Today, August 6, as our Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration, we are invited to first read and reflect on a passage from the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians (3:7 – 4:6), entitled "Christ is the splendor of the new covenant". Our treasure, which follows, is from a sermon on the transfiguration of the Lord by Anastasius of Sinai, bishop.
The Feast of the Transfiguration recalls the occasion upon which Jesus Christ took three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, up on a mountain, where Moses and Elijah appeared and Jesus was transfigured, his face and clothes becoming dazzlingly bright. The Transfiguration is recorded in all three of the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 9:2–13; Matthew 17:1–13; Luke 9:28–36) and is understood to have been the revelation of the eternal glory of the second person of the Trinity, which was normally veiled during Christ's life on earth. The event can also be interpreted as an anticipatory Resurrection appearance, and the presence of the two prophets is often taken to signify Christ's fulfillment of the Mosaic Law and the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament). The Feast of the Transfiguration is celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches on August 6, and the Transfiguration is ranked alongside Jesus' baptism and the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension as a key milestone of his life and ministry.
Anastasius Sinaita, also called Anastasius of Sinai, was an early eighth century Greek writer, priest and abbot of Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai. His writings concern questions and answers about issues of Christian dogma, ritual, and lifestyle (catechism); sermons; and exegesis.
The Second Letter to the Corinthians is the most personal of all of Paul's extant writings, and it reveals much about his character. In it he deals with one or more crises that have arisen in the Corinthian church. The confrontation with these problems caused him to reflect deeply on his relationship with the community and to speak about it frankly. One moment he is venting his feelings of frustration and uncertainty, the next he is pouring out his relief and affection. The importance of the issues at stake between them calls forth from him an enormous effort of personal persuasion, as well as doctrinal considerations that are of great value for us. Paul's ability to produce profound theological foundations for what may at first sight appear to be rather commonplace circumstances is perhaps nowhere better exemplified than in Second Corinthians
