Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION (Cycle A)
Readings:
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9
2 Peter 1:16-19
Matthew 17:1-9
All Scripture passages are from the New American Bible Revised Edition unless designated NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).
The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity; therefore, we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of this Sunday's Readings: The Messiah-King
Revealed in Glory
This Sunday, we celebrate the day Jesus revealed Himself in
His Divine Glory to the Apostles Peter, James, and John, before His Crucifixion
and Resurrection. In celebrating this feast, we acknowledge Jesus's kingship
over all creation and the promise of our future resurrection with Him in
glory.
In the First Reading, the prophet Daniel received a vision of the Messiah, who appeared to be a man ascending in glory on a cloud to God in Heaven. Daniel's vision, seen from the vantage point of the heavenly court, was also seen by Jesus's Apostles and disciples from an earthly perspective on the day Jesus ascended into Heaven from the Mount of Olives, forty days after His Resurrection: ... as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight (Acts 1:9). What they couldn't see was what took place next in the Prophet Daniel's vision as Jesus, the Divine Messiah, was presented to God the Father. Jesus, the Messiah-King, fulfilled Daniel's vision in the Ascension when He received, as a reward for His victory over sin and death, dominion over all the earth and its nations and peoples.
The Responsorial Psalm is a liturgical hymn calling for the covenant people to rejoice in proclaiming God their Divine King. The psalmist described God's revelation of Himself in His Divine Glory, recalling Israel's experience of God at Mount Sinai (Ex 19:16-20). The psalmist then proclaimed God's sovereignty over the cosmos and His reign as the Divine King of the earth—over all its nations, peoples, and other powers, as revealed to Daniel (Dan 7:14).
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ restored the Kingdom of God on earth. His faithful subjects, those redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, share in His victory over sin and death. The Church reads from this psalm on the Feast of Transfiguration because it recalls the vision of the glorified Messiah-King seen by the Prophet Daniel and three of the Apostles in the Transfiguration experience, described in each of the Synoptic Gospels and retold by St. Peter in his eyewitness account (Second Reading). The Psalm Reading response is "The Lord is King, the Most High over all the earth." We have the hope that one day we will sing this response in Christ's Divine Presence when we are united with our King in glory!
The Transfiguration event was a vision of Christ's glory that St. Peter witnessed and later wrote about in his second letter to the Universal Church (Second Reading). St. Peter's Transformation experience was the fulfillment of the vision of the glorified Messianic King witnessed in the sixth century BC by the prophet Daniel (First Reading). The experience of the Transfiguration changed Peter's life. It was a vision he must have clung to in the dark hours of Christ's Passion and death and during his years as the Vicar of Christ's earthly Kingdom of the Universal Church.
Our Gospel Reading recounts the experience of three of the Apostles as they witnessed Jesus transformed in His Divine Glory in the presence of two Old Testament prophets, Moses and Elijah. The experience was a revelation of the Divine Messiah and the Most Holy Trinity as God the Holy Spirit overshadowed God the Son in a bright cloud, and God the Father's voice was heard from Heaven, acknowledging Jesus as His Divine Son.
Jesus's Kingdom of the Church on earth and in Heaven is an everlasting Kingdom that will never be destroyed (prophesied in Dan 2:44; 7:14). Those in covenant with Jesus and who serve His earthly Kingdom of the Church are the Messiah-King's subjects who receive a revelation of the Living Christ in every Eucharistic celebration and who faithfully and obediently await His glorious return.
The First Reading Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 ~ The Vision of
the Messianic King
9 As I watched: Thrones were set up and the Ancient One
took his throne. His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as
white as wool; his throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire. 10 A
surging stream of fire flowed out from where he sat; thousands upon thousands
were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads attended him. The court was
convened and the books were opened. [...] 13 As the visions during the night
continued, I saw one like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; when he
reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, 14 the one like a Son of
man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages
serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken
away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.
Daniel received a prophetic vision of the divine judicial proceeding convened against humanity in the heavenly Sanctuary when the Book of Life and the Book of Deeds were opened to present evidence for and against humankind (Rev 20:12). The "Ancient One" is God the Father, and the "one like a Son of man" is the Messianic King who looks like a human being. Daniel received his vision in the 6th century BC. However, the event in the vision did not occur until the Messianic Age when Jesus, the victorious Messiah-King, received divine rule over all the earth after His glorious Ascension to God the Father in Heaven. The vision of God the Father that Daniel witnesses in verses 9-10 is reminiscent of Israel's theophany of God in His glory on Mount Sinai (Ex 19:18-19; also see Ps 50:3 and Rev 5:11).
