. . . As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord . . . Joshua 25:15b

Epiphany Last Yr B
Dazzling light

Bloch, Carl. "The Transfiguration of Christ." 1872. Downloaded 01302024 from Wikipedia.

Published date 2/10/2024

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Don't forget your Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras, pancake supper) celebrations. And this Sunday will mark season of "no alleluias" until Easter Vigil. As part of your Shrove Tuesday celebration, you and your family may wish to create an "alleluia banner", writing Alleluia in as many ways as you can think of (alleluia, alleluya, hallelujah, halleluiah, and halleluyah) on a piece of paper and then "burying" (aka hiding) the banner. [Be sure to write a note where you buried it.] It's always fun to unearth them at Easter!

Introduction

The last week of Epiphany brings many thoughts to mind. Foremost, what epiphanies have you realized this season? What has been revealed to you by understanding that you are called and have a purpose and responsibility? What demons prevent you from accomplishing your purpose and accepting your responsibility? How do you reveal Jesus to your world? Has your star word been helpful?

For this last week, we hear God saying, "This is my Beloved", again as was done at Jesus' baptism (the first Sunday after the Epiphany). This time is added, "Listen to him." How do you "listen to him"? May your journey be blessed as you listen.

Feel free to comment.

Mark 9:2-9

Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. . . .

From sermon4kids.com: “You and I may never have an experience on the mountain top like the one that Peter, James, and John had, but we can “Climb Sunshine Mountain” if we will stay close to Jesus and walk with him each and every day.”

Scripture: February 11, 2024—Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Year B: 2 Kings 2:1-12 (image), 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 (image), Psalm 50:1-6 (image), and Mark 9:2-9 (image). A visual/oral journey through the scripture.

Collect: O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Reflection: The Old Testament reading for today presents Elijah as a “new Moses”—striking the Jordan with his mantle and causing its waters to part so that he and Elisha could pass through on dry ground (2 Kgs. 2:8). The Gospel reading builds on this comparison by placing Moses and Elijah together at Jesus’ transfiguration (Mark 9:4). There is also a parent-child dynamic in each of these passages. Elisha asks to receive a “double share” of Elijah’s spirit (2 Kgs. 2:9)—the appointed inheritance of a firstborn son (see Deut. 21:17). At the transfiguration, God’s voice from the cloud bestows on Jesus the mantle of divine authority: “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” What do these constellations of relationships suggest to you? How do they help you to understand the transfiguration of Jesus? How is Jesus a fulfillment of the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah)? (See also Luke 24:44.) How is Jesus revealed to be God’s Son, and what does that mean for us? (See also Luke 3:22, 38.)

Symbols of the Church

The Celtic cross is said to be introduced by St. Patrick in his efforts to convert the Pagan Irish to Christianity. Patrick combined the Christian cross with the circular pattern of the sun as a way to associate light and life with the Christian cross in the minds of his converts. In medieval time the Celtic cross was used as a marker of public spaces.

from "What is the origin and meaning of the Celtic Cross" website.

Eye Candy:
“The Transfiguration” by Fra Angelica;
“The transfiguration” by James Tissot;
“Elijah taken up to heaven” by He Qi

Transfiguration, Peter Koenig, https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/Portfolio/transfiguration

Ear Worm:
“Transfiguration“, Hillsong;
“Holy ground” by Melodie Malone;
“Swing low, sweet chariot” sung by Etta James

Brain Food:
“Transfiguration”:

For that one moment, ‘in and out of time’,
On that one mountain where all moments meet,
The daily veil that covers the sublime
In darkling glass fell dazzled at his feet.
There were no angels full of eyes and wings
Just living glory full of truth and grace.
The Love that dances at the heart of things
Shone out upon us from a human face
And to that light the light in us leaped up,
We felt it quicken somewhere deep within,
A sudden blaze of long-extinguished hope
Trembled and tingled through the tender skin.
Nor can this this blackened sky, this darkened scar
Eclipse that glimpse of how things really are.

~Malcolm Guite;

“Look for the light, listen to Jesus“from Stewardship of Life institute;
“Self guided retreat” from At the edge of the enclosure website

Parables:
“To kill a mockingbird” (1962, approved), Finch undergoes transformation, Review;
“Martin Guerre” (1982, not rated), duality & disbelief, Review;
“Deep end of the ocean” (1999, PG-13), story of a kidnapped child, Review

For families: Study guide, group activity, snacks, kid video, kid song "Climb up sunshine mountain"

For children: activity; bulletin; craft

For middlers: activity; bulletin; craft

For youth: At the beginning of Epiphany, the Sunday when Jesus was baptized, we learned that God spoke from above calling Jesus “The Beloved”. Did you notice in this week’s readings that God once again called Jesus “The Beloved”? This time, however, God adds, “Listen to him!” Sometimes it’s not easy to “listen”—our lives sometimes are chaotic and jumbled. So we can learn from the three disciples who went up the mountain with Jesus. We are regularly told that we can get refreshed by going up the mountain but beware trying to live there. Also beware making little houses for your faith (as Peter wanted to do). Let your faith surround you and fill you. Feel free to comment here.

On this final Sunday after the Epiphany the Transfiguration of Christ is the central theme. This event was the most striking manifestation of Jesus’ divine identity during the days of his ministry. It was also in this event that Jesus made his first clear reference to his approaching death and resurrection, which is the reason we commemorate it on the Sunday before Lent. The two greatest men of God from the past, Moses and Elijah, joined him, representing the law and the prophets, God’s primary means of self-revelation prior to Jesus, and discussed with him what lay ahead.

The Old Testament reading is the account of the prophet Elijah’s departure into heaven leaving his ministry to his disciple Elisha. Jewish belief in the days of Jesus was that this, the greatest of the old prophets, would one day reappear to signal the coming of the Messiah.

In the second reading, Paul describes the presence of Jesus in our lives as the light of God. We are to be transfigured by Jesus that his light may shine forth from us.

It is in the liturgy of the Eucharist, above all, that God’s people continue to meet and know the Lord. We become eyewitnesses to Christ’s continuing work of redemption in our lives, and we are called to manifest his love for all people in lives transfigured by our own relationship to him.

Today is the final Sunday we use the liturgical word “Alleluia” until Easter. Thus, its renewal at Easter will signal its unique joy. In many congregations the final hymn is the ancient “farewell to Alleluia” (Hymnal 1982, #122 and #123). It uses the Old Testament Babylonian captivity as an image of our lives in this world, and our hope for an eternal Easter in God’s Kingdom.

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Epiphany Last Yr B Dazzling light

Introduction

Mark 9:2-9

Symbols of the Church

Epiphany Last Yr B
Dazzling light