4th Trinity I, Another and Another

Feb. Trinity I

(7^th Sunday before Easter, Sunday before Ash Wednesday)

Luke 18:18-27, 31-34 

Hoffman

One of the highest spiritual leaders of the people asked him, "Good Master, what must I do to obtain eternal life?" 

Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but One—God alone. You know the commandments—you shall not destroy marriage, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not speak untruth, and you shall honor your father and your mother!" 

He said, "All these I have observed strictly from my youth." 

When Jesus heard this, he said, "One thing however you lack: Sell all of your possessions and give the money to the poor; thus will you achieve a treasure in the spiritual world—then come and follow me! 

He was sad about these words, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw him thus, he said, "What hindrances must those overcome who are rich in outer or inner possessions, if they want to enter into the kingdom of God. Sooner would a camel walk through the eye of a needle than a rich man be able to find the entrance to the kingdom of God!" 

Those who heard this said, "Who then can be saved?" 

He said, "For humans alone, it is impossible. It will be possible, however, through the power of God working in them."… 

Then he took the twelve to himself and said, "Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything which the prophets have written about the Son of Man will fulfill itself: He will be given over to the peoples of the world; they will mock and taunt him, they will spit upon him and scourge him and kill him, but on the third day he will rise up from the dead." 

Yet his disciples understood nothing of all this. The meaning of his words remained hidden from them, and they did not recognize what he was trying to tell them.

4th February Trinity

February 27, 2022

Luke 18:18-34 

The blossom is the glory of the plant. Rich color, fragrance, and beauty open themselves to the sun. But what happens next?
The petals wither and drop away. Tiny hard green fruits appear, containing even tinier seeds. Yet within that seed is condensed the entire power of the life of the whole plant. 

This is also a basic pattern, a basic rhythm of development in our own human lives: a rich period of glorious development, followed by an apparent loss. Yet for us too, such a loss of glory is a necessary prelude. For Life is consolidating and condensing itself, gathering force and strength. Life is preparing a new phase, a next form; for the law of living things is a continuous changing out of forms. Old forms break apart so that new ones can arise. The death of one form is only a temporary state, for Life itself predominates. 

In this reading, Christ recognizes that the rich young man is ready to lose the richness of his blossoming in order to take the next step on the transforming path of Life. And Christ encourages him by saying, ‘After you have voluntarily given away the old form, come and follow Me!’ 

For Christ Himself walks before us on this path of the transformation, this transubstantiation of forms. This is the path of letting go the old and taking up the new, of dying and becoming. Christ knows that this is the law of living things because He Himself is Life itself—the power of Life in all creatures. He too has voluntarily immersed Himself in the changing of forms, which is so often accompanied by birthing pangs. He willingly subjects Himself to the human condition, to the suffering that accompanies the breaking of the form, even unto the death of the bodily form, so that a new form can arise. For with Him a new form will indeed arise. On Holy Thursday he will pour His soul into a new form of His body—bread and wine. On Easter Sunday He will form a living resurrection body. And at Ascension, the whole earth will become His body. 

We can willingly and trustingly follow Him on this path of the shattering of old vessels and the creating of the new. Because He is the Way, and the Truth of Life. (John 14:6)

So now, as the poet says, 

            Why cling to one life

            Till it is soiled and ragged? 

            The sun dies and dies

            Squandering a hundred lives

            Every instant. 

            God has decreed life for you

            And He will give

            another and another and another.*

---

* Rumi, in Fragments, Ecstasies.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

4th Trinity I, 2021, A Brightness

 

February Trinity I

(5^th Sunday before Easter)

Matthew 17:1-9

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.

Fra Angelico

His face shone as 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."

 4^th Feb Trinity

February 28, 2021

Matthew 17:1-13

Looking across a large body of water on
a sunny day, we can see the sunlight reflected on the surface. Sometimes that reflected light is so intense that we may wonder how we are not blinded. It is almost like looking at the sun itself.

In last week's Gospel reading, we heard how Christ overcame the temptations that beset all of us living in human bodies. The working of the adversary through the body had darkened the human spirit's radiance. But Christ did not allow that darkness to reside in His body.

In today's reading, we hear the results. Having cleared away the adversary's influence, Christ begins to shine like the sun. His transfiguration is a reflection of this. He radiates warmth and light. He has cleansed Himself of any potential for egotism or personal gain and can work on a higher level for the good of all humankind. He could be seen conversing together with His people's great spiritual leaders, with Moses, the leader from the past, and Elijah, the prophet of the future, Likely they are discussing his next task: to bring His light into every moment, even into death.

