Newsletter 28th February 2021 – 2nd Sunday Of Lent

Dear Parishioners

‘THE TRANSFIGURATION’

“Reality or vision, this we have seen.
If it had lasted but another moment
It might have held for ever! But the world
Rolled back into its place, and we are here,
And all that radiant kingdom lies forlorn,
As if it had never stirred; no human voice
Is heard among its meadows, but it speaks
To itself alone, alone it flowers and shines
And blossoms for itself while time runs on”.

The Scottish Poet Edwin Muir (1887-1959) in the concluding verses of his poem ‘The Transfiguration’. His words reflect the spontaneous outburst of the apostle Peter who said “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah”. Which one of us would not wish to hold on to the moment of ecstasy, the moment of beauty, the moment of revelation, when all is clear and we are removed from the turmoil of everyday living?

How difficult for Peter, and for all of us, to accept this reality. During this Season of Lent we follow Jesus in a particular way, on the Way of the Cross, and all that signifies in the life of those who believe in Him. The cross is raised, not on the Mount of Transfiguration, but on the Mount of Calvary. 

On Good Friday we venerate the wood of the cross, the instrument of our salvation. It is only when we recognise in the crucified one who takes all suffering and sin into Himself and remains faithful to God and to the whole of the human race, do we get some glimpse into the meaning of suffering in our own lives.

For so many people, suffering is a waste of time and nothing good can be said of it. We question the very existence of God when individual suffering and the suffering of others become too much to bear. “Where is God in the midst of this suffering?” we often ask. “Here,” says Jesus with arms outstretched on the cross. 

2021 28th February Newsletter – Download

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