Luke 9.28-36
Transfiguration is not a word that gets much play in everyday conversation, not even in church. And if it wasn’t for this Gospel story, many of us may not even think too much about the meaning of it. We might think it sounds a lot like transformation and therefore assume the meanings are similar. And that is true, but not completely.
Transfiguration is about a change in outward appearance, such as we heard happen to Jesus up on that mountain; whereas transformation is more of an inside job. It’s about change that happens within, hidden from sight, until it’s not. Think of a woman who is expecting a child. As the child grows within her, her outward appearance changes. In addition to the obvious “baby bump,” we often hear that she looks different, that she is radiant or “glowing.” The same can be true of someone who has found deep serenity and peace. Their outward appearance signals spiritual heath. In both cases, the transformation taking place within is manifesting in outward appearance as transfiguration.
The opposite can also be true. For instance, the toll of addiction in its various forms on the body can be transfiguration at its worst; whereas the experience Jesus had on the mountain that day was transfiguration at its very best. So, transfiguration is about inner transformation shining forth in one’s appearance. At its best, it is, in words familiar to many of us, an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace, and it can signal a turning point, or even axial moment in one’s life.
I have had three axial moments in my life. The first was my Christian baptism in 1989. The second was when I began my recovery on 1998. And the third was when I took monastic vows alongside Sister Greta in 2010. Each one represented a significant turning point and brought with it a new sense of who I was. Each one was a moment of transformation and pointed me in a new direction in life. I think many, if not most of us, have had or will have such turning point moments.
That day on the mountain was a turning point in the life and ministry of Jesus, and it is for us as well. Until this moment, Jesus’ ministry was all about teaching, preaching, and healing throughout Galilee. But from this moment on, his sights will be firmly set on Jerusalem and his destiny with the cross. That’s what makes this moment so big. It is so big in fact, that it conjures the spirits of Moses and Elijah, not to mention the Divine Voice from above. Yeah, that voice. The voice of God herself instructing us to listen to her beloved son Jesus. And listen we will. And follow. We will follow him down the mountain towards his destiny – our destiny.
In three days, we begin our journey on the road to Jerusalem. On Ash Wednesday we will offer ourselves to be marked with ashes, and we will remember that it was from dust that we came and to dust we shall return. It will mark the start of a forty-day journey on the road to Jerusalem that will be one of going forward and of going inward; one of uncovering, discovering, and discarding truths about ourselves. We should be changed by the experience. We should be transformed by the journey.
Sister Greta and I spend a lot of time with those friends who are living in prisons, and for me personally, also those who have been imprisoned by addiction. I am convinced that these friends have much to tell of their own transformation. They have experienced spiritual darkness and have, through the hard work of self-examination, truth-telling, and confession been able to reconcile with God and others. They have found freedom. They have been transformed, and you can see it – maybe not in a transfiguration of a dazzling white appearance, but certainly in the light of transformation that shines forth from their innermost being. They have changed. They are different people now, and it shows.
These women and men have been down the hard road and they have found the narrow gate that leads to real life. It is not the easy way. Alcoholics Anonymous says this: “Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of our shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation.” In fact, the path to real personal transformation is the road less traveled.
The road to an authentic spiritual life is not easy. But it can be done, and it is what Lent is inviting us to. The forty-day Road to Jerusalem invites us to deep self-reflection that can foster new awareness and encourage real change in our lives. It calls us to the work of transformation that can lead to the discovery of the best version of ourselves. It makes no promise that it will be easy, only that it will be worth it.
As we stand at the threshold of our axial moment – at the beginning of our journey on the road to Jerusalem, I offer you these words of blessing from John O’Donohue:
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening,
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.
So now, my friends …
May God’s grace be with your spirit.
May God’s peace be in your heart.
Amen.
Brother Dennis