The poet R. S. Thomas speaks of the importance of this moment:

 

I have seen the sun break through

to illuminate a small field

for a while, and gone my way

and forgotten it. But that was the pearl

of great price, the one field that had

treasure in it. I realize now

that I must give all that I have

to possess it. Life is not hurrying

 

on to a receding future, nor hankering after

an imagined past. It is the turning

aside like Moses to the miracle

of the lit bush, to a brightness

that seemed as transitory as your youth

once, but is the eternity that awaits you.*

 

---

* R. S. Thomas, “The Bright Field”, in Soul Food: Nourishing Poems for Starved Minds, ed. by Neil Astley and Pamela Robertson-Pearce

 

 

4th February Trinity 2020, See with the Other Eye

February Trinity

6^th Sunday before Easter 

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the loneliness of the desert to experience the tempting power of the adversary.

Tissot

After fasting forty days and nights, He felt for the first time hunger for earthly nourishment. Then the tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, let these stones become bread through the power of your word.”

Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘The human being shall not live on bread alone; he lives by the creative power of every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Tissot

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the parapet of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Tissot

Again a third time, the devil took him to a very elevated place and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give to you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me as your Lord. “

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship [pray to] God your Lord who guides you and serve him only.’”

Then the adversary left him, and he beheld the angels again as they came to bring him nourishment. 

4^th February Trinity

March 1, 2020

Matthew 4:1-11

When a first-time driver sits behind the wheel, they must first gain control over the power of the vehicle—how far to turn the wheel to end up where they want; how hard to press on the gas or the brake. The first lessons are usually out in an empty space.

Blake

This gospel reading takes place right after Jesus’ Baptism when Christ’s Spirit entered him. Christ had entered the strange territory of a human soul and body. He is in the desert. Imagine what a great coup it would have been for the devil to abort Christ’s mission at its very inception. So we can imagine the devil hauling out his greatest weapons.

The first of the devil’s weapons is the desperation of the body’s need. In suggesting that Christ turn stones into bread, the devil might also be whispering that, of course, it would be foolish for Christ to let Himself die of starvation here in the desert. Yet Christ resists the devil’s suggestion to literally take the matter into his own hands. Christ relies on the Father’s living presence to sustain Him—and indeed, angels come to nourish Him.

Blake

The second and the third of the devil’s temptations involve the soul’s pride in two extremes. First, the devil tries to draw Him into foolishly assuming God’s total protection of His body and soul, no matter how extreme the behavior, even if he were to jump off a high place. Failing that, the devil takes Him to the other extreme, encouraging Him to drop his allegiance to the Father altogether and to derive His power from the Prince of this World.

Blake

Yet new as He is to living in a human body, Christ is no fool. He sees through the errors and consequences in the Enemy’s propositions. He knows that His connection with His Father must remain both appropriate and unbroken for Him to do what he has come to earth to do.

Because Christ was able to overcome temptation from within the human body, He is able to give every human being the possibility to do likewise - to see through and resist the devil’s false suggestions, to do what we have come to earth to do. Each human being has the possibility of maintaining a connection to the world from which we all have come. We can become aware of our real connection with our Father in the heavens, whose kingdom comes when His will is done on earth. We can perhaps hear God speaking in the words of the poet:

Close both eyes and see with the other eye.

Open your hands if you want to be held….

Quit acting like a wolf and feel

the Shepherd’s love, filling you.*

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

* Rumi, “A Communion of the Spirit” in The Essential Rumi, Coleman Barks, p. 3.

4th February Trinity 2019, Inner Household

February Trinity

Luke 12: 35-48

Burnand

“Be dressed and ready for service and keep your lamps burning. Be like men who are expecting their master back from the marriage feast, so that they can open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are the servants whom the master finds awake when he comes! Yes, I tell you, he will put on an apron himself and show them to the table and serve them. And if he does not come until the second or third watch of the night, and yet finds them awake: Blessed are the servants! You know: If the master of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would not let his house be looted. So be ready: The Son of Man comes at an hour that you had not thought.”

Then Peter said, “Lord, are you telling us this parable, or is it for all human beings?”

