By Mother Rebecca

This weekend we'll read about two people who ascended a holy mountain to meet and talk with God: Moses and Jesus. In one, Moses receives the Ten Commandments; in the other, Jesus is transfigured. Yes, this weekend we are celebrating our titular fest, the Transfiguration of our Lord. This week as I reread these familiar stories, I was struck afresh by the fact that the faces of both shined brightly after they had drawn close to God. I've been reflecting on faces I've seen shining with the brightness of God's love.

I've been thinking about Fr. George Luck who was my spiritual director for many years before he died in July 2020. He was a quiet, gentle soul who spent hours in prayer and deep conversation with God. When we met and spoke of God's activity in my life, when he prayed for me, when he preached the good news of Jesus, Fr. Luck's face shone as I imagine Moses' and Jesus' faces did.

Last weekend, I went to Northern Michigan for the outdoor wedding of two dear friends from law school. After dating for 30 years, they were married on the green shores of Betsie Lake, a harbor of sorts that empties into Lake Michigan. As they exchanged their vows in the presence of God and their family and friends, as two became one, their faces (and ours) radiated with the love of God.

I've been thinking about pregnant women – family, friends and even strangers – whose faces radiate joy and hope. New life coming into the world carries with it the brightness of God. This Sunday at 9 am, when we baptize Andre and William, we'll see the brightness of God radiated in many faces!

I've also been thinking this week about Greg Rickard, our beloved parishioner whose funeral we'll celebrate this weekend. This week, I rewatched as he sang a duet of The Rainbow Connection with Delynda Moravec in a Hillcrest Live production from four years ago. You can watch for yourself here – they sing at the 11-minute mark. If you do, you'll see Greg's face, shining brightly, with his love of music, his love of life, and with the love of God.

I wonder what makes your face shine with the love of God.

As we hear again this weekend the stories of Moses and Jesus on the mountaintop, their faces shining with the glory – the love – the light of God, I hope we take more away than our awe at what happened to these two holy men so many centuries ago. These stories are reminding me of the importance of my own prayer life – of taking time every day to be with God, to receive God's love, and to let God lighten my soul. In our overscheduled, hurried, cell-phone-based lives, it isn't easy and doesn't feel natural to carve out and zealously guard time for prayer and for sitting in God's presence. And yet, we are the Body of Christ in the world today. We are the ones whose faces can shine with the love of God into the brokenness, heartache, despair, hunger, and fear in which the people around us are mired. Our readings this week call us back to God's presence where we can be stil and be filled with the light of God's love.

See you this weekend,

Mtr. Rebecca