13a I saw one like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of
heaven
The title "son of man" in Scripture usually means a human
being, as applied often to the prophet Ezekiel (see Ezek 2:2-3). "Son of Man"
was Jesus's favorite title for Himself. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus used
the title "Son of man" for Himself thirty-two times; in the Gospels of Mark and
John, He used the title for Himself fourteen times, and in the Gospel of Luke,
Jesus used the title for Himself twenty-five times. However, when Jesus used
the title for Himself, He used it not only in the sense of His humanity but in
the sense of the Messiah-King of Daniel's vision. His intentional use of the
title in this way becomes clear in Jesus's trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin when
He used the title "Son of man" for Himself the last time (see Mt 26:64; Mk 14:62; Lk 22:69) when He used of the title "Son of man" in answer to the High
Priest's question if He was the Messiah. When Jesus quoted from Daniel 7:13, applying
the verse to Himself, it caused the High Priest and the Sanhedrin to condemn
Jesus to death for blasphemy. They understood that He claimed to be the Divine
Messianic king of Daniel's vision (Mt 26:65-66; Mk 14:63-64; Lk 22:70-71).
13b ...when he reached the Ancient One and was presented
before him, 14 the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and
kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be
destroyed.
This part of Daniel's vision, seen from the vantage point of
the heavenly court, was also seen by Jesus's Apostles and disciples from an
earthly perspective on the day He ascended into Heaven from the Mount of Olives,
forty days after His Resurrection: ... as they were looking on, he was lifted
up, and a cloud took him from their sight (Acts 1:9). What they couldn't
see was what took place next as Jesus was presented to God the Father in verse
14 of Daniel's vision. Jesus, the promised Davidic Messiah-King, received as a
reward, in His victory over sin and death, everlasting dominion over the earth
and its peoples. His Kingdom of the Church on earth and in Heaven is an eternal
kingdom that will stand forever (prophesied by Daniel in Dan 2:44), and we are
the Messiah-King's faithful subjects who serve His Kingdom and await His
glorious return.
Responsorial Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9 ~ The Lord is King
The response is: "The Lord is King, the Most High over all the earth."
1 The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many
islands be glad. 2 Clouds and darkness are round about him, justice and
judgment are the foundation of his throne.
Response:
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the
LORD of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his justice, and all peoples see
his glory.
Response:
9 Because you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth,
exalted far above all gods [above the angels]. [...] = Old Testament Greek
Septuagint (LXX) translation; also see the quote in Hebrews 1:6b.
Response:
The title of this liturgical hymn is A call to rejoice: the Lord reigns and reveals himself as king. The title gives us the psalm's theme: calling for the covenant people to acclaim the Lord God as the King of "all the earth." The psalm opens with a proclamation of the Lord as King and an invitation to all peoples of the earth to rejoice (verse 1). Then the psalmist describes God's revelation of Himself and the glory that precedes the Lord (verses 2 and 5-6). The reference to "many islands" (also translated as "coastlines") in verse 1 is a reference to distant countries over which the Divine King also has sovereignty (see Is 42:4, 10, 12). The theophany described in verses 2 and 5-6 recalls Israel's awesome experience of God at Mount Sinai (Ex 19:16-20) and proclaims God's sovereignty over the earth and cosmos.
Verse 9 is Israel's acclaim to the Lord God, who reigns as the only God and Divine King over the entire earth—all its nations, peoples, and other powers (angels and demons). The Masoretic Hebrew text (translation) has the word "gods" in verse 9. However, the Greek Septuagint translation has "angels" instead of "gods," as does the quote of verse 9 in Hebrews 1:6b, which makes more sense since there is no other God but Yahweh, and He is exalted above the angels who are His servants.
Christ the King restores the Kingdom of God on earth by defeating the power of Satan over the earth and humankind by destroying sin and death. His faithful subjects, those redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, share in His victory. The Church reads from this psalm on the Feast of Transfiguration because it recalls the vision of the glorified Messiah-King seen by the Apostles in their transfiguration experience described in each of the Synoptic Gospels (Mt 17:1-8; Mk 9:2-8; Lk 9:28-36).
