Let Your Light So Shine
Transfigured by the Spirit
Read the following texts:
From the Gospels
And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them
up a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them,
and His garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could
bleach them. (Mark 9:2-3)
“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts
it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lamp stand, that those who
come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when
your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is
bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light
which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having
no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining
of a lamp gives you light.” (Luke 11:33-36)
“
The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body
will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full
of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is
that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23)
Account of St Seraphim’s Transfiguration
A close admirer and follower of St. Seraphim, Motovilov, described the miraculous
transfiguration of the starets’ face. This happened during the winter,
on a cloudy day. Motovilov was sitting on a stump in the woods; St. Seraphim
was squatting across from him and telling his pupil the meaning of a Christian
life, explaining for what we Christians live on earth.
"It is necessary that the Holy Spirit enter our heart. Everything good
that we do, that we do for Christ, is given to us by the Holy Spirit, but prayer
most of all, which is always available to us," he said.
"Father," answered Motovilov, "how can I see the grace of the
Holy Spirit? How can I know if He is with me or not?"
St. Seraphim began to give him examples from the lives of the saints and apostles,
but Motovilov still did not understand. The elder then firmly took him by the
shoulder and said to him, "We are both now, my dear fellow, in the Holy
Spirit." It was as if Motovilov’s eyes had been opened, for he saw
that the face of the elder was brighter than the sun. In his heart Motovilov
felt joy and peace, in his body a warmth as if it were summer, and a fragrance
began to spread around them. Motovilov was terrified by the unusual change,
but especially by the fact that the face of the starets shone like the sun.
But St. Seraphim said to him, "Do not fear, dear fellow. You would not
even be able to see me if you yourself were not in the fullness of the Holy
Spirit. Thank the Lord for His mercy toward us."
Thus Motovilov understood, in mind and heart, what the descent of the Holy Spirit
and His transfiguration of a person meant.
Based upon everything that was discussed in the retreat, these scriptures, and the excerpt from the Life of St Seraphim, define the phrase, “Let Your Light So Shine.” What is the light? Where does it come from? How do you let it shine?
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Department
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