Feast Of The Transfiguration Of The Lord- Ascending The Spiritual Mountain

Even the highest moments of mystical union are meant to empower one to serve our neighbor.

It’s about service.

E.g. there is the story of a lady who went to a prayer group where everyone was sitting in silence. "When does the service begin?" she asked a man sitting near her. His answer: "As soon as the meeting is over."

Similarly, a spiritual director asked a directee, “How many souls have you led to Christ during this prolonged intense experience of God?”

The directee said, “I don’t know.”

“Have you saved anyone from the pit of despair or the sting of death?”

“I can’t say that I have,” the directee replied.

“Well, that’s not the kind of mountain top experience that makes any difference.”

“When we get so high that we can’t reach down to other people, there is something wrong.”

[D. Moody].

The definition of transfiguration is a complete transformation into a more beautiful or spiritual state like Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, St. Paul says we also are “transfigured” into the image of Christ.

It happens, geographically, on a mountain top because the higher you climb the more you see, so it’s revelatory of a person’s advancement in the spiritual life.

However, descent is a precondition for ascent.

Catholic author Sherry Boas said, “How often I have wanted to be apart with you, Jesus, on the mountain, but just as Peter, James and John had to come back down the mountain for the work that was ahead of them, so I too must depart from my place of peace and prayer to serve the souls you have placed in my care…. Love calls me down.”1

“Love does not seek after itself” [1 Cor 13:5]

St. Thomas Aquinas says it was necessary for some of the Apostles to taste a glimpse of future glory. A little dab will do ya. Just a little glimpse of Glory!

A pilgrim can get discouraged unless granted a glimpse of the glory that comes at the end, heaven. We see the wonder. Matthew 13:43 says, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father…”

So, there’s a connection between what Jesus looked like on the mountain and what we will look like (Daniel 12:3). But, notice that Jesus says to them, “don’t tell anyone yet because no one will believe you until after the Resurrection!” (Matt. 17:9, Mark 9:9).

There are there different degrees of difficulty along the way to the top as we walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). God has arranged the route so that the way becomes harder and the faith of the climber is inevitably strengthened with each step of [this] journey.”2

However, after an illumination by a noticeable advancement in prayer and virtue in one’s life, with an emphasis on the purification of one’s thoughts and attitudes, it is common that a person will be taken back into the lower level in the spiritual life, called the purgative way, which is the struggle of the flesh. We drop back down into this first level, which many never leave, in order for us to cooperate more with God, and then go back up to the illuminative way, higher up.

The danger is that when you’ve made it up the Mountain of the Transfiguration and are getting illumined, but then you slide down halfway and stay there. Or slide all way back to the parking lot where you started, which is mortal sin.

Greater self-transcendence is understood as the continual refinement of one’s sensibilities so that one chooses what is right over what is convenient, by God’s grace.

Mountain climbers tell us that, up at the summit, when one is taking pictures and looking at the view, the moment adhesion to hard snow is lost on even a moderate slope at the top, gravity will pull a climber silently and swiftly downhill. Instant action (self-belay/arrest) is required to stop a slide before it becomes uncontrollable.3

Not Listening to Jesus is the cause of many a fall.

e.g. A woman once found herself with too many commitments for the next month. She was snapping at her husband and children, and eating too fast, and feeling irritated at those unexpected interruptions through the day. She recalled, "Before long, I was rushing the cooking and other things around our home after work.”

It was becoming unbearable. "I distinctly remember after dinner one afternoon, my younger daughter said that she wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day. She began hurriedly, “Mommy, I want to tell you something and I'll tell you really fast.”

I replied, “Sweetie, you can tell me really slowly.”

I will never forget her answer: “Please listen slowly then.'"

When we find a place and a way to “listen slowly” to Jesus by devotional Bible reading, or by spiritual reading, you can surely make your spiritual ascent in holiness.