Uncovering Beauty

Feast of the Transfiguration

At the end of a tour of the Vatican Museum, tourists and pilgrims would be treated to one of the great wonders of the Catholic Church, the Sistine Chapel, with its most stunning and exquisite wall to ceiling murals painted by some of the greatest Renaissance artists that had ever lived. It is quite frustrating that what should take at least an entire day to appreciate and admire is often crammed into a 10 to 15 minutes experience during the peak hours of the visit. It is just impossible to take in everything and to focus on any particular scene for more than a quick cursory glance.

If I choose to highlight at least one scene due to the brevity of time, it would be indisputably Michelangelo’s Last Judgment which occupies the entire altar wall of the Chapel. It is a depiction of the Second Coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgment by God of all humanity. Due to the monumental scale of the work, it took four years to complete. After the death of Michelangelo in 1564, and as a consequence of the Council of Trent condemning nudity in religious art, the genitalia in the fresco, referred to as 'objectionable,' were painted over with drapery. For centuries, the original work of art remained hidden under layers of soot, dirt, grime and the censor’s concealing paint until the commencement of restoration works in the 20th century. After the cleanup, both the restorers and the world were surprised by the discoveries of what lay beneath. To the close minded, it could be described as medieval pornography. But to the enlightened, the original work of art could only be described as divine. The metamorphosis (the Greek word for Transfiguration) of this work of art, now unveiled its true beauty to an admiring world.

Likewise, the great event of the Transfiguration seeks to peel away at the mystery of the Passion of Christ. On the Mount of Transfiguration, we have a glimpse of the true glorious nature of the scene that took place on another hill, Calvary. It’s hard to make out the innate beauty and true nature of the crucifixion, especially when it is covered by all the blood, gore and horror of the event. The Transfiguration, however, allows us to see what really took place. The gospels attempt to do this by making striking similarities between the account of the transfiguration and the story of the cross: Both these scenes would have constituted an extraordinarily powerful diptych representing the high and low points of Jesus' life.

Our Lord takes Peter, James and John, His inner circle, with Him up the Mount of Transfiguration. On the evening of Holy Thursday, He will lead the same threesome to Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives to witness His passion. History repeats itself - the three disciples fall asleep on the Mount of Transfiguration as they did in the Garden of Gethsemane. Our Lord is transfigured on a mountain and crucified on another. Just as Jesus is flanked by His heavenly courtiers, Moses and Elijah, at the Transfiguration, He is placed between two thieves at His crucifixion. Although the disciples were enveloped with light on the Mount of Transfiguration, the whole land was covered in darkness at the Crucifixion. It is as if glory and suffering somehow belong together, two sides of the same coin. In the context of the deepest humiliation, pain and suffering, the true glory of Christ is revealed. It is as if human suffering is somehow itself transfigured by the God who came to redeem it; that somehow, the destiny of the Son of God fulfils the destiny of the human race; only through the suffering of death can we enter into glory.

How could Jesus’ ascent to the cross, a symbol of humiliation, be seen as a moment of glory? The answer lies in the scene of the Transfiguration. What is hidden to the eyes of those who witnessed the scene of the crucifixion is now revealed to the three Apostles and to all of us in the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration helps us to understand the Cross and Calvary would not be Jesus’ Alamo, the event commemorating His great defeat. The Transfiguration reveals to us what really happened on Calvary. Lifted up on a mountain, lifted up on a cross, lifted up as universal Saviour, Jesus truly ascended His throne of glory. The Transfiguration indeed reveals the true divine glory of Christ. Its purpose is to reveal to His disciples who Jesus is, and so to prepare them for the cross.

The Lord’s prophetic words that He would be tortured and killed in Jerusalem would have deeply troubled His disciples. A vision of the crucifixion might have evoked the feeling of despair in His disciples. It would have shaken their faith to the core. The mystery of redemption could have appeared to them as a defeat and the Messiah powerless. At a time of despondency and doubt, the three apostles’ witness to the Transfiguration was to strengthen the faith of the other disciples. And so, we finally come to the heart of this deliberate juxtaposition of the two scenes. No amount of intellectual explanation would have sufficed to explain the scandal of the cross and the suffering of Christ. God had to demonstrate it.

And this is what constitutes the mystery of Christianity - It attracts people not so much by its delicate and sophisticated intellectualism, nor by the brilliant oratory of its preachers, nor yet by the beauty of its rites. Christianity revealed to the human soul a new world, an eternal world, a world of divine light – that which not a single religion or philosophical system could give. It reveals to the world the beauty and sweetness of the divine mystery of its Saviour albeit hidden in human flesh and adorned with the tattered flesh of broken humanity. Here then is the greatest paradox of all - the glory of God revealed in Jesus, and especially in that which seems to be most inglorious. To the outward eye this was the uttermost in degradation, the death of a criminal. To the eye of faith, it was (and still is) the supreme glory.

We need to have before us the Transfiguration so that we may have a glimpse of the end of the story, the dawning glory of Easter, in order to be sustained in the midst of the darkness, pain and isolation that we must endure throughout our walk through the valley of the shadow of death. In the Transfiguration we taste the sweetness often hidden in the bitterness of failure, suffering and pain. In the Transfiguration we behold the beauty and glory often covered beneath layers of soot and the grime, concealed by the awful and scandalous experience of humanity’s suffering! In the Transfiguration, we finally receive the answer to the inexplicable mysteries concealed by death, an answer that can only be found in the Resurrection!

As the First Preface for Dead recited by the priest at a funeral Mass, we acclaim: “In Him who rose from the dead, our hope of resurrection dawned. The sadness of death gives way to the bright promise of immortality. Lord, for your faithful people, life is changed, not ended.” And though none of us have witnessed the resurrection of the body, we acknowledge and confess this to be true because of what the Apostles had witnessed at the Transfiguration.