And the Lord answered, “Imagine a faithful and competent steward whom his master appoints to be in charge of the whole staff, to give to each one what he is entitled to. Blessed is that servant if the master comes and finds him carrying out his duties.  I tell you, he will entrust him with all his goods. But if the servant says in his heart, ‘My master will not be coming all that soon,” and begins to mistreat the other servants and the maids, himself all the while eating and drinking and becoming intoxicated, then the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour that he does not know. The master will virtually tear him to pieces; he will treat him as those deserve who have not proved faithful.

A servant who knows his master’s will but does not act according to it and so does not carry out his will deserves the severest punishment. If he does not know the master’s will and then does something that deserves punishment, he will escape more lightly. From one who has many gifts, much will also be expected; and from one who has been entrusted with much, much more will also be demanded.

4th February Trinity

February 24, 2019

Luke 12: 36-48

The theme of this gospel reading is service. It is easy enough to apply this parable to our outer lives. For we all have interactions with people who serve us—waitpersons, public servants the grocery store clerk. Obviously, we are to treat them well. Likewise, many of us may serve and direct others in some capacity.

But the characters in the parable could also be seen as the various members of our own nature. We could think of our own “I” as the faithful and competent steward whom the Master has appointed to be in charge of the whole internal household of the soul. It is our duty to treat the various parts of ourselves firmly but well, to nourish them and coordinate their working, so that our inner house functions smoothly.

Our wills need directing; our feelings need to be wholesome; our thinking pure and engaged. Even our lowliest servant, the body, needs direction, nourishment, and care.

Juan de Juanes

Our own Self, our I, is itself the servant of the greater Master. To most of us, the Master seems to be away just now. But His arrival is imminent. “The Son of Man comes at an hour that you had not thought.” Lk 12:40

In the story, the Master may appear harsh to those who are not ready for him. But it is easy to overlook the fact that here, the Master himself acts as a servant. When He comes and finds that his servants are awake to open the door, he offers to nourish those who have served him, who have taken good care of the inner household for him. The reading says, “He will put on an apron and show them to the table and serve them.” Lk 12:37 For it is within us, in the house of our Selfhood, entered through the door of our wakeful heart, that Christ would dwell. And even today, we hear Him say: Take bread; take wine. Be nourished by Me, and I will give you my peace.”

4th February Trinity 2018, Creation's Hour

February Trinity
(5^th 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

Tissot

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.

4^th February Trinity
February 25, 2018
Matthew 17: 1-13

The sun sings. Most of us do not hear the song; it is part of what the ancients called the harmonious music of the spheres. The poet Goethe, in Faust, has the archangel Raphael say:

The sun-orb sings, in emulation,
Mid brother spheres, in his ancient round:
His path predestined through Creation
He ends with step of thunder-sound.

Today’s Gospel reading enables us to see how the sun orb sings. Christ, the great out-pouring Spirit of the Sun, descended from the Cosmos. In this reading, He now shines in radiance from within Jesus. Two others, like planets circling, are with Him; one is Moses, the great leader of his people down into spheres of earth. The other is Elijah, the prophet, half angel, who works in sun, wind, and air. They are joining together with Christ, as past, present and future come into existence. A fourth voice joins them from a cloud, the voice of the Father. ‘This is the son of my love; My love is visible in Him. Hear Him; take him in.’ (Matthew 17: 5). Raphael continues:

The angels from his visage splendid
Draw power, whose measure none can say;
The lofty worlds, uncomprehended,
Are bright as on the earliest day.

We have come to a time in human history when we must begin to hear, to see, and to understand what happens next. Today’s reading is a wake-up call - keep your eyes and ears and hearts open. Christ says, ‘Rise, and do not be afraid.’ (Matthew 17:7) and then He comes down the mountain, down from the heights, and walks the path toward his death, his own transformation and resurrection.

Goethe’s poem goes on and now it is the archangel Michael who speaks:

And rival storms abroad are

Aivasovsky, The Ninth Wave

 surging
From seas to land, and land to sea.
A chain of deepest action forging
Round all, in wrathful energy.
There flames a desolation, blazing
Before the Thunder's crashing way:
Yet, Lord, thy messengers are praising
The gentle movement of Thy day.
Around us, there is desolation and frantic action. On Good Friday the sun’s light will go out. All will be wrapped in the silence of the tomb. But on Easter Sunday, the joyful sounding light of a thousand suns will burst forth. The light will scatter and each human being will receive a spark of new life. The archangels will sing:

Though still by them uncomprehended,
From these the angels draw their power,
And all Thy works, sublime and splendid,
Are bright as in Creation's hour.*

*Goethe's Faust, Part 1

5th February/March Trinity 2017, Adversaries of Humanity

February Trinity 

(Sunday after Ash Wednesday)

Matthew 4:1-11

Tissot

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the loneliness of the desert to experience the tempting power of the adversary.

