Liturgy Lesson for the Transfiguration of Our Lord: Purity and Royalty

August 7, 2009

In today’s festival, we celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord, denoted by the liturgical colors of white and gold, heralding His purity and royalty. The Lord planned this special demonstration to edify His disciples’ faith in order to prepare their spirits and souls for the ordeal of His Crucifixion and death by providing them convincing proof He was Messiah and God. Although these men had been with Him in His earthly ministry—directly absorbing about three years of miracles and life-changing teaching, His divinity had been somewhat concealed beneath the drapery of His human nature. In the Transfiguration, He allowed His perfect Heavenly nature to shine through His flesh—the status He would assume once ascended to Heaven. From this, we can learn something about how we will be changed after the Resurrection on the last day. Our bodies will have passed death and will be changed, as St. Paul says, “…in the twinkling of an eye and shall become like Christ’s glorified body, and shall shine as stars with different degrees of splendor.” (Ref 1 Cor 15:52; Phil 3:21 & Dan 12:3) And here’s some more good news—the fact that Moses and Elijah were present and talking with Jesus demonstrates the saints who have passed from this life through death still live with God. The Father’s voice from Heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, hear Him,” tasks us to render to Jesus our unreserved attention and obedience. These powerful lessons prepare us all for our own Gethsemane—that time when we all come to the place of sacrifice of self-surrendering our lives so we may save them! Be Lord of all in our lives, Lord—maranatha!

Posted by Father Chip | Filed Under Liturgy Lessons