When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai after receiving the 10 commandments, we read in Exodus how is face was so bright from being in the presence of God, they had to cover it with a veil in order to talk to him! When the Martyr St. Stephen went before the council of elders to answer accusations, they said that it looked like the face of an angel…something that was literally “other worldly”. Throughout Human history, and yes, even in some of the monasteries today, we have numerous examples of men and women who have lived their lives in such a way, that they were able to partake and reflect the very energies of God out into the world.
This is the feast of the Transfiguration reminds us of! The Lord today opens the curtain for us to see what Divine Life is meant to look like! It acts as our incentive, our encouragement, and our motivation to be like Christ, not only in the way we live, but in the fabric of our very being!
Like the harvest we have brought for blessing today, our lives are like small seeds from the earth…nourished by the waters of baptism and sustained by the Son of God through the Holy Eucharist…hoping that one day, we too can be transfigured into a life of “Divine Sweetness”
Matushka and I just returned from our trip to the United Kingdom, where we were blessed to gather with the newly crowned servants of God Christian and Chloe, as God Transfigured and Sanctified their relationship.
Before we made our way to the shores of the North Sea in England for the wedding, we had the opportunity to visit the Isle of Skye in the Scottish Highlands…an incredible place full of grass covered mountains, crisp clean air, and untouched deep blue waters. On one of the days, we had the chance to ascend one of those mountains by ourselves, with only the sound of the wind and some sheep…and to gaze upon God’s incredible creation. We stayed up there for quite some time, noting to each other how we simply didn’t want to leave that incredible place.
We hear a similar sentiment in the Gospel today, after Peter, James, and John ascended Mt. Tabor with our Lord, and were surrounded by the Uncreated Light coming from Christ. They witnessed the Holy Prophets Elijah and Moses speaking to Christ of what was to come. In an exponentially greater sense than what Matushka and I experienced on Skye…they too were so overwhelmed with the experience of God that they never wanted to leave!
“It is good for us to be here!”
St. Athanasius the Sinaite says: “It is indeed good for us to be here, as you have said Peter. It is good to be with Jesus and to remain here forever. What greater happiness or higher honor could we have, than to be with God…to be made like him and to live in His Light?”
The world, especially in our modern day and age, has tried to come up with answers to this question…trying to find meaning in life without God. Some try to find this meaning in wealth or fame…which ultimately fades away. Some see the meaning of life as trying to fulfill every human desire, which rather than leading to happiness, leads to slavery, misery, and death.
Dear ones, the meaning of life, and the greatest joy that we can hope to achieve, as St. Athanasius says, begins and ends by coming into the presence of God. What greater joy is there than that?
What greater joy can we hope to receive than to be nourished by the Sun/Son of Righteousness?
What greater joy can we experience than being engulfed in the Love of the Father and the Love of Each Other?
What greater joy can we enter into other than the joy of the Church…of the Saints, of all of those who have gone before us and yet still with us…celebrating together the jubilation of the Feast today?
So as we continue the celebrations of the feast, let us remember these lofty goals that humanity is destined for, and perhaps, in our community here in Fenton, to make a small effort to climb Mt. Tabor. To spend today and every day in the presence of God through prayer, fasting, and ascetical efforts…constantly calling into remembrance mankind’s destiny to shine with that same uncreated light as our Savior.