After fasting forty days and nights, for the first time, He felt hunger for earthly nourishment. Then the tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, let these stones become bread through the power of your word.”

Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘The human being shall not live by bread alone; he lives by the creative power of every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the parapet of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Blake

Jesus answered him, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Again, a third time, the devil took him to a very elevated place and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give to you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me as your Lord. “

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship [pray to] God your Lord who guides you and serve him only.’”

Then the adversary left him, and he beheld again the angels as they came to bring him nourishment.

February/March Trinity 

(Sunday after Ash Wednesday)

March 5, 2017

Matthew 4:1-11

Temptation in the Desert, Michael O'Brien

One of the dictums of war is 'divide and conquer'. This method is used to maintain or gain power. In today's reading, the adversaries of humanity seem to recognize that someone has arrived on the field of battle who will be a threat to their power over humanity on earth. The tempter always tries to separate the human and earthly from the divine. The tempter's plan of divide and conquer has always been to get the human being to depend on, either totally him or herself, or on the nature of the earthly world.

Christ's visitations by the adversaries of humanity are archetypal for all human beings. We are all tempted to nourish our bodies and souls solely through earthly substances. We are all tempted to defy the laws of spirit and the laws of matter. We are all tempted to pay exclusive attention and devotion to earthly splendors.

Christ has shown us how to maintain our connection to the divine while on earth. We can recognize that it is God's own life force that keeps us alive, not just the earthly substance. We can humbly acknowledge that we are not above God's heavenly and earthly laws. We can recognize that the splendor of all earthly kingdoms belongs to God, who keeps all alive.

We ourselves conquer the adversary through gratitude and praise. In the words of the poet:

I praise my God, as every morning the sun awakens,

And I am grateful for all the wonders my eyes can see.

. . . I praise my God every morning as I awaken,

And give him thanks for every breath I’ve taken,

. . .

I praise my God when I look up and watch in wonder,

As every time I see the sky, with naked eyes,

I pray that I should be made worthy of his grace:

That when I look up to the ether clouds, I see his face…*

*Psalms of Praises by r. de cassia Canticle 2- I Praise my God, Zurielpress 

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4th February Trinity 2017, Death Cannot Kill

(Sunday before Ash Wednesday, 7th Sunday before Easter)

Luke 18: 18-34

One of the highest spiritual leaders of the people asked him, “Good Master, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”

Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One—God alone. You know the commandments, you shall not destroy marriage, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not speak untruth, and you shall honor your father and your mother!

The Rich Young Man

He said, “All these I have observed strictly from my youth.”

When Jesus heard this, he said, [Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said… Mk 10:21] “One thing, however,

you lack: Sell all of your possessions and give the money to the poor; thus will you achieve a treasure in the spiritual world—then come and follow me!

He was sad about these words, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw him thus, he said, “What hindrances must those overcome who are rich in outer or inner possessions, if they want to enter into the kingdom of God. Sooner would a camel walk through the eye of a needle than a rich man be able to find the entrance to the kingdom of God!”

Those who heard this said, “Who then can be saved?”

He said, “For man alone it is impossible; it will be possible however through the power of God working in man.”

Then Peter said to him, “Behold, we have given up everything to follow you.”

He replied, “Amen, the truth I say to you. No one who leaves home or wife, or brother or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in earthly life, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Then he took the twelve to himself and said, “Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything which the prophets have written about the Son of Man will fulfill itself: He will be given over to the peoples of the world; they will mock and taunt him, they will spit upon him and scourge him and kill him, but on the third day he will rise up from the dead.”

Yet his disciples understood nothing of all this. The meaning of his words remained hidden from them, and they did not recognize what he was trying to tell them.

4^th February Trinity

February 26, 2017

(Sunday before Ash Wednesday, 7th Sunday before Easter)

Luke 18: 18-34

The rich young man had been pursuing a spiritual path. He wanted to develop the capacity to live in the eternal. Through strict adherence to the commandments, he had fashioned himself into a worthy vessel. And that vessel was full of the spiritual riches of his people and the hard-won treasures of the inner life, which had won him the esteem of his people.

