In today’s readings, God’s presence is revealed within darkness. Only when night fell did the Lord appear to a terrified Abram to make the covenant with him and his descendants. From the very cloud that had frightened and overshadowed them, Peter, James, and John heard, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him” (Lk 9:35).
Christian iconography also incorporates this revelatory darkness. The mandorla is an almond-shaped background typically seen behind Christ. In traditional icons of mystical events like the transfiguration, the color of the mandorla increasingly becomes darker as it approaches its center where we find the radiant Christ.
At the flick of a switch or a click of a mouse, we never have to be kept in the dark. Yet other kinds of mysteries obscure our thoughts and paralyze us. Share on XAt the flick of a switch or a click of a mouse, we never have to be kept in the dark. Yet other kinds of mysteries obscure our thoughts and paralyze us: problems in our world too big to solve; overwhelming sorrow and numbing depression; even a fear of missing out that drives us to irrational choices. Yet greater than the obfuscating mystery of sin is the illuminating mystery of Christ who transfigures all our fear into faith.
This Lent, let us give up our need to control, explain, or rationalize every moment of our lives that we may listen more faithfully to God’s chosen Son and respond with complete trust in Christ.
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