Last night while showing a friend a book about a grouping of Orthodox monasteries in the Meteora region of Greece, I found a postcard with the icon of the Transfiguration of Christ. It has been a while since I have been so excited to find an object. This icon and the story it depicts has captured my imagination for the past several months since I've been studying Eastern Christian theology. It is one of the central events of the life of Christ where Jesus' divinity is revealed, his glorified body. The disciples are frightened when they see him and afterward Jesus tells them to wait to tell what they've seen. What was so striking to me about finding the postcard was that I purchased it nearly three years ago before I had any knowledge at all about icons or the significance of the Transfiguration to Eastern theology, and yet that was the icon I wanted to remember having seen. It drew me close then, it draws me closer now.
I've been thinking of a way to relate this occasion with today's lectionary readings (http://www.usccb.org/nab/060607.shtml). The story in Tobit is one of people wanting to die rather than face their shame, calling out for God's mercy. God hears their cry and brings healing to their lives. Seeing the glorified Christ calls us to reevaluate our lives, to cry out for mercy, for we recognize how short we fall. And yet, it is that magnificent Christ that hears our pleas and comes to comfort us in our afflictions, to redeem us from our shame, and yes, to transfigure us and draw us near along with the Holy Spirit into the mysteries of God. With eyes of faith we see the promise of resurrection and we see that we worship the God of the living, and that life lived is full.
(Tobit 3:1-11, 16-17, Psalm 25, Mark 12:18-27)
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