4th or 5th February Trinity
 |
| 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.”
Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John
the Baptist.
February Trinity, 5th
Sunday before Easter
March 4, 2012
Matthew 17: 1-13
When the sun is hidden, either at night, or behind clouds,
the earth seems dark and the heavens distant. But when the sun shines, it
envelops the earth with its light and warmth. Heaven and earth are re-joined in
an embrace.
Today’s reading shows us another level of how heaven and
earth are rejoined. The Sun-God came down to earth. He embraced earthly life.
At the top of the mountain, He revealed Himself by shining like the sun, and He
converses with Moses and Elijah in the heavenly world. The disciples hear the
voice of the Father resounding from the sun-bright realm.
When they come back down, they ask about Elijah’s return as
the forerunner of the Messiah. But Christ tells them that Elijah has already
come and gone. They are given to understand that Elijah had reincarnated as
John the Baptist.
Earth and heaven are united for each human soul. We sojourn
in the heavenly worlds in sleep, in death; we return to earth at birth, and
each morning, bringing with us radiant gifts from heaven. And Christ is the Sun
that shines both on earth and in the heavens; He is the one who guides us in
both realms. For as He says, ‘I am with you always, even to the end of the age.[1] I
am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And
I hold the keys of death….[2] I
am…the bright Morning Star.’[3] 