Luke 9:28-36 Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ – He did not know what he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen. The Transfiguration of the Lord is filled with wonderful symbols! JEsus is in solitude, but he takes His three closest apostles with Him. We too need support in solitude. That is where the basis of monastic community came from in the first place with St. Antony, St. Makarius, Ammon, or Pachomius. The same pattern was followed by the later community hermits like St. Sabbas in Palestine, or the later 11the century monastic reformers like St. Romuald who founded who were later called Camaldolese, or St. Bruno who founded the Carthusians. It was used by the foundners of the Carmelites, later western Augustinians, or Franciscans, not to mention untold many more. We also use it with The Brothers and Sisters of Charity today. Moses and Elijah symbolize Jesus complimenting and completing the Law and Prophets. Though not part of formal Revelation, He does the same for the Greek philosophers or religious founders and saints. He compliments and completes all truth, for all truth comes from God, and goes back to God when understood rightly. This also symbolizes the wonderful Communion of Saints we find in Jesus Christ. All great saints lead from Jesus, and point back to Him. He sanctifies all, and is glorified by all the saints. Anytime we get stuck in any saint, no matter how holy, without going unquestionably back to Jesus, we are using the right gift of the Communion of the Saints wrongly, and mistakenly and even unknowingly commit idolatry by making gods of the gifts of God. We also hear of the great Taboric Light spoken of by the great mystics of the Christian east. This means the phenomenon of Uncreated Energy found in Uncreated Light. In the west we use the symbol for the Cloud of Unknowing symbolized by the Taboric Cloud of Light to speak of the the things of God beyond all human description and understanding. It is the Knowledge so great that it is easier to speak of what we do not know, than to say what It IS. In the end it is only Jesus that we see. The Transfiguration ends with Jesus and Jesus alone. All these things symbolized begin and end in Jesus Christ. When we know Him, then we can rightly grow in all these other wonders. Do we see all wonders in Jesus Christ today, or do we sometimes get sidetracked in the wonders of Christ, and miss Jesus Christ in the process?
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 20:14:57 +0000
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