AUDIO MEDITATION:

Fra Angelico (Italian, 1395-1455), Transfiguration. Public domain. NB: Jesus appears here with Moses and Elijah as disembodied heads; the Virgin Mary stands to the left and St. Dominic to the right. Fra Angelico was a Dominican brother—read more about him here.

FULL TEXT:

After Jesus was transfigured and came down the mountain with his disciples, he “charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.”

Jesus intended this vision to reveal to the disciples his destiny, but the path to his glorification runs through the cross. Before he rises, Jesus will suffer, die, and be placed, lifeless, in the tomb.

In his depiction of the transfiguration, Fra Angelico shows the cruciform path towards glory—Jesus stands with his arms stretched out, just as he will on Calvary. The same is true for us—the cross is our only hope. By joining in Jesus’ dying, we will share in his rising. How are our Lenten practices helping us to embrace our crosses as a path towards new life?