Today we read the gospel of the transfiguration of Christ. Jesus took Peter, James and John—the closer companions—up the mountain to pray. It was probably not the first time. Jesus might have been guiding them into this habit of praying alone, quite different from the usual Jewish way. That day, unusually, he was “trans-figured”: his figure, his clothes, his face, all started shining. It was as if the veil of his humanity moved away from his face for a while, and his divinity shone through in the sight of his close disciples.
We cannot avoid remembering how Moses went up the mountain and met God in a much similar way. On his return, he had to use a veil to cover the glare on his face. Moses was somehow reflecting the radiance of God. For Jesus, it was not just the face but his whole body was transfigured. These are changes that happen to people who encounter the Father.
The disciples, in the meanwhile, enjoyed the experience of Moses and Elijah with them. It was euphoric. They wanted to build booths there to freeze the moment, like taking a selfie or a screenshot of the moment to make it eternal and live there in that experience. “Templing the experience” is how my friend, Fr. Paulson CMF, wrote about this moment. They wanted to preserve the experience. He said it is futile as someone trying to capture the mist of the Niagara in a bottle or like the old game of children to capture sunshine in a matchbox.
Their proposal came from a dreamy sleep. Sleep is the term the scripture uses for lack of perception into the gravity of the situation. We read about the sleeping virgins, sleeping stewards, sleeping servants, sleeping disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane—all referring to the failure to recognize the gravity of the moment. To live in the glorious moment forever is one of the temptations that Jesus faced from Peter to which Jesus does not respond. Jesus tells him later that he would have to undergo a violent death. After the transfiguration, Jesus brings them down to reality to the foot of the mountain.
Beyond the theological meditations of this text, it is also pertinent to think over when do our faces begin to look like that of God? When can we radiate the light of God to others? When do people begin to think that in us they see God? It requires a huge “trans-substantiation” in us. This is a term we use for the change that happens to the host during the consecration in the Mass. The essence of the host is changed into the essence of Christ. When our substance is changed into divine profile, that change happens to us too. Our substance changes when we think and feel like Christ. Our appearance changes when we do what Christ did.
Mother Teresa had developed this divine countenance. When someone told her, “For a million-dollar, I would not do the kind of job that you do.” She replied, “Nor will I. But I do this because I see the suffering Christ in every one of them.” Some of these poor people called Mother Teresa, God, goddess and other names equivalent to divinity. It is the mystery of transfiguration. When we are able to see the face of God in the poor, in the suffering, they too see the face of God in us. It is the experience of Christ meeting Christ, the experience of the suffering Christ meeting the compassionate Christ.
This is the mirror effect of a genuine spiritual transfiguration of life. It happens through a long process of polishing our own selves. It is much like the practice of making old-fashioned metallic mirrors. After making the shape of the mirror with molten metal in a mould, the craftsman begins to polish the surface with different objects for days until one sees one’s own face reflected without blemish on the surface.
We have all been made in the image and likeness of God. That face has been blemished by our human perspectives. Our lives need a lot of polishing until we can see the face of God mirrored in the poor, in the needy. The moment that we begin to see the face of God in the other, that is the moment they are able to see God’s face on our faces too.
The polishing most poignantly is perfect when we become like God in acts of mercy. Jesus tells us, “Be merciful like your heavenly Father is merciful.” Jesus taught this value when he narrated the last judgment story. Have you been merciful when I was hungry, thirsty, lonely and naked? Now we know where we need the grinding and polishing! This Lent is the best time to do it. Begin today!