Pope Francis, Recovering from "mild flu," Renews Call for Peace in Ukraine

The Transfiguration, he said, sums up all of Jesus’ works up until that point of his ministry while foreshadowing his passion.

“The preaching of the kingdom, the forgiveness of sins, the healings, and the performed signs were, indeed, sparks of a greater light, namely, of the light of Jesus,” the pope said from the window of his study in the Apostolic Palace, overlooking nearly 20,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

The Holy Father stressed that it is an event that reminds all Christians that “God is light,” which allows us to “seek his face, that is full of mercy, fidelity, and hope.” In this way we can keep Christ fixed as a singular point of reference as “we journey through life.”

The pope declared: “Always keep the luminous face of Christ before our eyes,” adding: “Never direct your eyes away from the light of Jesus.”

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Pope Francis suggested that this encounter with the living God is done principally through “prayer, listening to the word, the sacraments, especially confession and the Eucharist.” But underscoring the sacramental dimension is also a deeply personal, human element.

It is a call for the faithful, the pope suggested, to seek God in one another, noting that it can serve as a “Lenten resolution” that enables us to become “seekers of the light of Jesus.”

“But it also helps to look people in the eyes,” he continued, “learning to see God’s light in everyone and cultivating the ability to marvel at this beauty that shines in each one, without exception: in those close to us and in those we do not know; in the happy gazes of those who are joyful and in the tears of those who are sorrowful; in the sad and dimmed eyes of those who are tried by life and of those who have lost their enthusiasm; and even in those whom we find it difficult to look in the face, preferring to turn away.”