The Second Reading 2 Peter 1:16-19 ~ Peter's Testimony of
Seeing Jesus in His Glory
16 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. 17 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." 18 We ourselves heard this
voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 Moreover,
we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. 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.
St. Peter began this passage by assuring Christians that the Gospel message of salvation and the story of Jesus's sacrifice and resurrection are not myths like those about the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses that most of the population of the Roman world worshipped. The "we" in verse 16 refers to Peter and Jesus's other Apostles and disciples. Peter wrote that the people could have confidence that the Apostles' testimony concerning Jesus Christ and His teachings and works are true because it is eyewitness testimony.
17 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." 18 We ourselves heard this voice
come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.
St. Peter assured the readers of his letter of the
reliability of the apostolic message by testifying to hearing the Divine Voice
of God from heaven, identifying Jesus as His Divine Son with God's full
approval (Mt 17:5; Mk 9:7; Lk 9:35). The "we" Peter mentions in verses 18 and
19 refer to his companions at the Transfiguration event: the Apostles James and
John Zebedee (Mt 17:1; Mk 9:2; Lk 9:28).
19a Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is
altogether reliable.
In addition to witnessing the Transfiguration event and the
other works of Jesus, Peter declared that he and the other Apostles possess the
"prophetic message." They received the authority from Jesus to teach, forgive
sins, guide, and discipline His Church in the apostolic power to "bind and
loose." This power was first given to Peter by Jesus in Matthew 16:16-19, then
to all the Apostles in Matthew 18:18, and was repeated to them by Jesus after
His Resurrection in John 20:22-23. The prophetic message is also equivalent to
the Scriptures since the Old Testament spoke prophetically about the coming of
the Messiah and His Kingdom. St. Peter proclaimed that the teachings of Christ,
like the Scriptures themselves, are entirely trustworthy because the Scriptures
are the word of God, and Jesus is the Living Word.
19b 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.
The poetic imagery in Psalm 119:105, Your word is a lamp
for my feet, a light for my path, may have inspired Peter in this verse.
Using similar poetic language, Peter reminded his audience that the
teachings Jesus passed on to the Apostles were the same teachings they passed
on to the faithful, like a "lamp shining in a dark place" that would guide them
on their journey to salvation. The prophetic message that the Church gives serves
as a lamp until "day dawns." The promise of day dawning is probably a reference
to the Second Advent of the Lord and the dawn of the new Heaven and Earth
(Rev 21:1-4).
... and the morning star rises...
The image of the "morning star" can have three meanings:
In Revelation 2:28, the "morning star" symbolized Jesus's resurrection victory over death, and in Revelation 22:16, Jesus identified Himself as the "morning star": I, Jesus, sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star" (Rev 22:16).
... in your hearts.
This coming in "your hearts" is the "lamp" of the prophetic
word that gives way to a deeper and more complete understanding in the hearts
of the faithful when the Lord Jesus returns. Just as the First Advent of Christ
and His Gospel message of the gift of salvation has Let light shine out of
darkness, and has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of
the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6), so too, the
Second Advent of Jesus Christ, the "Morning Star," will cause the light of the
eternal day to shine in our hearts and souls forever.
The Gospel of Matthew 17:1-9 ~ The Transfiguration
1 [After six days] Jesus took Peter, James, and
John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was
transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became
white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing
with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good that we are
here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses,
and one for Elijah." 5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast
a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my
beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." 6 When the disciples
heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. 7 But Jesus came and
touched them, saying, "Rise, and do not be afraid." 8 And when the disciples
raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. 9 As they were coming
down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, "Do not tell the vision to anyone
until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
[...] is included in the text.
The disciples and Apostles must have been frightened and discouraged after Jesus's first prediction of His death in Matthew 16:21-23. To give them a vision to grasp in their darkest hour with the fulfillment of the prediction of His death, Jesus took three Apostles, Peter, James, and his brother John Zebedee, up a "high mountain" to let them witness a manifestation of His divine glory. It was a revelation that confirmed He was the Son of God and that He would come in glory when all had been fulfilled. Jesus selected these same three Apostles when He raised to life the daughter of the Synagogue official (Mk 5:21-24, 35-43; Lk 8:40-42, 49-56) and would also select these same three Apostles apart from the others when He faced His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mt 26:36-37; Mk 14:32-33). Their selection, apart from the other Apostles, isn't favoritism but an expression of the hierarchy Jesus established for His Kingdom of the Church.
