From the responsorial psalm: “The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the LORD of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his justice, and all peoples see his glory. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 9:2-10)
Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
All of the readings for today’s Feast of the Transfiguration point to the relationship of Jesus to the Father and to the kingship of God. The refrain from the Psalm is “The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.” In the second reading, Peter says, “For he received honor and glory from God the Father
when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory, ‘This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ And in the Gospel, the Father speaks to his beloved Son in the presence of Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, and John. In the Gospel, Peter hardly knows what to say. By the time he writes a letter to the first Christians, he knows exactly what to say to them about the Transfiguration: “We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. . . . You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
Father in heaven, you sent your Son for the sake of our salvation. Bringing all who believe in him the hope of eternal life through his death and resurrection, Jesus brings us into relationship with you as your adopted sons and daughters. Give me the grace to receive the gift of the Eucharist, knowing that in receiving it, I unite with your Son to become like him. Help me recall throughout the day the Prayer after Communion: “May the heavenly nourishment we have received, O Lord, we pray, transform us into the likeness of your Son, whose radiant splendor you willed to make manifest in his glorious Transfiguration. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.” Lord, help me listen to your beloved Son.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.