Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, 2 Peter 1:16-19, Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6 & 9, Matthew 17:1-9

FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, 2 Peter 1:16-19, Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6 & 9, Matthew 17:1-9

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

My Beloved, from all eternity You are with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Consubstantial with the One of Great Age, God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God.

We see in the vision of the prophet Daniel a glimpse of heaven with God the Father seated on the throne blazing with the fiery Love of the Holy Spirit before whom every creature worships, honors, praises and obeys.  In this vision, Daniel also sees You, Son of man and Son of God approaching on the clouds of heaven before Your Father who gives You  Dominion, honor and kingship were given him, and all the peoples and nations of every language served him. His dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; his kingdom will never be destroyed.

Every knee shall bow before You and every tongue will confess to the glory of God the Father that You indeed are God. 

2 Peter 1:16-19

My Beloved, we have here the written testimony of the first Pope who gives us an eye witness account of what he was privileged to glimpse along with James and John when he beheld Your glory as the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father.  This celestial mountain top experience would serve to deepen his faith and encourage him in difficult moments and later when he taught and preached he would do so as one who had seen and touched the Son of God.  We believe on the strength of his testimony.

Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6 & 9

My Beloved, all men and women from time immemorial together with all creation that has come to be at the utterance of the Word by the Living God, rejoices in You.

Nourished and sustained by You, we who live and move and have our being in You, acknowledge that You are indeed Master of the Universe whom God has exalted above every other name and every other power that ever was or will be, so that dominion and majesty are Yours on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 17:1-9

High on a mountain away from the noise of the cities and towns You invited Peter, James and John to come away with You and there to  glimpse Your glory which until then was hidden from them.  They knew You were fully human and although they believed You when You told them that You were also God they now witness with their eyes the glory of the transfiguration.  They hear with their ears the Father declare that You are indeed His Beloved Son in whom He is well pleased and commanding us to listen to Him.

Your divinity shone from You brighter than the sun and they saw You conversing with Moses and Elijah who represented the law and the prophets who now find their fulfillment  in You.  The old ends as the New surpasses all.

Peter, like the rest of us, would like to hold on to these moments of ecstasy and never let go but this is not what discipleship is about.  We do not build tents and enclose You and hold You to ourselves selfishly, rather, having experience you and tasted Your sweetness, we return to our daily lives reinvigorated and enlivened once again in faith, hope and charity as we pick up our cross each day and follow You, joyfully witnessing the the God News in all the circumstances of our lives ever mindful that in this is our joy that we believe the Father who says,  “This is my Son, the Beloved, my Chosen One. Listen to Him.” And when we face obstacles we hear You speaking to us, “Stand up, do not be afraid.” 

We know my Beloved that having lived and died for You we share in the hope of experiencing Your resurrection as well.