... and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
Significantly, the location of this experience took place on
a mountain. Mighty works/revelations of God often took place on mountains,
including the Theophany of God on Mount Sinai (see, for example, Gen 22:2, 11;
Ex 19:16-20;
1 Kng 18:19-39; 19:11-18;
1 Chr 21:15-17; 2 Chr 3:1; and Mt 5:1-2).
As the new Moses, Jesus ascended the mountain—not to find a revelation of God but to give a revelation of God the Son to His three Apostles and to bring together the revelation of God in the Old Testament (Moses and Elijah) with the New (Peter, James, and John). This narrative is one of the few outside of the Passion narrative in Matthew's Gospel that contains a chronological tie. Verse 1 discloses that it was six days after Peter confessed faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God that they came to "a high mountain" (also see Mk 9:2). Some of the Fathers of the Church interpret the "after six days" to suggest they ascended the mountain on the seventh day, like Moses in Exodus: After Moses had gone up, a cloud covered mountain. The glory of the LORD settled upon Mount Sinai. The cloud covered it for six days, and on the seventh day he called to Moses from the midst of the cloud (Ex 24:15-16).
There are two traditions identifying the mountain. One tradition names Mt. Hermon at Caesarea Philippi. However, the more popular tradition identifies Mt. Tabor, an isolated mountain about six days journey from Caesarea Philippi, west of the Sea of Galilee, and in the northeast portion of the Plain of Esdraelon that rises to a height of 1,843 feet. Mt. Tabor has been celebrated as the site of the Transfiguration since the 4th century AD.
2 And he was transfigured before them; his face shone
like the sun and his clothes became white as light.
In Greek, the word for "transfigured" is metamorphoo.
That ... his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light recalls
the description of Moses's radiant face after being in the presence of God (see
Ex 34:29-35). Jesus's radiant appearance and white garment also recall Daniel's
vision of the "man" (probably the pre-Incarnate Christ) dressed in linen
with a belt of fine gold around his waist, whose "body was like chrysolite, his
face shone like lightening, his eyes were like fiery torches, his arms and feet
looked like burnished bronze, and his voice sounded like the roar of a
multitude (Dan 10:5-6). Then, there is also St. John's vision of the
glorified Christ in the Book of Revelation: ... and in the midst of the lampstands
one like a Son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around
his chest. The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow, and his
eyes were like a fiery flame. His feet were like polished brass refined in a
furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing water (Rev 1:13-15).
3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him.
The Apostles shared their vision of the glorified Christ in
the presence of the two long-dead prophets, Moses and Elijah, who represent the
Law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah). Together these two servants of God
represented the entire revelation of Sacred Scripture. In St. Luke's account of
the Transfiguration, he wrote that Moses and Elijah also appeared in glory and
discussed with Jesus the coming hour of His "exodus," meaning His departure
"from Jerusalem" (Lk 9:30-31).
The disciples and Apostles knew Jesus in His human form, but in the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus revealed Himself in His divine glory. He revealed His true identity to His three Apostles in the presence of the Old Covenant lawgiver and liberator, Moses, and the great 9th-century BC prophet Elijah. In the epiphany on the Mount of Transfiguration, the three Apostles witnessed the coming together of the Old and New Covenants with Christ as the beginning and the end of divine revelation. Moses and Elijah, who embodied the Law and the prophets, represented the Old Covenant Church. Peter, James, and John embodied the hierarchy of the new Israel, the New Covenant Church of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth (CCC 877). It was a vision of the supernatural the Apostles would need to strengthen themselves and their brother Apostles and Jesus's other disciples in the covenant ordeal they were to face in the climax of His ministry.
4 Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good
that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents [booths] here, one for
you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
John's Gospel does not mention the Transfiguration. St. John
rarely repeated what the Synoptic Gospels sufficiently covered; however, he did
mention that in the second year of Jesus's ministry that Jesus went to
Jerusalem for the pilgrim feast of Sukkoth, known in English as the Feast of
Booths or Tabernacles (Jn 7:1-2, 10). The covenant obligations for the festival
are given in Leviticus 23:33-43.
In Leviticus 23:42, God commanded: "During
this week every native Israelite among you shall dwell in booths, that your
descendants may realize that, when I led the Israelites out of the land of
Egypt, I made them dwell in booths [tents], I, the LORD am your God."
