In solidarity with a Filipino-Chinese brother, we once celebrated Chinese New Year in a mall with food stalls lined-up from one entrance of the mall to another. The food stalls offered free-taste of the food they were selling: from tikoy to canton, tapioca to milk tea. Clever as he was, our Tsinoy brother encouraged us to take the free taste offered by the food stalls. From the first stall to the last, we did not miss any single free food they were offering, down to drinks and dessert. We ended up not having our dinner, for we were already bloated with the free taste.
The transfiguration of Christ at Mt. Tabor (or Mt. Hermon for others) is a foretaste of heaven, where everyone will dazzle gloriously in white. It is an epiphany of the true identity of Christ the Son of God; the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets. More than a man, Christ is the Son of God too, a Divine and heavenly Person manifested by his transfigured dazzling white clothes. This aspect of Christ was explicitly revealed by the voice from the cloud (indicating God's presence): "This is my Beloved Son." The status of Christ as the Son of God, and therefore heir to the Father’s heavenly Kingdom, is shared to us by Christ through our baptism, wherein we become adopted sons and daughters of God. We too, therefore, can enjoy this heavenly reality. As St. Paul says in his letter to the Philippians: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body” (3:17-4:1).
The transfiguration of Christ took place after the proclamation of His coming passion and death in Jerusalem (Luke 9:18-27). The apostles may have probably been disheartened or put into darkness by such a pronouncement of a gruesome reality that is to come. Together with Christ, they climb Mt. Tabor and prayed. And there they experienced the Light. They had a glimpse of the reality that is beyond the suffering and death of Christ, the ultimate end of their journey. Up in that mountain, they saw that their journey will not end in a horrible way but in a glorious one; in heaven not in Calvary. The transfiguration took place at that precise moment of Jesus' ministry and of His apostles so that they may be strengthened by the foretaste of heavenly reality; that the darkness cast in their minds by the pronouncement of Christ passion may be dispelled by the light of faith they have in Christ who is the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets.
We too, like the apostles, may experience darkness and doubts, obscurity and uncertainty in our life. Like Abraham, a deep, terrifying darkness may envelop us (Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18) as we commit ourselves in following God. Like the Philippians, we may be tempted to let go of the crucified Christ due to the difficulties and challenges it brings to us (Philippians 3:17—4:1). But the Lord is our light and our salvation. We are to keep the faith in God in times of darkness and doubts. He invites us to climb a Mt. Tabor, there to pray and meet Him; to experience the Light of faith that we may see and accept the realities of our lives, and most especially the end and the ultimate goal of our life: heaven with God.
After climbing our Mt. Tabor, experiencing a foretaste of heaven and having a glimpse of the fulfillment of our faith, we go down. We proceed to our Jerusalems and climb our Mt. Calvaries. We are not to stay there, however good that place and experience may be. It is just a foretaste. We are not meant to be satisfied with a foretaste. We proceed to embrace the reality it represents. Seeing Jerusalem and Mt. Calvary with all the suffering they may entail, it may be difficult to accept. But we need not fear to go down from Mt. Tabor and leave that foretaste so that we may proceed to Mt Calvary, because we will simply pass through them. We shall proceed to Resurrection and Mount of Ascension, that is, to heaven. God is our light and guide along this obscure phase of our journey. Indeed, our journey to heaven includes passing through the gloom of Jerusalem and Calvary. Do not worry. It will not end there. It will culminate with the resurrection of Christ on Easter morn. The transfiguration experience can be our inspiration and motivation to pursue heaven, even if it means passing through the darkness. We need not be afraid for we know that God is with us even in the darkest moments of our life.
What a bright and glorious "foretaste" of the reality that is to come to those who will listen and obey the Son!!! But why be satisfied with "foretaste" when you can proceed to the "main course"?!? The best is yet to come!
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