The Dog Days of Summer....

 

As we begin the month of August, we are reminded that school and the program year is only a few weeks away.  This is a time of anticipation of the coming school year, vacation, a nd settling in with the typical "hot" days of summer.  In the church, this is a time to renew ideas for programs and prepare for the fast pace of events that move us quickly from celebr ating the blessing of backpacks for school to the Feast of St. Francis and the blessing of animals, to All Saints Day, Thanksgiving, Advent and, yes, Christmas.  Before we get wrapped up in th e mad pace of fall schedules, I encourage all of us to take the time to refle ct and meditate on the time we have with the remaining stillness and silence that exists before this mad rush begins.  Finding a quiet place where you can relax in peace and quiet, even for a few minutes each day, can offer refreshing relief from the anxieties and troubles that creep into our thoughts.  If you find meditation in reading, there are many literary vehicles t

o give you that space, (especially the Book of Common Prayer) but I encourage just being alone in quiet stillness without any distractions to allow yourself to hear your own hear t beat and possibly hear God's breath in your mind and soul.  Reflection and meditation gives us the energy to finish the day and maybe change a negative event, or thought into manageable experiences that allow us to feel better about ourselves and our circumstances.  Even for those without a worry in their day can find refreshment in the peace and quiet of reflection and meditation.  I pray that we can all carve out a time to do this each day for our won sakes.

Transfiguration of Christ

This coming Saturday we will celebrate the Transfiguration of Christ in our prayers.  The Transfiguration is not to be understood only as a spiritual experience of Jesus while at prayer, which three chosen disciples, Peter, James, and John, were permitted to witness. It is one of a series of supernatural manifestations, by which God authenticated Jesus as his Son. It is at one with the appearance of the angels at the birth and at his resurrection ,and with the descent of the Spirit at Jesus' baptism.

Matthew records the voice from heaven saying, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him" (Matthew 17 : 5 ). Briefly the veil is drawn aside, and a chosen few are permitted to see Jesus, not only as the earth-born son of Mary, but as the eternal Son of God. Moses and Elijah witness to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. In Luke's account of the event, they speak of the "exodus" which Jesus is to accomplish at Jerusalem. A cloud, a sign of divine presence, envelops the disciples, and a heavenly voice proclaims  Jesus to be the Son of God.  Immediately thereafter Jesus announces to Peter, James, and John the imminence of his death.  As Paul was later to say of Jesus, "Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and was born in human likeness. And, being found in human form, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2 : 6 - 8 ).

The Feast of the Transfiguration is held in the highest esteem by the Eastern Churches. The figure of the transfigured Christ is regarded as a foreshadowing of the Risen and Ascended Lord. The festival, however, was only accepted into the Roman calendar on the eve of the Reformation, and for that reason was not included in the reformed calendar of the English Church. Since its inclusion in the American revision of 1892 , it has been taken into most modern Anglican calendars.

O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen

witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured,

in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we,

being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may

by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O

Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God,

for ever and ever. Amen