Even in this world we are God’s children by grace. What we are going to become as a result of this adoption had not yet appeared. It will appear when God’s lightenings have shaken the earth to its foundations, and those who have been justified will rise to glory. “They will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father”. Their bodies will be resplendent like that of Christ on Tabor; they will be transfigured by the very same clarity that illuminates the incarnate Word. Saint Paul makes it clear: “He will refashion this lowly body of ours, conforming it to the likeness of his own glorified body”. We shouldn’t assume that on the holy mountain the sacred humanity of the Lord was endowed with all the splendor now beaming from it in Heaven. The disciples saw only a single ray of that glory—yet it was enough to lift them out of themselves. It was an overflowing of the Godhead upon the sacred humanity. Eternal life was always hidden in Christ, but at that hour something of that light flamed out from its glowing center and set his very body on fire. It was no borrowed light, coming from without, but rather a manifestation of the ineffable majesty always contained and concealed within our Lord. For love of us, Jesus usually hid the divine life that was in him under the guise of mortal flesh and blood. At the transfiguration the Word set his glory free to irradiate the humanity he has assumed. What we must be convinced of is that holiness consists in our likeness to Christ Jesus. It is a flowing through us of the divine life. It is not perfect now nor is it something we achieve of ourselves. Our baptism was a dawning of this holiness through the grace of Christ. As Scripture puts it: “God predestined us to be conformed to the image of the Son”. Little by little this likeness grows. Our work is to be faithful to the action of the Holy Spirit, as deepening and developing it even to the fullness of eternal life. The Spirit does this by teaching us to love one another truly and daily. Then, when the Kingdom has fully come, all will be able to see the transformation that has taken place. It will be an inexhaustible spring of joy for us. It will be our divine adoption made perfect by our sharing of the Trinitarian life that is divine love. (Bl. Columba Marmion)

 

Mary bore only one Son. In heaven, he is the only-be-gotten of the Father; on earth, likewise, he is the only-begotten of his mother. She is the only virgin mother and glories in having borne the only-begotten of the Father, embracing that same only-begotten of hers in all his members. Therefore, she is not confused when she is called the mother of all in whom she recognizes her Christ brought to full stature, or in whom she knows he is continually growing…. Thus the Blessed Mother of Christ, knowing that she is the mother of all Christians by reason of this mystery, shows herself a mother also by her care and loving attention. For her heart is not hardened against these children as if they were not her own; her womb carried a child only once, yet it remains ever fruitful, never ceasing to bring forth the fruits of her motherly compassion…. Then again, is it not true that her children seem to recognize her as their mother? They manifest a kind of instinctive devotion which faith gives them as second nature, so that first and foremost in all their needs and dangers they run to call upon her name just as children run to their mother’s breast. So I think it is quite reasonable to understand of these children the promise of the prophet to her: Your children shall live in you, provided that the prophecy is always understood to refer principally to the Church. Actually we already dwell in the help of the mother of the Most High; we do live in her protection, as if under the shadow of her wings. And afterward by participating in her glory we shall be cherished as if we were in her bosom.  (Bl. Guerric of Igny)

 

 

 

 

 

O Lord, today, on Mount Tabor,

You have revealed the glory of Your divine image

to your chosen disciples, Peter, James and John.

For they looked upon Your garments that gleamed as the Light,

and at Your face that shone more than the sun!

Unable to endure the vision of Your brightness which none can bear,

they fell to the earth, powerless to lift up their gaze,

for they heard a voice that spoke from above:

“This is My beloved Son

Who has come into the world to save mankind! (Orthodox Vespers of the Transfiguration)