Jesus took Peter, James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Matthew 17:1-2.
This Sunday’s Gospel brings us to the mountain where Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John. For centuries, saints, scholars, bishops and bloggers have considered the meaning of this moment that is a preamble to Jesus’s suffering, dying, and rising. I’ve assembled below the thoughts of three Church leaders who have pondered this mountaintop event: Pope Leo XIV, Pope Francis, and Bishop Frank Caggiano.
Pope Leo XIV, General Audience, September 17, 2025: Dear friends, Christian hope is not born in noise, but in the silence of an expectation filled with love. It is not the offspring of euphoria, but of trustful abandonment. The Virgin Mary teaches us this: she embodies this expectation, this trust, this hope. When it seems to us that everything is at a standstill, that life is a blocked road, let us remember Holy Saturday. Even in the tomb, God was preparing the greatest surprise of all. And if we know how to welcome with gratitude what has been, we will discover that, precisely in smallness and silence, God loves to transfigure reality, making all things new with the fidelity of his love. True joy is born of indwelt expectation, of patient faith, of the hope that what has been lived in love will surely rise to eternal life.
Pope Francis, Angelus Address, March 12, 2017: Transfigured on Mount Tabor, Jesus wanted to show his disciples his glory, not for them to circumvent the Cross, but to show where the Cross leads. Those who die with Jesus, shall rise again with Jesus. The Cross is the door to Resurrection. Whoever struggles alongside him will triumph with him…The Cross is a call to the love with which Jesus sacrificed himself to save humanity from evil and sin. Let us ensure that the Cross marks the stages of our Lenten journey in order to understand ever better the seriousness of sin and the value of the sacrifice by which the Saviour has saved us all.
Bishop Frank J. Caggiano, Homily, Second Sunday of Lent, 2024: And so, as I often ask you, allow me to ask you this question. Is there someone in your life that you know that you know is carrying a cross and perhaps carrying it alone? Is there someone in your life or mine that we have been meaning to reach out to because chances are no one else would? Is there someone in this church right now that you’ve often asked yourself? You know what? I always see that person, but I don’t know their name. I would like to get to know them. Because by doing that, my friends, you will get to know not only a person’s name, but a person’s life and perhaps a person’s cross. Don’t you think it is time for you and me to walk up the mountain of the transfiguration with Christ alive in your heart and mind and lift the veil of glory and help someone else to see it so that they might have courage and faith in Him? Who here is ready? Go up the mountain with Jesus. I
f I were to tie these three reflections together, I would say that Jesus transfigured – human and divine –shows us that we should not fear the Cross (or our own crosses.) Jesus transfigured on the mountain teaches us that the Cross of Christ is transfigured into the Tree of Life because from the Cross comes the promise of sins forgiven, wounds healed, and Paradise.
Hope your Lent is a blessing so far!
