The Transfiguration of the Lord was an event of such significance that the Church lays it before us twice a year. Although every event in the life of Christ is a mystery that can be endlessly contemplated, this one, in particular, is an abyss for us. Peter hardly knew what to say when he saw Heaven literally open before them, and neither do we, when we hear his account of it. There on the holy mountain, as he describes it in his second letter, he was an eyewitness to Christ's exaltation. The glorious light, the voice of God, the transfigured body, the communing with saints of every age - this was truly a glimpse of Heaven.

Peter, James and John needed this privileged view so that they could endure the scandal to come. These were the three who would, in forty days, be Christ's companions in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the Father who had thundered "This is my beloved Son" would retreat in silence, seeming to abandon Him; when the body which could light up Heaven and earth with its splendor was crumpled and sweating blood, sorrowful unto death; when the God of all consolation begged to be comforted by a few angels and three sleepy apostles.

But this glimpse of glory does not just prepare us for Christ's suffering, but for our own. If you visit a nursing home occasionally, you cannot but be impressed by the inexorable decline of our physical nature as time goes on: our body, ordinarily a fair instrument for contact with others becomes a sort of prison; what once glowed with health and beauty, now wastes away; what once not only got us around but ran, played and danced, now cannot turn over in bed. The reality of our life on earth is that we are all headed towards Calvary, but there is a power at work in a faithful Christian soul which can enable us to look forward to this future with the same serene confidence that Christ did as He spoke with Elijah and Moses about his impending departure.

In this life, to mortal eyes, it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when [Christ] appears we shall be like Him (I Jn 3.4) Our body needs to be transfigured so as not to be an obstacle to the soul's soaring up to union with God. This dignity for the flesh is only made possible by the fact that God Himself assumed flesh. Think of that the next time that you look at yourself with sadness: whether it be a small matter - when one might think vain thoughts like "if only I weighed five pounds less," or whether it be a big matter - as when , for instance, you are seeing your body, or that of a loved one become crippled, twisted, amputated, or emaciated. These bodies are made for glory, they are going to become dazzling, too, on God's holy mountain, reflecting the splendor of the Word made Flesh for all eternity.