TRANSFIGURATION 4.

“…and a cloud came and covered them, and they were filled with fear,” and a voice was heard from the cloud saying: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.”

In the Scriptures, the cloud is called the ‘Shekinah’ when it represents, shows, indicates the ‘the Presence and Glory of God.’ The ‘shekinah’ on the Tent of meeting means that God is present, and Christ was the Holy Tent, on whom the Shekinah rested and overshadowed all those present.

In the Old Testament the ‘shekinah’ rested on the tabernacle , constructed by Moses. There was the presence of God through the two stone tablets of His commandments. Again we find the ‘shekinah’ which rested on the tree we commonly know as ‘the burning bush’, which looked so bright, like the sun, but did not burn or consume the tree.

In the desert the ‘shekinah’, in the shape of a bright cloud led the Israelites in the night through the desert. In the New Testament we find the ‘shekinah’ during the Annunciation of Mary, as we read: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”

The Holy Cloud, the ‘Shekinah’ is the visible sign of God’s presence, it is hiding the actual presence of God, as can be seen by the human eye, yet it is indicating His presence. The ‘overshadowing’ of Mary is found again during Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan and in His Transfiguration.

In the Annunciation, Mary became the Holy, living Tent wherein God made man, made His abode. Yes, here we have a clear reference to the Blessed Trinity; God, the Father promises to His Son, Jesus Christ, the throne of David His father, that will last forever, and all this came about through the work of the Holy Spirit.

For all those who are called, Jews or Gentiles, the Kingdom of God is found in the Trasfiguration of Christ … (and ours)* and Christ referred to the Witnesses from the Old Testament; the Law and the Prophets, that He had to undergo the Passion and Death on the Cross … so that we can begin to understand something about the Mystery of Christ.

(and ours)*, because each and every one of us has to participate to the full, in the Passion and Death of Jesus, till the last breath of life … it is THEN that we can experience what Peter, James and John have experienced. That would be our Transfiguration.

From the Writings of Pope Benedict XVI