he said this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were afraid
as they entered the cloud. [35] And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This
is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" [36] And when the voice had spoken,
Jesus was found alone. And they kept silence and told no one in those days
anything of what they had seen.
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Commentary:
28-36. By His transfiguration Jesus strengthens His disciples' faith, revealing a
trace of the glory His body will have after the Resurrection. He wants them to rea-
lize that His passion will not be the end but rather the route He will take to reach
His glorification. "For a person to go straight along the road, he must have some
knowledge of the end--just as an archer will not shoot an arrow straight unless
he first sees the target [...]. This is particularly necessary if the road is hard and
rough, the going heavy, and the end delightful" (St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa
Theologiae", III, q. 45, a. 1).
Through the miracle of the Transfiguration Jesus shows one of the qualities of glo-
rified bodies--brightness, "by which the bodies of the saints shall shine like the
sun, according to the words of our Lord recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew:
'The righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father' (Matthew 13:
43). To remove the possibility of doubt on the subject, He exemplifies this in His
transfiguration. This quality the Apostle (St. Paul) sometimes calls glory, some-
times brightness: 'He will change our lowly body to be like His glorious body'
(Philippians 3:21); and again, 'It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory' (1 Corin-
thians 15:43). Of this glory the Israelites beheld some image in the desert, when
the face of Moses, after he had enjoyed the presence and conversation of God,
shone with such luster that they could not look on it (Exodus 34:29; 2 Corinthians
3:7). This brightness is a sort of radiance reflected by the body from the supreme
happiness of the soul. It is a participation in that bliss which the soul enjoys [...].
This quality is not common to all in the same degree. All the bodies of the saints
will be equally impassible; but the brightness of all will not be the same, for, ac-
cording to the Apostle, 'There is one glory of the sun, and another of the moon,
and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So it is with the
resurrection of the dead' (1 Corinthians 15:4f)" ("St. Pius V Catechism", I, 12, 13).
See also the notes on Matthew 17:1-13; 17:5; 17:10-13; and Mark 9:2-10; 9:7.
31. "And spoke of His departure": that is, His departure from this world, in other
words, His death. It can also be understood as meaning our Lord's Ascension.
35. "Listen to Him!": everything God wishes to say to mankind He has said
through Christ, now that the fullness of time has come (cf. Hebrews 1:1). "There-
fore," St. John of the Cross explains, "if any now should question God or desire
a vision or revelation, not only would he be acting foolishly but he would be com-
mitting an offense against God, by not fixing his gaze on Christ with no desire for
any new thing. For God could reply to him in this way: 'If I have spoken all things
to you in My Word, which is My Son, and I have no greater word, what answer
can I give you now, or what can I reveal to you that is greater than this? Fix your
eyes on Him alone, for in Him I have spoken and revealed to you all things, and
in Him you will find even more than what you ask for and desire [...]. Hear Him,
for I have no more faith to reveal, nor have I any more things to declare'" ("Ascent
of Mount Carmel", Book 2, Chapter 22, 5).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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