The Last Sunday After the Epiphany "Transfiguration Sunday"

O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

-- BCP, page 217

Texts

2 Kings 2:1-12; Psalm 50:1-6;
2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9

The Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ is the theme of The Last Sunday after the Epiphany throughout the Lectionary cycle in the Episcopal Church (and in most Churches that also follow the Revised Common Lectionary).

The Transfiguration also shows up as its own feast on August 6, the date set near the end of the Middle Ages in the western Church for its observance. Last year, when August 6 fell on a Sunday, we all got to celebrate the feast twice!

What follows is background information, reprinted from our liturgical supplement Lesser Feasts and Fasts (page 332, Church Publishing, 2006). May it help you prepare as we close this season and prepare for Lent, which begins next week with Ash Wednesday on February 14. We will observe it with three Holy Communion services that include the imposition of ashes, at 7:00 a.m., noon, and 7:00 p.m.

"The Transfiguration is not to be understood only as a spiritual experience of Jesus while at prayer, which three chosen disciples -- Peter, James, and John -- were permitted to witness. It is one of a series of supernatural manifestations, by which God authenticated Jesus as his Son. It is at one with the appearance of the angels at the birth and at his resurrection, and with the descent of the Spirit at Jesus' baptism. Matthew records the voice from heaven saying, 'This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.' (Matthew 17:5) Briefly the veil is drawn aside, and a chosen few are permitted to see Jesus, not only as the earth-born son of Mary, but as the eternal Son of God. Moses and Elijah witness to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. In Luke's account of the event, they speak of the 'exodus' which Jesus is to accomplish at Jerusalem. A cloud, a sign of divine presence, envelops the disciples, and a heavenly voice proclaims Jesus to be the Son of God. "The Transfiguration is not to be understood only as a spiritual experience of Jesus while at prayer, which three chosen disciples -- Peter, James, and John -- were permitted to witness. It is one of a series of supernatural manifestations, by which God authenticated Jesus as his Son. It is at one with the appearance of the angels at the birth and at his resurrection, and with the descent of the Spirit at Jesus' baptism. Matthew records the voice from heaven saying, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him" (Matthew 17:5). Briefly the veil is drawn aside, and a chosen few are permitted to see Jesus, not only as the earth-born son of Mary, but as the eternal Son of God. Moses and Elijah witness to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. In Luke's account of the event, they speak of the "exodus" which Jesus is to accomplish at Jerusalem. A cloud, a sign of divine presence, envelops the disciples, and a heavenly voice proclaims Jesus to be the Son of God. "Immediately thereafter Jesus announces to Peter, James, and John the imminence of his death. As Paul was later to say of Jesus, 'Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and was born in human likeness. And, being found in human form, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.' (Philippians 2:6-8). "The Feast of the Transfiguration is held in the highest esteem by the Eastern Churches. The figure of the transfigured Christ is regarded as a foreshadowing of the Risen and Ascended Lord. The festival, however, was only accepted into the Roman calendar on the eve of the Reformation, and for that reason was not included in the reformed calendar of the English Church. Since its inclusion in the American revision of 1892, it has been taken into most modern Anglican calendars."

Under the Mercy,

Fr. Daniel+