Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, a feast I love because it is so rich both in encouragement and in gritty reality. As our parish priest at St John’s, Horsham – Fr Terry - pointed out at Mass this morning, the disciples could not prolong their mountain-top experience with Jesus, Elijah and Moses indefinitely, but had to learn to bring the inspiration they had received back down into the valley of everyday life and, further, into the difficult times that lay ahead in Jerusalem. In the same way, this is for us a feast that fires us up with a vision of the glory of God and of the ultimate destiny of our humanity. At the same time it reminds us that in the here and now we will have to struggle, but always with hope.
For me, the white crucifix at St John’s (pictured here courtesy of the parish web site) speaks of both these elements: future hope and present comfort. When I lift up my eyes and heart to the Lord at Mass, I see a broken God-man hanging in shining-white glory. The glory gives hope; but the broken man offers me the comfort of a Saviour who has walked where I have walked and grieved as I have grieved.
When we walk and grieve with others, we are extending to them this glorious-broken comfort of the Cross. Our family has been blessed to experience a great deal of such comfort in the difficult times a child’s illness has brought to us over the past year or two. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Crawley Catenian Circle for their kind prayers, which have helped to transfigure our own experience of the challenges of daily life. I know there are many others too who are indebted to Catenian prayers and support.
Excellent stuff, Anneli. And you'll be pleased to hear that since you started contributing the visitor stats have shown a marked improvement!
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