<p><em>The meaning of Jesuss transfiguration has long been debated among Scriptural commentators. Todays reflection invites us to see it as a statement of continuity a path given by the Law the Prophets and affirmed by Jesus that we would do well to walk along.</em></p><p><strong>August 6 2023: Feast of the Transfiguration</strong></p><p>Daniel 7:9-10 13-14</p><p>Psalm 97:1-2 5-6 9</p><p>2 Peter 1:16-19</p><p>Matthew 17:1-9</p><h3><strong>Transfiguration as Continuation</strong></h3><p><em>A reflection by Marianne Seggerman</em></p><p>To prepare my commentaries for the Breath of the Spirit I take note of the Sundaywere currently in cycle Aand in my local church read through readings for that day. The book in our church showed that August 6 was the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A and the gospel was the miracle of Loaves and Fishes. I tossed around in my head how that incident was a manifestation of a profound social change which if not ushered in by Jesus was certainly accelerated by his teachingsa change which at its greatest excess created unbridled capitalism something surely Jesus would not have wanted. Then I was gently reminded that on August 6 the readings of the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time are replaced by the story of the Transfigurationwith accompanying readings in the Lectionary.</p><p>Wait didnt we have that gospel earlier this year? Yes and I ended up getting that week to do the reflection for the Breath of the Spirit as well! So now I have to say something more about that event in the life of Jesus than I already have. But first I have to make two corrections from my earlier comments. During a Wednesday discussion session someone brought up the difficulty of dragging three sets of tent poles and canvas coverings up a mountain. I concurred saying it would have been a logistical nightmare.&nbsp; Upon further thought bringing three tents up a mountain would not be insurmountable.&nbsp; I thought of those exquisite monasteries perched on the edge of cliffs. The Jewish people during Roman times managed to build and sustain a community atop Masada before their <a href=https://dignityusa.app.neoncrm.com/track//servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=dignityusa&amp;&amp;&amp;linkId=9676&amp;targetUrl=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada#::text=According%20to%20Josephus%2C%20the%20siegerebels%20who%20were%20hiding%20there.>final desperate act</a>. If the Transfiguration was an actual event and happened more or less as describedthere must have been a path to the top of the mountain that could also be navigated by donkeys!</p><p>The second correction comes because I didnt notice Jesus told his followers not to mention the incidentbut only until he had risen from the dead. I had wondered who disregarded Jesus admonition not to tell. But after the resurrection any of those who witnessed the Transfiguration were allowed to speak about it to others. It could even have been Jesus who told the story. The Risen Christ spokein fact had quite a chat on the road to Emmaus and also dared Thomas touch his mortal wound. So the author(s) of the Matthews gospel werent disregarding any command of Jesus by putting the story down in print.</p><p>Some of my difficulty in grappling with these passages comes from describing Jesus clothes as turning white as light. Its in the first reading from Daniel even where the Ancient One has clothing bright as snow and hair white as wool. Such statements have an opportunity for doing a lot of harm. Jesus could not possibly have looked anything like the Western images with which we are familiarslender oval face small nose pale skin gently wavy fine light brown hair. A terrible irony is that for those that use the Whiteness of Jesus to justify their racismthey exclude people from the Near East which is exactly where Jesus is from! Thus he most likely would have looked very similar to modern people from this regiona long way from the Western European features we often imagine! Instead Jesuss turning white should be taken as a metaphor for remarkable purity. One can imagine without modern cleaning techniques in an agrarian society white cloth was reserved only for the most magnificent and wealthiest places.</p><p>So what message can be gleaned from the Transfiguration? Certainly God wanted Jesus to be known as someone specialbut that much was already knownas a similar Divine proclamation had occurred at Jesus baptism. The big takeaway from the Transfiguration iscontinuity. Jesus wasnt intending to create a new religion just enhancing and perfecting the one he was already a part of. Jesus is symbolically joined by Moses whose journey out of Egypt created the Jewish people and Elijah a prophet: one more in the line of those who had a huge impact on the faith.</p><p>What was that profound social change alluded to at the beginning of this commentary?&nbsp; The notion that every individual mattered. The tribe was no longer the fundamental unit in need of preservation: Philemons slave or a woman or a Samaritan no less. Each of these individuals mattered to God. It is worth noting that at the gathering that produced the miracle of the Loaves and Fishes Jesuss followers came from a wide range of financial backgrounds. For everyone to have been well fed those with more than enough had to be inspired to share what they brought with those who didnt have anythingregardless of tribal differences. We would do well to live in continuity with that profound social change still today: to walk in the paths of the Law the Prophets and Jesus in honoring the unique dignity and the Divine in every single life.</p><div><div class=titan__email-divider><img src='https://www.dignityusa.org/sites/default/files/seggerman_0.png'>&nbsp;</div><div class=titan__email-divider></div></div><div class=mobile-full><div class=mobile-full><em><strong>Marianne Seggerman</strong> joined the chapter of Dignity New Haven around 30 years ago. That chapter is no longer alas but she continues to attend the biannual conference. In her day job she is a computer programmer living (and for the moment working) in Westport Connecticut. She is in a long-term relationship with a person raised Jewish who converted to the Mormon faith.</em></div><div class=mobile-full></div><div class=mobile-full></div></div><p style=text-align: center;><a class=btn btn-primary href=https://dignityusa.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/dignityusa/subscribe.jsp?subscription=8>Subscribe to Breath of the Spirit</a></p>