25 February 2018 - brighter than our darkness

Today's Readings (Audio)

And he was transfigured before them, 
and his clothes became dazzling white, 
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.

Let's go up the mountain with Jesus. He invites us to behold his glory. He wants us to listen to what the Father has to say about him. He wants those words planted deeply in our hearts. He wants the vision of his glory so deep in our memories that it can be a source of strength no matter what else is going on in our lives.

This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.

Hard times will come. We'd like to believe that these mountaintop experiences will keep us from failing. But if it didn't work for Peter it may not work for us. Consolations do help us avoiding falls. But when we fall anyway they help us to return. They assure us, even in the depths of our own despair, of the goodness and love of Jesus.

If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son 
but handed him over for us all, 
how will he not also give us everything else along with him?

We have a God who does not demand Abraham's firstborn son. Instead, he provides us his own. This is a God who loves us beyond measure. He wants the revelation of that love to transform us today.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (see Second Corinthians 3:18)

Transfiguration reveals the truth of the identity of Jesus to us. It is a truth that we to which we can hold fast no matter what winds may blow. It is a truth which not only sustains us in hard times but actually makes us more and more like the one whom we behold.

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (See First John 3:2)

So let us go and bathe in the radiant light of Jesus. Let us rejoice in the depths of our hearts to hear the Father speak. And then let's move on toward Jerusalem with new and limitless strength.

My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem