Sermon
Sunday, February 15, 2026
Transfiguration Sunday
The placement of the feast of the transfiguration in our tradition to me is the most appropriate because that mysterious event of transfiguration was really a preparation as Jesus says himself to the apostles, it is a preparation for them and for Jesus.
To begin yet another chapter, the next move on his journey, which was a move to the cross. I find it fascinating that the response to this amazing event, the response of the apostles is so different to the response of Jesus. When the apostles see the glory of God revealed in this event of the transfiguration where Jesus reveals the true glory of heaven along with the vision of the great Moses and Elijah. What their instincts tell them is we want to stay here. We don’t want to go anywhere else. Let us build three tents so everyone’s happy.
I wonder if this is also a connection to the early Christian communities. As soon as they were able, what was the instinct of those who wanted to worship God? They wanted to build churches. They wanted to stabilize this desire that they had to be with their God, to have a place of meeting, a place to worship. But notice that Jesus doesn’t want to stay there. that Jesus in his instinct wants to leave the glory of that moment and go towards the cross. These three individuals, these three disciples, Peter, John and James, will be the same ones who will have to witness the great suffering of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. And once again, they will be sleepy. It’s a code language for saying they’re not understanding the importance of this event. They’re not excited. They’re not energized because they’re missing the point and they’re sleeping through it.
I find this fascinating that the instinct of God, the instinct of Jesus is to continue what he did initially in the incarnation, what he does here in the transfiguration. What do we hear? That Jesus left the glory of heaven in order to enter into our reality. Again, Jesus is leaving the glory of the mountain experience of transfiguration in order to enter into the passion and death and reality of the cross. Why is that? After all, aren’t we supposed to hope for that kind of fulfillment?
I remember as a child, my mom would first tell me the stories and then I would read them myself. books about people who experience the so-called clinical death. So, you know, you perhaps you’ve heard the stories of people who have been pronounced dead and then they were either revived, they came back to life after a few minutes and they all share what they saw and what they experienced. And it’s fascinating how similar the stories are of these people’s experiences of this clinical death. And the commonalities are incredible. And one commonality amongst all those stories is that no one wanted to come back. That once people experienced the glory of the afterlife, they didn’t want to come back. Even when their life here was offering them an incredible incentive to come back, mothers with children with families with love all around them could not compare to the peace and love they experienced even in a fraction of that time on the other side.
The glory of God revealed is something that we want. We want to cling to. And yet Jesus shows us the pathway that the only way to truly experience the glory of God is by following the will of God, which has to go through the suffering and the cross first. I think this is very important because it shows us that the pathway of Jesus is the pathway of humility, the pathway of acceptance.
Yes, we all want glory. We want peace. We want joy. We want fulfillment. But the key here I think is to understand that the glory that Jesus ultimately receives is the glory that is bestowed upon him because of his obedience to the will of the father. It’s not the glory that he creates for himself or bestows upon himself. The glory of the resurrection is the glory revealed because he was obedient even unto death on the cross.
I wonder sometimes whether the very answers we are looking for as a pathway to happiness, to fulfillment, to joy in life have already been given to us. And perhaps the AI experts are correct. Maybe the whole point of this life is to simply find out what questions we should ask. You know, AI experts say that the universe, the great universe that is in front of us is the answer. Now, what are the questions that we should be asking that help us make sense of it all? And I wonder if this is also easily translatable to our theological reflections.
f God is the answer to our purpose, our meaning in life, to
everything, maybe we should not be looking for an answer, but for the questions. What questions should I be asking that help me to make sense of the answer? that helped me to order myself towards the proper answer that has already been revealed for Peter, James and John. The answer was given in this vision of heaven, the vision of the glory of God in Jesus with Moses and Elijah. They saw the answer. Now they had to figure out what are the questions? What is the pathway? What does that mean in terms of my journey towards experiencing the fullness of my life here on earth even though I already know the answer?
The feast of the transfiguration invites us to enter as I began my homily to end the season of Epiphany and begins the season of Lent. That’s why I think it’s so appropriate because what is Epiphany? Epiphany is that period in our liturgical season when we celebrate the revelation of God, the unveiling of God, the glory of God. But as soon as we experience the glory of God, we are now invited to enter into the season of Lent, which is what? The season of sacrifice, of penance, of suffering, the season that leads us to the cross.
We cannot yet remain in the glory of God because we have to follow the example of Jesus who says you cannot stay on this mountain yet. You cannot build three tents here and stay forever because the work has not been completed. My journey and therefore your journey as my followers is the journey of perfect obedience to the father, perfect obedience to God in everyday living, in humbling yourself, in offering sacrifices to God in service and gratitude. And only then when you reject in a very real way the temptation to cling on to the glory and benefit of our faith and begin the journey of land. Only then will you be able to be bestowed with the glory elevated by the only one who is the answer to all our Lord Jesus Christ. So invite us all as we celebrate transfiguration to heed the example of Jesus who, yes at times offers us these moments of affirmation and peace and revelation, but only so that we can continue on our journey of penance, our journey of service, our journey of humility because only in that journey can we encounter our Lord Jesus. who rises at the end.
Amen.
Father Wojtek Kuzma