Transfiguration

“Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain.” Dear Br Augustine, were you a young monk of Mount Athos, you would have climbed the 6,660 feet to the summit of the Holy Mountain, to celebrate today’s feast in the chapel of the Transfiguration. You’d have set out yesterday morning to be there in time for the 18 hour long liturgy of Vespers, Vigils, Matins, Little Hours and Mass. I was there myself 50 years’ ago today, something I shall never forget But it’s much easier to climb up the mountain than to come down.

In a few moments you will make your Solemn Vows. There can be no better day on which to do this than the Transfiguration, the most monastic of all feasts. What is the monastic life about if not to climb Mount Tabor with Jesus and witness his Transfiguration in the presence of Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets, and glimpse, however briefly, the glory of the Uncreated Light, to see and hear the Mystery of the Holy Trinity? Moses had seen and spoken with God on Mount Sinai and Elijah on Mount Horeb. Their visions could not have been more different, yet here they are together now, talking with Jesus. Peter says to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is wonderful for us to be here.” But he’s so frightened that he spoils it all by saying that he wants to make three tents to commemorate what he’s seen, as if a vision of eternity could be confined in time and space. Jesus doesn’t reply for a cloud appears and covers them with its shadow. From the cloud there comes a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.” Then suddenly, they look round and see “no one with them any more but only Jesus.” Only Jesus, because Jesus is more than the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets: he is “the fullness of Him who fills all things,” as St Paul writes to the Ephesians. No more talk of tents, for now they see “only Jesus.” At last they grasp that he is the answer to all their questions, the source and goal of their deepest longings.

The Transfiguration takes place at a pivotal moment in the Gospel story. Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem, where he will be arrested, tried and crucified. Peter, who on Tabor wants to set up three tents, will deny him three times and run away when Jesus is raised up on a cross and dies. Yet death opens out into glory and, on the third day, Jesus rises from the dead and it is Peter who first enters the empty tomb. Then, on the shores of the lake, he is asked by Jesus three times, “Do you love me?” The Transfiguration prepares the disciples for what is to come and they are able to withstand persecution knowing that only the way of the Cross leads to the light of Easter glory. They will always look back on the Transfiguration, knowing that they have been granted a glimpse of heaven and that is what they look forward to as they take up their own cross and follow Jesus. They have seen the true Light and so can face the valley of the shadow of death. The Rite of Monastic Profession points to the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection: you will lie on a funeral pall while the Paschal candle burns brightly above you. This is your Transfiguration.

Dear Br Augustine, you have been called by God to the monastic life in order to follow Jesus because God knows that this is the best way for you be transfigured into the image of Christ. You have been called, “to give up your own will, once and for all, and armed with the strong and noble weapons of obedience to do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord.” This is St Benedict’s description of our vocation in the Prologue to the Rule. “Every time you begin a good work, you must pray to him most earnestly to bring it to perfection.” That is the way monks do things, by prayer and relying on God’s grace and mercy. Your salvation will be God’s work, not yours, but you, by an act of the will, must place yourself confidently in God’s hands. That is what you are doing today by making your Solemn Profession. You are saying a definitive “Yes” to the Lord’s invitation to follow him faithfully in the way of the Gospel. So, you “will run on the path of God’s commandments, your heart overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.” “Faithfully observing his teaching in the monastery until death, you will through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that you deserve also to share in his kingdom.” This is the life-long commitment that will lead often to the summit of Mount Tabor, if not always to the vision of God, at least into the cloud.

I assure you of the prayers and affection of the Belmont Community. May you flourish and grow among us and may we, your brethren and your family and friends as well, learn from your patience, humility, obedience and good humour. Amen.