August 9, 2026: Sunday after Transfiguration

 As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church

Malachi 2:5-7, 3:20-24, Acts 13:25-41, Mark 9:2-13

We have heard so many inspiring words this past week. What will we take with us on our own journey through life?  

In the first reading from Malachi this morning the warnings are quite dire. Yet it all ends with Israel leaping with joy like a calf being released from its stall. As Malachi preached for the ones who revere the name of God and keep God’s law are the truly happy ones. What Jesus came to teach is the law of love.

How do we acquire the wisdom to live this law of love? Some people think that Jesus wasn’t really sure that the suffering he saw coming was really what God willed for Him. That is why he went up the mountain to pray. Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus during his Transfiguration, and, we think, assured him he was correct in his understanding. Then the three apostles were told to listen to Jesus, and surely, having seen Moses and Elijah and the Transfigured Christ, they were more open to Jesus’ teaching than before. Their previous understanding of the Messiah was not what Jesus had been teaching them. We see by the length of time the apostles took to really accept Jesus’ teaching of what their Messiah is, how difficult to change our thinking as well. It was not until Pentecost they were convinced of this law of love.

The law of love entails work on our part. In today’s world, the effect of whatever work each of us does—intellectual, artistic, social, communal, or individual—must be good for the globe: that is, for all creation, as well as for our particular area, ourselves included.

 A spirituality of work has many components. Work is our gift to the world. It can build the human community, which needs to be based on mutual service, respect, gentleness, and equality.  It can and does lead to self-fulfillment. It can save one from total self-centeredness. It gives a reason to exist that is larger than oneself. It enables the Creator to go on creating.

A spirituality of work is that by which we come to know that our work is God’s work, unfinished because God intends it to be finished by us. As a society, we depend greatly on the support of those around us and when this is lacking, faithfulness to our deepest beliefs becomes more difficult. Some seasonal variations in one’s inner life by having to exist in an environment that does not nourish our deepest aspirations can shrivel up one’s spirit and self-esteem. To the extent that we live in such a situation, we need to strengthen our faith by a constant remembrance of God’s word as we interact with an ever-changing world.

Some of the words spoken by Dr. Popa yesterday can help steer us in a helpful direction.  The law of love entails being mindful of God’s presence in our life. Our creating God continuously lures us toward being all that we can be: images of Christ in union with God. In our enthusiasm to carry out this law of love, remember to take care of ourselves as well.

Jesus’ mission to his followers was to preach that the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. How to do it was to do what Jesus did: to respond to human needs. Work sanctifies by calling us to save the globe for others and to save others for the sake of the globe.

Christ is in our midst!

Sermon 220 August 8, 2026

 As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Churc

Lk 9:28-36; 2Cor 3:5b-8, 12-18; Wi 7:25-8:1 Pilgrimage. Seeing in a new light.  

 

       When I was a kid in school learning vocabulary, one common exercise was to give students a new word, or words, to be used in a sentence. This was to help us understand, and maybe even remember, the new word. That word for us today is Transfiguration. I suspect, outside of this feast, we don't use that word very often, if at all. It is specific to the event the apostles Peter, James and John experienced with Jesus on the mountain not long before his passion. Maybe we can bring the wonder of this into our ordinary life experiences. We might think of it as seeing something in a new light.

        The apostles had been living with Jesus during his entire ministry. They could see him in daily life as an ordinary person, the son of man, spoken of in scripture. A teacher of remarkable wisdom. But they were constantly struggling with the reality beyond worldly reality, of Jesus as divine, as the perfect reflection of God, the creator of all things. Whether it was about the calming of the stormy sea, healing all kinds of diseases, turning water into wine, multiplying the loves of bread or driving out demons, they remained mystified, openly wondering who is this man?

       So Peter, James and John were given an insight not shared with the other apostles, a vision of Jesus beyond earthly boundaries. They saw him in a new light, literally. They experienced something so astonishing, they were thrown to the ground. They got a glimpse of God's cosmic reality. But even that was too much for them to fathom. And maybe for us as well.

