Jesus received honor and glory from God the Father when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. Today’s feast remembering the Transfiguration of Jesus is reported by the Synoptic Gospel writers and in the second epistle of Peter. These accounts, written decades after the actual event, must have been a significant memory in the Church. Contemporary scholars who tend to be dismissive of supernatural events look on this skeptically. For believers the Transfiguration makes sense — the followers of Jesus would need the assurance that he received at his baptism of his nature at the beloved of God as a light to sustain them in the dark time after his crucifixion. We too must focus on the light of faith in our dark times.
