“Some things have to be believed to be seen” Ralph Hodgson

Transfiguration by Sieger Köder

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f Lectio Divina is listening with heart's ears Visio Divina, on the other hand, is seeing with heart's eyes. To be able to truly contemplate today's feast of the Transfiguration we must beg for the grace of seeing with heart's eyes, which is no other than the eyes of love. As the poet Ralph Hodgson said, “Some things have to be believed to be seen.”

There were three apostles who were privileged to witness the Transfiguration—[Greek] μεταμορφόω (metamorphoō), [Latin] transfigure. Let us not think though that they are the only ones exceptional among The Twelve. Jesus referred to the pair James and John as "Boanerges" (translated "sons of thunder"). There is a gospel story that relates how the brothers wanted to call down heavenly fire on an inhospitable Samaritan town, but Jesus rebuked them. Besides James and John, there is Peter, who among all the twelve apostles, was often rebuked by Jesus and to the point of even calling him Satan or stumbling-block. The command "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block—σκάνδαλον (Greek: skándalon) to me, for you are not setting your..." spoken to Peter by Jesus, is recorded in Matthew 16:23 and Mark 8:33. Let us just say Jesus chose the people who are often typecast as erring or are capable of making an error which we all are. Everyone is error-prone or fallible to some degree. Jesus teaches us that it is to these people [that includes me] that we must bring the Gospel message to. This is often the appeal made by Pope Francis because when the erring and fallible people find their way back, they often become the most powerful messengers for propagating the faith not only to future generations but also new frontiers.

I recommend that we contemplate both today's Gospel Mark 9:2-10 side by side with a masterpiece entitled Transfiguration by Fr Sieger Köder (1925-2015). In a 2009 interview, he said: ‘I hope I can preach with each painting, not just make pictures. I want people to look at the pictures, of course, but if the message of my deepest motivation for painting comes across, then I hope that the message of the Gospel comes with it as well’.

Let us use Ignatian technique "Composition of the place" which is akin to Visio Divina. For your further guide go to a previous post which I used to culminate a 14-day online retreat on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Fr JM Manzano SJ