Prayer
O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses Your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment
white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in His beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Commentary
1st Reading: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Christology is the study of Christ which helps us understand who Jesus is.
Christology draws on the life of Jesus in the New Testament. It also finds helpful the prophetic voices found in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Daniel, one of the four major prophets in the Old Testament, gives a vivid description written in the 2nd century B.C., of not only God as Creator of the universe but also “the Son of Man.” It is a description which foretells Jesus coming to Earth.
There is a distinct similarity between this reading and the description in our Gospel account where Jesus’ face shines like the sun and His garments are white as light. The Transfiguration reveals Jesus in His earthly existence as the Son of Man.
Questions
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- How do I understand who Jesus really is?
- Do I only know Him from the Gospels, or do I reflect
on Christ from all of Scripture?
2nd Reading: 2 Peter: 1:16-19
If we lived 50 – 60 years after Jesus’ Ascension, when the early Church was first blossoming, we might have been confused too.
There were no written Gospel accounts that people could study. The Church was still growing by word of mouth.
While the disciples of Jesus were busy sharing the good news, other false prophets were also taking advantage, or sharing their spin, on this new movement. Many tried to explain away the prophetic books by claiming they were based solely on myths.
Here Peter sets the record straight. As an actual witness to the Transfiguration, Peter, empowered by the Holy Spirit, would give the true version of events that had been reported incorrectly.
Although fear loomed for many who wanted to believe the disciples, Peter reaffirms their mission to be “a lamp shining in a dark place.”
Questions
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- What keeps me from being “a lamp shining” for Jesus?
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
In Christology, the Transfiguration is a pivotal moment, and the setting high on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge
between heaven and earth.
Elijah represents the Prophets, Moses represents the Law, which at the time any faithful Hebrew boy would have learned this from his elders. Perhaps this understanding prompted Peter’s offer to make three tents.
Initially it is clear that Peter misses the point by considering Elijah and Moses equal to Jesus as well as his desire to make the extraordinary moment last; hence the three tents.
However, the voice from God above startles Peter, James and John as he commands them to “listen to Him” Jesus — the fulfillment of the Prophet and the Law.
Questions
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- Have we at times been like Peter and “missed the point” of
the nature and mission of Jesus Christ; particularly when we
encounter Jesus in the Eucharist or in the Sacraments?
This Week’s Task
Pray the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary this week. Pope St. John Paull II encouraged us to bridge the Joyful and Sorrowful mysteries of the rosary in order not to exclude the mission of Jesus beginning with His the baptism in the Jordan. As with the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries, the Luminous include five decades. They are:
1) Baptism at the Jordan
2) Miracle at the Wedding in Cana
3) The Proclamation of the Kingdom
4) The Transfiguration
5) The Last Supper
Group Prayer
The leader invites the group to pray the following words together:
At the Transfiguration, Father, You showed Jesus in glory, a glimpse of what His disciples would see in His risen life. Bless us in our humanity, with an awareness of Your presence, leading us to share in Your divine life even in our daily struggle. Help us to deepen our knowledge of the Law and the Prophets, channels of Your grace throughout history, and signposts for our journey. Amen
The leader will guide the group in praying Psalm 97.
Psalm
Response: The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many islands be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him,
justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
R: The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the LORD of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
R: The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
Because you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the
earth,
exalted far above all gods.
R: The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
Conclude with an Our Father
Used with permission. All rights reserved. Christ in Our Neighborhood is a Scripture program designed by Bishop John P. Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix.
