On this Second Sunday of Lent, the Church puts before us the wonderful account of the Transfiguration. One of the central symbols in this story is light. Jesus becomes radiant with heavenly light and reveals his divinity. In John’s Gospel, he identifies himself as ‘The Light of the World’. A key question for us to consider is how the light of Christ effects us who are exposed to it. The answer is that the light of Christ changes us. But how? When we spend time with Jesus in prayer with his Word or before him in the Eucharist, we become more radiant with the same light he has. As Moses came down the mountain after speaking with God, he did not know that his face shone with light (Ex. 34:29). So too, when we spend time in prayer with the Lord, we bathe in his light and absorb that light to ourselves before taking it out into our families, schools and parishes. This is the light of holiness, honesty, integrity, mercy and justice. This is the light the world needs, a light that shines in the darkness; a light the dark cannot overpower. It is the light of Christ, carried by us, his disciples.
Fr Billy Swan