Christ now discerns that the young man had gone as far as it was possible to go along the old way. And now it is time for him to step onto a new path. But before he can do so, he must be willing to sacrifice all that he had hitherto achieved.  

Sombart

It is a new path that Christ himself will build with him, a path of inner and outer sacrifice. 'Sell all of your possessions; give the money to the poor and then come and follow me.' This Christ-path starts as a path of renunciation, a path toward and into death. The rich young man is to give up everything he had achieved and embark toward something totally new. He is to walk consciously, with Christ, toward death. And Christ is the one who is indeed the Way itself. John 14:6

Naturally, it was a shock for him to realize this. It must have been like receiving a terminal diagnosis. Naturally, he would be sad over the impending losses. And perhaps one of the greatest griefs would be the loss of his identity. Yet walk he does.

Sombart

Although Luke's gospel doesn't say anything further about the rich young man, Mark's gospel gives us a hint: 'Jesus, looking at him, loved him.' (Mark 10:21). And John's Gospel refers to Lazarus as one whom Jesus loved. So we may perhaps assume how the young man's further story actually unfolds: as Lazarus, he is indeed led by Christ into death (John 11). And he is called

forth out of death by Christ. Christ initiates him into the mysteries of death so that the young man can stand by and accompany Christ with understanding when He Himself dies and comes forth from the dead.  

As William Penn said,

They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill what never dies. Nor can spirits ever be divided, that love and live in the same divine principle . . . *

William Penn, from More Fruits of Solitude 
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4th February Trinity 2015, Dawn Coming

4^th or 5^th February Trinity

Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

(5^th 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.

4^th February Trinity

March 1, 2015

Matthew 17: 1-13

This gospel reading shows us the moment when the spirit of Christ, the glorious radiance of God’s love, fully penetrates the body and soul of Jesus. He shines like the sun. He has reached the stage of enlightenment.

Had he been a Buddha, this moment of fulfilled enlightenment would have meant that he no longer had any need to remain in the body. He could have ascended to heaven. Instead, he chooses the path of descent. He steps back onto the earth. He touches his disciples. He comes down from the mountain with them and consciously walks his way toward his coming torture, his sacrificial death, his descent into hell. He does so with confidence and trust. For the setting of his sun would be followed by another greater sunrise.

Christ Jesus is the archetype of our being fully human. We can pattern our responses after him. After every high point, we can consciously bring ourselves back to earth. We can accept our sufferings with willingness. We can face our own demise with confidence. For as the poet Tagore said, 

Death is not the extinguishing of the light, but the putting out of the lamp, because Dawn has come.

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4th February Trinity 2010, Cosmic Blossom

4^th or 5^th February Trinity

(5^th 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.

 4^th February Trinity

February 28, 2010

Matthew 17: 1-13

Dandelions rise in leaves and blossom in the warmth of the sun. The blossoms form seed globes, a miniature cosmos. The wind disperses the seeds so that they fall to the earth in a different place; so that the cycle of living growth and development on earth can continue and spread in a new season.

In the scene of the Transfiguration, Christ blossoms before the eyes of His three disciples. They begin to understand the cosmic, divine nature of Jesus, the Christ, and to perceive how he converses with the two great luminaries of the Hebrew cosmos, Moses, the giver of the law, and Elijah, the prophet who gives voice to the divine.

Peter responds in the traditional way of his forefathers by offering to build external shrines for these spiritual beings. But the voice of the Father intervenes—‘This is my Son; listen to Him; take his words into your heart.’ Matthew 17:5 And the three disciples fall to the ground.

Christ came to establish a new relationship between the beings of the spiritual world and human beings on earth. It is to be a relationship of conscious understanding, of conversation, rather than an adherence to the law and traditional procedure. So Jesus helps them up, and continues to enlighten their understanding. He says to them that the being of Elijah, whom they had just seen conversing with Him, had indeed already returned to earth to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. He had been John the Baptist, who by then had already been put to death, just as Christ predicts that He Himself soon would be. With John the Baptist, the process of seeding this new relationship between heaven and earth began; human beings dwelling in the cosmos again return to earth.

The cosmic blossom creates out of our lives seeds that fall to the earth, to live and grow and blossom again. Thus do our human spirits blossom in God’s warmth and light; seeds of a new life are carried by the spirit-wind, to return again to the earth in a new place and time, to live and grow further in the light of God. 

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