The Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord is not a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church. It is, however, written about in all three synoptic gospels: Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-9 and Luke 9:28-36. A Transfiguration account is also read on the second Sunday of Lent each year, proclaiming Christ’s divinity to the Elect in the RCIA process, as well as to those of us who are baptized.
I humbly submit that my words cannot come close to any of the reflections you may hear on this great feast day. I do, however, have a selection of very good homilies you may like to listen to:
Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Aug 6, 2014, some wonderful insights in this homily addressing a gathering of Knights of Columbus. He has such a beautiful way of bringing in his personal experiences and relating them to the scripture. He speaks about a time with Pope Francis and also the transformative experience of St. Francis of Assisi with the leper.
Fr Joseph Mary, MFVA, has a wonderful homily which speaks about the source of unity through Jesus Christ in many great illustrations of community around us. If you don’t want to listen to the readings and psalm, scroll to the 8:45 time stamp on the Youtube video from the EWTN broadcast a few years ago.
Fr. Alex Valladares, from the Archdiocese of Mobile, has a powerful homily that looks at the Transfiguration. The actual Transfiguration probably occurred between 2 high feasts of the Jewish faith, Yom Kippur, or the Feast of Atonement and the Feast of the Tabernacles, Sukkot, which is also called the Feast of the Booths. This too, was broadcast on EWTN, and if you would prefer not to hear the readings of the day, start at 8:28 into the feed.
I don’t know if I have a favorite of the three. Each homily is so very different. That’s what draws me deeper into my faith. Each and every time I hear or read scripture or listen to a homily, the experience is unique and strikes me in ways that may not have resonated with me during my last hearing. What is a homily you enjoyed? Go back and take a listen to it. Although the same words, you may hear something entirely different.
Beth Price is a Secular Franciscan (OFS) and spiritual director who has worked in several parish ministry roles during the last 20 years. She is a proud mother of 3 adult children. Beth currently works at Diocesan. You can contact her at bprice@diocesan.com
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