Transforming ourselves (10 August)

Dear Friends,

This has been an extraordinary week for me in the truest sense of the word. Nothing ordinary here! Holding my new granddaughter for the first time and intense focus on the loss of a dearly loved member of our parish brought sharp focus on the gift of life. How easy it is for us to assume that time stretches out before us and we will get around to thinking about our mortality at a later date. In Matthew 24: 36 we are told of the second coming: “But concerning the day and the hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, not the Son, but only the Father.” So how are we to live?

The Transfiguration gospel gives us some hints. Peter, James and John go up a mountain with Jesus and he is transformed before their eyes. Peter rushes to grasp the moment, but it dissipates all too soon. Can we identify with this fleeting, transitory moment? How can we enable it to impact us so that we might see the world anew? These are the themes I reflect on in my sermon this week. While the impetus comes from God, we have an active role to play when it comes to transformation.

Love and blessings,
Linda