by John Eagers

Recently, I spent eight days at St. Beuno’s, the Jesuit Retreat Centre in North Wales. The house is perched on the side of a hill and on a clear day, its views are stunning; on one side looking towards the Irish sea and on another, towards the Welsh mountains.

Whenever I go to St. Beuno’s, I have an expectation of encountering God, and rarely have I returned home without a deeper sense of God’s presence and love. If someone was to ask me what it is that God might be saying to me during a time of retreat, my response would be, ‘You are my Son, the beloved one’. At the heart of the story of the transfiguration of Jesus, these are the words we hear the Father saying to Peter, James and John, as the cloud descends upon the top of the mountain, moments after they had gazed upon the transfigured Jesus.

In proclaiming, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved One,’ God reveals Jesus as his Son, not only to the disciples, but to whole of humankind. The story of the transfiguration of Jesus is filled with drama from the moment Jesus invites Peter, James and John to accompany him as he walks up the mountain.

When they reach the mountain summit, the unexpected event takes place. Jesus is transfigured. It is the same Jesus who walked alongside them as they ascended the mountain. However, now his divinity shines through his humanity, as brightly as the sun, lightening up his clothes and his face itself.

Adding to the drama, Moses and Elijah appear. Their appearance is full of symbolism but above all as we journey through Lent, we might recall that they experienced rejection and hostility from their own people as they endeavoured to fulfil the mission given to them by God. The rejection and hostility which they endured prefigures the rejection and hostility Jesus was to encounter throughout his ministry, reaching its climax during his passion and crucifixion in Jerusalem.

John Eagers is a priest of the Diocese of Paisley