       It is not unusual to hear of Jesus referred to as the Cosmic Christ. For me, this is simply another way to understand that God is the author, the creator, of all things. It is hard to conceive cosmic more broadly than that. What Christ was opening up to Peter, James and John on that mountain was a vision of the connection between this created world and the creator of this world. Christ was revealed in this new light as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets as represented by Moses and Elijah who appeared with him. And yet, it all vanished in a cloud in an instant.

       But it is not gone. Our eyes can really see that connection in all that we experience in our seemingly ordinary lives if we let God transfigure our hearts. Our interior disposition has to be open to this possibility. We at New Skete are fortunate. Here on this mountain we are graced with the natural wonders of creation.  We are embraced by God's creation when we walk around these grounds or hike our trails and allow our senses to be open to penetrate the divine reality beyond the immediate visual and sensory experience. And by breeding German Shepherd dogs, we participate in the birth and early growth of their puppies, living beings. Seeing creation's constant wonder unfold, literally, in our hands. This is soon to happen again as one of our brood bitches is carrying 10 puppies and is due to give birth any day now.

       Our speaker today, Ioana Popa, will take us on a journey into the realm of scientific inquiry grounded in faith. A journey to help us better appreciate that scientific research and discoveries do not deny God but help us understand a little better the enormity of God's creation. We humans will never be able to wrap our minds totally around the wonder that is God, but every scientific breakthrough takes us another step further along that path. 

Homily for the Feast of the Transfiguration, Aug. 6, 2026

 As preached by Brother Christopher
Holy Wisdom Church 

 

“But Jesus came and touched them saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid’. (Mt 17:7)

 

I’ve always felt that this feast of the Transfiguration takes place on two levels: bad news, good news. On the one hand, it occurs immediately in the gospel after Peter’s confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah, then Peter’s subsequent misunderstanding of that which earns Jesus’ stern rebuke, and then Jesus patiently explaining his coming destiny of suffering, to be put to death by the elders and chief priests. Only then, ultimately, will he be raised to life. But even more, he explains that true discipleship means that we, too, share in the cross. Remember his words: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Only then is there the proper and broader context to understand the real mystery of the Transfiguration. Because Jesus knows that he is traveling to his death. On this level, the Transfiguration ratifies both his destiny and identity.  The broader picture is good news, the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of God, a world bathed in divine light. But the immediate path is through suffering and death. Do we truly appreciate that tension?

Moses and Elijah, flanking Jesus, have often been seen as a sign of the Law and the Prophets confirming that Jesus indeed is the one who they have been waiting for. But I believe there is an additional meaning which, while not contradicting the first, adds a fuller dimension to their presence. For both Moses and Elijah were considered to be prophets who were initially rejected by the people but ultimately vindicated by God. Their presence foreshadows what Jesus will soon face in Jerusalem: rejection, suffering and death. At the same time, the heavenly vision, the radiance that is the transfiguration of Jesus points to an aftermath of glory and triumph. The heavenly voice confirms this: “this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” And while Peter, James and John are thrown face down in fear at this revelation, Jesus simply touches them and tells them to get up and not to fear. It is with the lightness of that touch that the 14^th century mystic Julian of Norwich perceived so tellingly: “All shall be well, all manner of things shall be well.”

              But there is another level of this feast that has been picked up by tradition and which has helped make the Transfiguration one of the most popular feasts of the year: the deeper perception of a world bathed in divine light. The icon of the feast depicts this, the divine light radiating from Jesus not only on the disciples, but on the rocks... plants... in effect on all creation; Creation is illuminated in its pristine beauty and shares in this deifying vision. That is part of the grace we experience here on this property. From the time of our beginning in 1966, to the building of our monastery on this property from scratch, we have been immersed in a natural beauty that reminds us constantly of the divine light that fills all creation. It has helped us break open the mystery of the Transfiguration, so much so that it is the patronal feast of New Skete. May our prayer only serve to increase our ability to see the reality of this manifestation in ever deeper ways.