You Tube Theology

Today we are observing Transfiguration Sunday.

The readings:
Exodus 24.12-18 | Psalm 99 | 2 Peter 1:16-21 | Matthew 17.1-9

Highlights:

• Opening with her own Dutch family's stories of resistance during WWII — a grandmother sheltering, a grandfather cutting hair for Jews in hiding, an uncle executed — Sylvia Keesmaat asks what our ancestors would do in times of crisis
• The Transfiguration is read as an ancestors story: at the pivotal moment before the walk to Jerusalem, Jesus climbs the mountain and Moses and Elijah appear to strengthen him
• Moses spoke truth to Pharaoh, shaped a community of welcome and justice, and encountered God's compassion on the mountain; Elijah spoke truth to Ahab and Jezebel, fled to the mountain, and learned he was not alone
• Both received strength and instructions for the journey — now they stand with Jesus as he faces the cross
• "Listen to him," says the voice from the cloud — after Jesus' hardest teaching that the path leads through suffering; there are no shortcuts, and no time to build tents on the mountain
• Ancestors in the faith need not be biological: week by week in worship, we learn the stories of those who spoke truth, formed communities of healing, and accepted suffering — from Hagar to Dorothy Day
• Indigenous ancestors of this land teach what justice and faithful community look like in this particular place, for humanity and for the earth
• The ash cross on Wednesday marks us as people of the earth, followers of Jesus who descended from glory to continue the hard work — and calls us to draw strength from our ancestors for the struggles we face

https://theredeemer.ca/

Church of the Redeemer
Anglican Church of Canada
162 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON M5S 1M4

416-922-4948 (telephone)
416-922-0375 (fax)