Sunday, February 26, 2006

Transfiguration Sunday

Today we observe the Transfiguration of Our Lord, the last Sunday After the Epiphany before the beginning of Lent. (Matt 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-9, Luke 9:28-36). Why? This statement from Daniel Benedict of the General Board of Discipleship gives important insight:

"We celebrate the revelation of Christ's glory "before the passion" so that we may "be strengthened to bear our cross and be changed into his likeness." The focus of the Lenten season is renewed discipline in walking in the way of the cross and rediscovery of the baptismal renunciation of evil and sin and our daily adherence to Christ. At Easter, which reveals the fullness of Christ’s glory (foreshadowed in the Transfiguration), Christians give themselves anew to the gospel at the Easter Vigil where they share the dying and rising of Christ.

In the biblical context, the synoptic gospels narrate the Transfiguration as a bridge between Jesus' public ministry and his passion. From the time of the Transfiguration, Jesus sets his face to go to Jerusalem and the cross."




I think the glory of God is all around us and available to us. However, sometimes we just don't look for it, or maybe we've honestly forgotten how to look, or maybe we expect to see it directly as Peter, James, and John did so long ago. I pray that I will always live in the hope of glory and find previews of it when I need it most and/or least expect it.

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