Meron pong nagtanong sa akin, "Bakit hindi sikat ang Transfiguration of the Lord?"
Gusto ko sanang sagutin, "Hindi ba?" Pero puwera biro, bakit nga ba? Bakit hindi kasing sikat ng crucifixion, o ng resurrection, o ng assumption, o ng Sto. Nino, o ng Nazreno, o ng Pasko. Bakit nga ba hindi sikat ang Transfiguration?
Ang sagot ko, kasi ang Transfiguration nasa gitna. Hindi simula. Hindi katapusan. Nasa gitna. Usually in life, we celebrate beginnings and endings. We do not celebrate "in-betweens." For instance, we celebrate weddings, the beginning of a couple's life, but we do not think of the everyday loving that follows a wedding. We celebrate ordinations, the beginning of priestly ministry, but we do not see the struggle of everyday service that follows an ordination. We celebrate the victory of athletes but we forget the discipline of everyday training that led to the victory. We celebrate graduations but only in hindsight do we realize the rigor of everyday study, memorization, comprehension and recitation. We celebrate beginnings. We celebrate endings. How do you celebrate the in-between?
Transfiguration is not a beginning. It is not an ending. It is something in between. Transfiguration happened in between Jesus' birth and his death, in between Jesus' baptism and his resurrection, in between predicting his suffering and his actual suffering. Transfiguration happened in the middle of the public ministry of Jesus. It is a mystery that proclaimed Jesus' identity revealed to us in his birth as the Son of God and proclaimed the glory of Jesus' resurrection to be fulfilled in the future when he accomplishes the will of the Father. Transfiguration is a process, an on-going, an in-progress, a journey. How can you capture a process? How does one hold on to a journey? And this is what Peter tried to do in the story of Transfiguration. By suggesting to build three tents, Peter wanted to capture the moment of Jesus's glory whine in Mt. Tabor. He wanted to stay there and bask in the light of a glorious Jesus. He wanted to live there and be intoxicated with the majesty of the Son of God. But this is not the plan of Jesus. He refused Peter's request for they have to got down Mt. Tabor and continue the journey, continue the process, continue the on-going realization of the Father's plan for his son. Peter wanted to capture the moment. Jesus led them back to the journey that will lead them to the right moment.
Bakit hindi sikat ang Transfiguration? Kasi mahirap hawakan ang misteryo ng paglalakbay. Isang paglalakbay upang ang sinimulan ay makarating sa katapusan. Nagsimula nang maniwala pero meron pang pagdududa, meron pa rin pag-aalinlangan. Nagsimula nang maglingkod pero sarili pa ang iniisip, meron pa ring kasakiman. Nagsimula nang magpakabuti pero meron pang kahinaan, meron pa ring pagkakamali. Nagsimula na pero hindi pa natatapos. Yan ang paglalakbay ng Pagbabagaong Anyo ng Panginoon. Isang proseso ng pagbabago. Isang paglalakbay ng pagsunod kay Kristo. Isang pag-usad na di matatapos hanggang sa hukay.
Transfiguration is niether a beginning nor an end. It is an in between. Transfiguration is a journey - a process of conversion, a on-going struggle to be faithful, a holiness in progress. It is an everyday truth where the real battle is won. Amen.
