4th or 5th February Trinity
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| Transfiguration, Fra Angelico |
(5th Sunday before Easter)
Matthew 17: 1-13
After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother
of James and led them together up a high mountain apart from the others.
There his appearance was transformed before them. His face shone bright
as the sun, and his garments became white, shining bright as the light. And
behold, there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, conversing in the spirit
with Jesus.
And
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be in this place. If you wish,
I will build here three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for
Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them and
suddenly they heard a voice from the cloud that said, “This is my son, whom I love.
In him, I am revealed. Hear him.”
When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces to the ground in
awe and terror.
And Jesus approached them, and touching them said, “Rise, and do not
fear.”
And raising their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them: “Tell no
one what you have seen until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”
And the disciples asked him, “What is meant when the scribes say, ‘First
Elijah must come again’?” He answered, “Elijah comes indeed, and prepares
everything [restores all things]. But I say to you, Elijah has already come,
and the people did not recognize him, but rather have done to him whatever they
pleased. In the same way the Son of Man will suffer much at their hands.”
 |
| Lewis Bowman |
Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John
the Baptist.
6th February
Trinity
March 16, 2014
Matthew 17: 1-13
Sunrise approaches in stages.
First the lightening of the black sky; then the world resolves into color; and
finally the sun itself appears over the horizon, shining white, calling to life
all things in the world. Musicians have often tried to express the experience
of the sunrise in sounds of rising tones.
In today’s reading, the three
apostles behold a mighty stage in Christ’s penetration of the body of Jesus.
They see His living body take on the characteristics of the sun—a white
radiance of pure living forces. And then they hear--first of all the voice of
the Father of All Being. He proclaims that Christ Jesus is His Son, the
out-flowing of His own Being’s love. And the Father directs their hearing,
their attentive listening, to Christ. And what does Christ say to them, to us?
What do we hear from Him? He speaks in the voice of an angel: Rise, and fear
not.
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| Photo Mike Fisk |
Thus is implanted the
beginnings of a new sunrise in the bodies of human beings: Rise and fear
not. In the words of the poet:
The
red dawn now is rearranging the earth
….
Child
stirring in the web of your mother
Do
not be afraid
Old
man turning to walk through the door
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