Matthew 17:1-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
The Mystery of Coexistence
It is always sobering to consider that the Feast of the Transfiguration coincides with the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.
How terrible, really, to contrast the bright cloud which Jesus was taken up into and from which the tender voice of God said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” and the awful white mushroom cloud which hovered over Hiroshima from a bomb that killed over 100,000 people.
The contrast itself may speak more powerfully than any reflection I can offer about it. Perhaps, sitting with the mystery that such horrendous evil can coincide and co-exist with such tenderness and beauty as the dazzling face of Jesus is all we can do for today. And we thank Jesus for entering into and journeying with us in our frail and often violent human life.
—Billy Critchley-Menor, SJ, is a Jesuit of the Midwest Province; he writes on Substack at From Every Side and is the author of As It Is: Poems. He currently studies at Boston College.
Prayer
On the mountain you were transfigured, O Christ God,
And your disciples beheld your glory as far as they were able
So that when they would behold You crucified,
They would understand that Your suffering was voluntary,
And would proclaim to the world,
That You are truly the radiance of the Father.
—Kontakion of the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