The one person who corresponded with daily saint bios now has surprised me by wanting to continue writing about the daily Mass readings--pointing out that this will enforce paying more attention to them. And this is great news and major progress, for this means paying more attention to His Real Presence Who Is In His Living Word.
I responded with various thoughts that had built up in the day, revved by some of the person's information and thoughts on today's readings, augmenting and relating the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain--and responded at length as His Real Presence is enlivening in us and us in HRP!
That was an unexpected email--and I'd not realized myself a benefit of writing of the Living Word. You certainly brought out MUCH that I'd not considered nor known about, such as the history of the building booths for the spirits of Moses and Elijah, and in commemoration of them, or the time of year God chose for His Son to reveal in a visible and audible way that Jesus is the Son of God and with Whom God is well pleased.
I think Peter blurted (good word to describe it) the offer to build booths or tents for Jesus, Elija and Moses as you suggest, but the timing of it as it was before God spoke and said "This is my beloved Son" etc. However, your thought of the booths as a way to honor the event given how shaken they were--and just like Peter to want to DO something physical, and in honor since Jesus was so transfigured and talking with the two prophets. But he did not yet know Jesus was definitely the Son of God; he might have thought Jesus was an equal to Elijah and Moses at the moment. But the visuals of what they'd seen thus far had to have shaken them to the core. I had not considered your thought that Peter also had in mind that this transfiguration was meant for all creation to share. Great point made!
I also like your suggestion that our bodies are in essence the tents of God's presence. Perhaps we are the tents inside God's cloud? That is where we are subsumed into His Real presence, and His Real Presence is in us, for our spiritual bodies are with us along with our physical bodies. I forget that but we have inner senses while on earth as well as temporal senses, but when we die we will not have temporal senses nor need them. And on earth, we get more distracted by our physical senses, such as the men did with what they saw on the mountain and their difficulty in understanding a spiritual, mystical event and thinking of it temporally, as Peter demonstrated with his very temporal, physical response and offer.
The Transfiguration is another message to us of His Real Presence a reality but also very much with us and accessible, as in IN us and us IN His Real Presence--God, Jesus, Holy Spirit--each and all, all the time, no matter where we are. We have accepted and believe in Jesus, and of the Holy Trinity.
I've been considering just this evening, as you gave me a LOT to ponder, and it is all very good, of ways in which we transfigure in our daily lives that which is around us as a kind of type or modeling of how His Real Presence is transfiguring us by being in us, and how we respond to this transfiguration, if we think of it as a reality on-going, and learn to be aware of it--and maybe by "going up to a mountaintop" in essence is a means of the awareness needed--in other words a lot of our temporal lives and distractions and thoughts left in the valleys and towns below. Then we are made aware of His Real Presence in us, as if Transfigured, and of His transfiguring us: body, mind, heart, and soul--and of these, the body being the least spiritually but physically being transfigured every moment as we are being transfigured bit by bit into minds, hearts and souls without our bodies when we die to this world. But mostly while in this world, the transfiguration that we can enjoy and appreciate more is tht of our minds and hearts and souls. Does that make sense/
I thought of how today in the temporal, you transformed blueberries into a blueberry pie. I transformed some more of the guest bath ceiling with more planks and transformed some non-primed planks to primed.... Spiritually, I know we have been transformed by these greater understanding and thoughts on the purpose, good, and glory of the Transfiguration of Jesus and the men's reaction which would be ours, I'm sure--and humans throughout history also like to construct shrines for religious figures or their deities--such as Hindus have shrines and sculptures of Vishnu, Shiva and forget the third right now. My brain is being transfigured so as to easily lose increasingly, the temporal information stored. But this is all right, for our minds, hearts, and souls are being transfigured more to spiritual and mystical existence of eternity, of heaven.
And, we are practicing transfiguration as a process in our temporal lives physically, and then can transpose the physical to noticing and appreciating His Real Presence transfiguring within us, for we can become aware and rejoice in this spiritual reality.
I'm reminded in these Scriptures today and the apostles being "gobsmacked" as the Brits would say--of yesterday's words of Jesus at the end of the Gospel selection. I thought of it late last night--as Jesus said directly to Peter when Peter protested what Jesus was telling them. "You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."
That is how Peter reacted and thought of the Transfiguration--viewed it not as God did but as humans would given the timing of the harvest and the tradition of constructing booths out of the harvest materials and essentially a kind of yearly temporary shrine for the spirits of Moses and Elijah to come and be among them and to honor them. But the transfiguration might be for people who learn to think or at least grasp a little more what God thinks or views or means--is the understanding the Jesus says repeatedly in various ways that God is in us and Jesus being Son of God, He is in us and with us.
So your thought of our bodies being tents in His presence is excellent, and we can take it further in truth that our minds, hearts and souls are transfigured as Jesus was showing how that can be, since we are in Him and He is in us. The disciples had not yet grasped that in fullness of reality; it took Jesus teaching and explaining and demonstrating more after He had resurrected but was yet among them, showing them He is yet alive and always with them, and would be as with them after He ascended, too, but also then introduced the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit--by name, said He was going to let us know the Holy Spirit is in us, too.
Back to the upset and "obstacle" Jesus was saying that thinking as human beings is compared to thinking as God thinks--I have realized to pray to think as God thinks, to see and understand as God does, to perceive and love as God does. But maybe to love as God loves, we really do need to think as God thinks and see matters as God sees. Such as see that a lot of temporal upsets mean very little, or that they just mean that if a trial, that God wants us to learn something from the trial and going through it, and persevering, or that the other person needs our prayers, or whatever is the upset we see or think as human beings. So I'm praying to see and think as His Real Presence does. However, then I consider His Real Presence is IN me. So I am praying and asking to be aware and utilize the reality that His Real Presence is in me, to access then how He sees matters and thinks! It's a start! Our spiritual transfiguration can be quite practical and helpful as it will allow us to also love as God loves, for we need to see and think and understand s God does, not as human beings do.
Well, it certainly all kept me going all day and now into the night. And you are right, by focusing and writing about His Living Word--to bring out and share various thoughts that do and can have His Real Presence in them since we are in Him--it's all very positive and helpful. This is the way of spiritual progression, of accessing our being transfigured and prepared for the will and desires of His Real Presence and to love as God loves.
Love in His Love, and God Bless His Real Presence in us!
No comments:
Post a Comment