If the Transfiguration event was near the time for the pilgrim Feast of Sukkoth/Booths (also designated in English as Tabernacles or Shelters), Peter's suggestion about making booths/tents on the mountain is reasonable. If this was the case, Peter had realized that the old covenantal order was no longer binding, and it was not necessary to go to the Jerusalem Temple to worship God when they could worship God the Son on the mountain. Notice that Jesus did not rebuke Peter. Jesus always corrected Peter when he had incorrectly understood Jesus's mission. However, since Jesus said every part of the Law must remain "until all things have taken place," meaning His sacrificial death and the completion of the ritual requirements of the Old Law (Mt 5:17-18), He did go to Jerusalem for the pilgrim feast of Sukkoth/Booths, approximately six months before his last trip to Jerusalem and His Passion (Jn chapters 7-8).
5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud
cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is
my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.
The Greek word for the shadow of the cloud cast over them is
episkiazo. It is the same word found in the account of the Holy Spirit
overshadowing the Virgin Mary in the Incarnation (Lk 1:35), and also the same
word used in the Greek translation of Exodus when God's Spirit overshadowed the
Ark of the Covenant (Ex 40:34).
A cloud is a frequent vehicle for God's Divine Presence in Scripture
(Ex 16:10; 19:9; 24:15-16; 33:9 and
2 Mac 2:8). The Divine
Voice the Apostles heard was the same voice heard at Jesus's Baptism, and is
another revelation of the Most Holy Trinity that also took place at Jesus's Baptism:
This significant event of Jesus's transfiguration into His Divine Glory is tied both in time and meaning to two events concerning St. Peter:
The pronouncement of the Divine Voice, "this is my beloved Son," is confirmation of Peter's confession of Jesus as Messiah and Son of God at Caesarea Philippi, and the words spoken by the Divine Voice, "listen to Him," are a rebuke of Peter's refusal to listen to Jesus's announcement of His coming Passion a short time later.
The command of the Divine Voice of God from heaven, "Listen to Him," is not only a rebuke of Peter but also confirmation that Jesus is the prophet like Moses that God promised the people in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. That prophecy ended with a promise and a command as God announced: I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command. If any man will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it (Dt 18:18-19; emphasis added). In Acts 3:19-23, Peter quoted this passage to the Jewish crowd, telling them Jesus is the supreme prophet of God's promise.
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and
were very much afraid. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and do
not be afraid." 8 And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one
else but Jesus alone.
Like the children of Israel who heard the voice of God in
the Theophany at Sinai (Ex 20:18), and like the prophet Daniel experiencing the
divine in his vision of the Messiah-King (Dan 9:15-18; 10:7-9), the three
Apostles were filled with fear and fell to the ground. Jesus immediately
comforted them, as Daniel was comforted by the "man dressed in linen with a
belt of fine gold with burning eyes" who told him not to be afraid (Dan 10:10-12). When they raised their eyes, Jesus was as He was before the
transfiguration.
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus
charged them, "Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been
raised from the dead."
Coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded the three
Apostles again not to make known what they had discovered about His identity (as
in Mt 16:20). It was not time for the hatred of the opposition to Jesus to
reach its climax. When He publicly revealed His divine identity, it would be
the spark that ignited His Passion and death.
The Transfiguration of Christ presented the Apostles and the readers of Matthew's Gospel with the mystery of Jesus's Divine Nature. The miraculous transformation of the human Jesus into the glorified Divine Son placed the coming Passion and death of Jesus into perspective. The experience would assure the Apostles that Jesus's suffering and death would end in the triumph of His glorious Resurrection on the third day, as He had tried to tell them (Mt 16:21-23; 17:22-23; 20:17-19). The memory of His glory that they witnessed would sustain Peter, James, and John when they faced their private ordeals during the events of the Passion. And sharing their vision of the glorified Jesus would encourage the other Apostles and disciples to remain faithful. It is a vision that is also meant to encourage us. If we remain faithful and obey the commands of Jesus, then one day, we too will see Him in His glory, and we will also hear the voice of God.
Catechism References (*indicates the quoting of the
Scripture reference in the citation):
Daniel 7:10 (CCC 678),
7:13 (CCC 440);
7:14 (CCC 664)
Matthew 17:1-9 (CCC 444, 554); 17:5 (CCC 444)
The Transfiguration: A foretaste of the Kingdom (CCC 554*, 555*, 556*)
The Transfiguration strengthens the Apostles' faith in anticipation of Jesus's Passion (CCC 568*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.