Feast of the Transfiguration of the
Lord
August 6, 2014 6:30am
None of us will have a
Transfiguration experience in the way that Peter, James and John do in today’s
gospel.
We will not experience God or
Jesus as God in exactly this way.
But, we can have religious or
spiritual experiences.
It does not have to be a sudden
or emotional or extraordinary.
It could be, but that is not
usual or even necessary.
Good, transfiguring and
transforming experiences usually are rather ordinary.
Saint Ignatius in his directives
on prayer calls is to review or look back on each day for the ways that God
came to us.
Ignatius calls it the light and
consolation of God.
He calls us to look back on each
day and identify the light and consolation that came from God.
For example, maybe we have prayed
over some difficult issue for a long time and eventually, undramatically, we
see a resolution to it.
Maybe the loss of a job has
turned out to be an opening to something richer for our own growth.
Maybe the endurance of a sickness
or upset has led us to become more sensitive to the sufferings of others.
Maybe a family member or friend
was just there to listen while we vented about something.
Maybe someone said just the right
thing to give us the insight or affirmation we needed.
These are ordinary, everyday ways
that God comes to us.
They are not dramatic and would
not qualify as miracles.
But they are the usual ways that the
light and consolation of God comes to us.
It is good to be aware and alert
to these – good to review each day, as Ignatius says, and discern where and how
God came to us.
These will be our Transfiguration
and transforming moments – seeing God in the ordinary and everyday and allowing
God to mold us through this.
