The Divine Brilliance

I have been to the Holy Land once. I recall sitting on the bus with the sunshine of the morning sky flickering through the windows. As we bounced along, I realized how my early sandbox experiences of the warmth of the sun have deeply impacted my image of God. 

As we drove north from Nazareth, I wondered how the radiance of the sunshine also impacted Jesus’ youngest images of his God as Father. Jesus rested by the Sea of Galilee that shimmers in the midday sun. Jesus climbed Mount Tabor that radiates with light.  Jesus prayed on the Mount of Olives, where the clouds and the sky gleam with vibrant color. What stands out in my memory is the Holy  Land’s brilliance. The Word became flesh in a place of luminous beauty. 

In today’s readings, Abram and Paul and the apostles have glimpsed that radiance. Later in Genesis, Abram senses glory in the splendor of the stars in a deeply black sky, and believes. Paul himself has obviously experienced that magnificence, for he calls Timothy to grab hold of it. The apostles see it in the person of Jesus, transfigured in front of them. He is dazzling! He is radiant! He is bright! This is the deeper reality of the glory of the Son of God. Peter and James and John get a preview of that glory and they don’t really know what to do with it. 

We may have also seen flickers of God’s glory. Yet more radiance surrounds us than meets the eye. What we may have glimpsed is as faint as the light of a candle compared to the brilliance of the sun.  The dazzling One surrounds us and enfolds us at all times. The holy  Light will transform us if we let it.

Consider/Discuss 

• In prayer, have you seen it? Have you ever felt your rib cage so swell up with holy warmth that you almost could burst? Have you seen that  Radiance? Have you felt just on the edge of that “more?” Share your story with another believer whom you trust. 
• We see the grandeur of a sunset, dazzling sparkles in the snow, or the shimmer of light on the water. In our sacramental understanding of the created world, flashes of earthly beauty lead us to the grandeur of God.  This week, take a few extra moments to absorb and delight in the radiant beauty that surrounds you. 

Living and Praying with the Word 

Shower your steadfast light upon us, O Lord. You have flashed,  you have revealed, and you have bathed us with your glory. Yet we  cannot begin to contain your luminous beauty. Cleanse us this Lent  so that we are more fitting vessels for your grandeur. Stir the spark  of our faith until it has been stirred into a living flame of love. Then  help us to overflow with your joy so that others may behold you as  well.