“Christianity is a stubbornly historical religion. It’s not a philosophy, not a set of ideas, not an ethical system, and not a mythology.”

“In the Transfiguration we see the divinity of Jesus manifested in the radiance of His body, not the escape from it, and the Assumption shows us that He came to save us completely and not just spiritually”

“The tragedy is Peter denies Christ having seen the transfiguration. Our failure to live out the divine teachings is similarly tragic.”

“we cannot, and indeed shouldn’t, simply stay, avoiding the realities of our daily struggles. But what might those struggles look like once we’ve climbed the mountain, and given ourselves time to rest in God?”

“One sometimes sees crucifixes where the artist, to show Christ reigning gloriously from the Tree, has given him a crown to wear. But really the crucifix needs no crown – the mangled limbs of the Saviour are already his glorious regalia.”

“Good things must pass away so that the everlasting joy can be received”

“If we listen to Jesus, we will learn that we must spend time apart in prayer in the company of God and the saints; but we also learn from Jesus that we must come down from the mountain too.”

“I digress from more traditional discussions of the Transfiguration, not to diminish or dismiss them, but to add to them a sense of the sacredness and importance of Jesus’ mountain venue when He gave his disciples and believers a glimpse of His divinity, and a sense of the sacredness of our earth and creation.”

“Lent, with its emphasis on prayer, almsgiving and self-denial, provides a great opportunity for us to pause in the midst of busy lives and reflect on this change of season which mirrors the changing stages of our own lives.”

“The tragic things in the story of Jesus (above all, the Cross) and the joyful things in that story (above all, the Resurrection) go together”

“Are not my daily transformations the degrees by which I turn my face towards Jesus? The degrees by which I'm being changed into his likeness? The way in which I increase my depth and capacity to receive love itself? The degrees of holiness made possible by my attentiveness to the little things and faithfulness to my vocation over time?”

“these moments where that divinity shines forth through humanity come forth a lot more frequently and a lot more near to us than we might realize”

“We're not meant to be simply nice people, we're meant to be sons and daughters of God. We're meant to be citizens of heaven. We're meant for an elevated transfigured life.”

“How do we have access to the glory of Jesus Christ? We have access through our love for him. Christianity is about falling in love with Jesus.”

“Christians, this world we believe is real but not ultimately real. It's beautiful and good and true but it's not ultimately beautiful, good and true. In fact, it's a kind of symbol of a world that is much richer, more perfect, more intensely real.”

“All the readings can lead us today to consider what difference it makes to us when we encounter God in His Glory”

“The Transfiguration is more than just a sign of Christ’s divinity. It also reveals our own potential to grow and to become divine.”

“It’s in these times, these times of darkness, and when we continue that journey up that mountain and don’t stop, and don’t give into the doubt, when He reaches out to us and shows us His true divinity and His true humanity – who then, is the one who is transformed?”

“The Transfiguration is the manifestation even before the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus' deepest identity”

“Our minds alone cannot see God revealed. We have to engage our imagination, all our senses and emotions so that the presence of God is encountered”