Sunday next before Lent

Exodus 24.12-end 2 Peter 1.16-end Matthew 17.1-9

It is the middle of the night. You are in a tent braving the elements. The wind is blowing a hooley outside. It is a dark, moonless sky with no stars visible. You need to pay a visit and are unfamiliar with your immediate surroundings. Not to be caught out you came prepared with a torch. Reaching out you make a grab for the torch and switch it on. All is now bathed in light.

In Biblical times things would have been very much different. There was no such thing as a convenient torch to pick up and switch on. If it was dark, then dark it remained. Today the concept of day and night is so different from those times. Light was something treasured. It held a special place. The story of the Transfiguration is a story of light. Something special was happening and is being related to light.

We begin with Peter, one of the first of the disciples called by Jesus to follow him. In his epistle he describes the Transfiguration where Jesus received honour and glory from God his Father. This glory is an enlightening. Peter goes on to compare this prophetic message to a lamp shining in a dark place. The lamp dispels the darkness and reveals all that is thereabout. The glory that was received by Jesus from God enlightens us as to who he is.

We are told to take note of this message as it is given to us, and to hold it dear to us. Again, Peter likens it to the rising of the morning star. The day dawns dispelling the darkness of the night. Many of us have experienced the delight, the joy, of the rising sun marking the end of a night. It may be the end of a troubled night where sleep has been difficult, or it may be the end of a night shift where, ironically, you seek the solace of a bed to rest and recuperate.

Regardless of how we see light, this light is the message being given to us by the Majestic Glory. It was through this Majestic Glory that we read of how Jesus was Transfigured. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. The whole scene was one of great light. Then a bright cloud overshadowed the proceedings with a voice proclaiming Jesus as ‘My Son’, the beloved.

This pronouncement filled the disciples with fear, and they fell to the ground overcome with fear by what they were seeing. When Jesus came to them and touched them the fear changed to awe. We can only imagine what it must have been like to be there as this was happening. A heavenly voice making the proclamation and the dazzling whiteness of light must have been a powerful scene.

It is a scene that we can take with us in our heart. The disciples looked at Jesus and saw how his face shone with the glory. They could rejoice at the sight and feel the warmth of his presence. To them it would have brought great comfort.

Today, we can look at a picture or a painting depicting Jesus at various points in his ministry. Just looking at him can stir up a sense of warmth. Especially so if we are in a church. It is as if we can feel his very presence there. There is a warmth that surrounds us. If we are not in the best of spirits we can be sensitive to the air that is about us. Then, just looking up at some of the stained glass we can gaze upon the face of Jesus as depicted by the artist. It is then that we can bathe in the greater glory, that glory, that light that shines from the face of Jesus.

Jesus is the light of the world. We are given a candle at our baptism, a lit candle probably given to a Godparent if we are too young. The candle is given with the words, “Receive this light”. The light of the candle represents the light of Christ. If we look at that light the glow from the flame lightens up our face. We bathe in the glow of Christ.

On Easter Day, at the first Mass or Communion, frequently celebrated as the sun is about to rise, candles are lit, one by one, from the Paschal Candle. Slowly the church is transformed from being in darkness to a soft glow from the candles as each one is representing the light of Christ. Then, after a few moments, and providing there is a clear sky, the first rays from the sun stream into the church and the whole is filled with the new light of day and the church resplendent in the new colours dispelling the drab Lenten observance. Again, we rejoice in the light. Christ is all around us.

Collect for the Sunday next before Lent

Almighty Father,

whose Son was revealed in majesty

before he suffered death upon the cross:

give us grace to perceive his glory,

that we may be strengthened to suffer with him

and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory;

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.