When my children were quite a bit younger, a popular book and tv series they enjoyed was called the ANIMORPHS,  who were people that took on the appearance and activity of animals.  The face of a teenager would evolve into some particular creature, and the final effect became something rather amazing.  Since that time, then, the word MORPH   has become synonymous with a striking change…  I think of this as together we reflect on the gospel just proclaimed, and especially in looking at two particular kinds of change:  The first, TRANSfiguration, is that which happened to JESUS on the mountain of Mt. Tabor, and the second is TRANSformation, that change WE are called to as his present-day disciples.

   “His face shone like the sun”—I’ll bet Peter, James and John thought Jesus had certainly transfigured, had morphed into someone hardly recognizable at that moment!  The word transfiguration comes from the Latin trans, to change, and figura, appearance.  To change appearance like Christ is obviously something we’ve never seen, but perhaps we can liken it to the miracle of nature we call metamorphosis.  As a tadpole turns into a frog, or a butterfly emerges from a cocoon, we have a sense of this change that literally means ‘turning into a different appearance’.   That kind of change in the animal world is itself hard enough to imagine, but this ‘figure change’ of Jesus on the mountain serves to remind us of his DIVINITY.  His ‘clothes became white as light’, we are told, the visible change seen in him by the disciples emphasizing that He is no mere mortal such as Moses the Lawgiver or Elijah the Prophet.  Instead, Jesus is the PERFECTION of the Law, which Moses represents, and He is the FULFILLMENT of Prophecy, represented by Elijah. The vision seen by the disciples confirms the fact stated in our Creed, that He is indeed ‘true God’.

    So amazing were the events on Mt. Tabor that day, little wonder that Peter becomes overwhelmed at the miraculous events unfolding—so much so that typically he blusters forth something about building three tents.  In other words, he wanted to bottle the beauty of that vision, to preserve that glorious moment forever.  However, I think Peter’s reaction reveals the need for a second kind of change that is far more important to all of us as Christ’s followers.  This kind of change can also be amazing, yet it involves an improvement in us as we see (and hear) Jesus in a new way, after we leave the glory of the mountaintop and return to the plains of our lives in order to serve others. 

   This change is called transformation, and it begins with LISTENING to God’s voice.  “this is my beloved Son. Listen to him”, we hear.    Listening was something that Peter was NOT doing, inasmuch as he   understands the way of Christ only selfishly.  By way of contrast, author Malcolm Muggeridge describes the impact that Mother Theresa had upon an audience of people, saying, “Every face…was in rapt attention, hanging on her words; not because of the words…but because of her.  Some quality came across, over and above the words, that held their attention.”  Theresa of Calcutta understood that responding to Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean being wordy or rushing about.     Instead, hearing Christ and responding appropriately, really listening to God’s word will first mean quieting the noise that often surrounds us.  Then, attentive to His Word in scripture,  in prayer, and in imitating the best qualities of others, we will be ready to receive the Lord’s instruction. Listening to “the one on whom God’s favor rests” will involve buying into HIS plan, not ours, which means some suffering, and some dying unto ourselves.  It will entail serving, not being served, if we wish to rise from death to new life with Him.  Listening will mean our going down from the hilltop experiences to the real world, to real lives of hurting people, and offering our lives to them as did Jesus.

    Authentic transformation is not about security and selfishness, then, it is rather hearing and seeing God in a new way, having our lives changed as a result.  Here I’m reminded of the story of the little boy in another country who regularly played near a mission church and was befriended by a missionary there.  One day the boy asked the missionary, “do you recognize me?”  Surprised, she replied, “why yes, of course”.  The boy explained, “I’ve become a Christian, and I didn’t know if you would know who I was.”  You see, he expected that since he felt so changed within, his appearance must be transformed as well.  Though naïve, the little boy’s instincts help us see that although true change comes from within, it certainly helps to notify your face if you’ve been touched by the magnificent grace of God!

   Perhaps WE have been called to change our lives at special moments, in grace filled times such as the birth of a child,  a marriage,  or even  an amazing display of nature.  Those moments may be forever etched in our memories, causing us to be TRANSFIXED.  But if we stay there, being “So heavenly minded we’re no earthly good”, then we, like Peter, fail to see that following Christ isn’t always a comfortable or peak experience.  Instead, real transformation mixes our faith in the divine power with a dying for others. This type of change in us can also be amazing, but only to the extent of how visible its effects are upon all the beloved of God. This is the miracle of Mt. Tabor, to be so changed upon experiencing God that we cannot but live passionately for others, as did Jesus.  May we embrace THIS kind of change, may we always hear and see anew the Beloved Son!