Transfiguration Sunday before Lent 2026 St Andrew’s Milngavie
Today we celebrated the Transfiguration
Yesterday several of us plus friends from All Saints braved the cold and enjoyed a glorious walk in the hazy sunshine followed by a wonderful tea in Friendship House. Many thanks to all who supported and contributed to this, especially Tim and Jane who organised and led it.
Ash Wednesday – will be celebrated on Thursday at our morning Said Eucharist
Lent – we are once again invited to join All Saints for their study group. We will meet every Tuesday afternoon in Lent 2pm in their small hall ( February 24th and March 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st)
The book to be studied is Dust & Glory by David Runcorn. It is a book of daily Bible readings from Ash Wednesday to Easter Day, broken up into the six weeks of Lent..
This Week
Tuesday 10am – Prayer Group in the Garden Room
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion with Imposition of Ashes for Ash Wednesday followed by coffee in Friendship House.
Readings for next Sunday – 1st Sunday of Lent – Genesis 2:15-17,3:1-7 Romans 5:12-19 Matthew 4:1-11
Today’s readings – Exodus 24:12-end, Peter 1:16-end, Matthew 17:1-9
As clergy we are encouraged to take retreats. Not being one to do things on my own , over the course of my ministry, I have taken very few, and when I have always in the company of several people like a preordination retreat.
However, I did go to Iona for a week back in the late 90’s with a friend and 4 small children in tow. That was an interesting week!
In today’s gospel account Jesus retreats. It seems that Jesus needs to get away from it all, and what better place to go than a mountain? Only his closest confidants are invited to join him.
This retreat comes at a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. For months Jesus has been traveling around the Galilean countryside, preaching, healing, performing miracles and proclaiming the kingdom of God. But then the focus and the mood shifts. It all starts when some Pharisees and Sadducees ask Jesus for a sign from heaven, essentially questioning his authority.
This must have led to some self-reflection on the part of Jesus, for shortly thereafter, he asks his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And then, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Matthew 16:13 & 15
Peter gives a clear and inspired answer, ‘You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.’ Matthew 16:16
It is in this context that Jesus then retreats up the mountain with Peter, James and John, his closest apostles.
While they’re up on that mountain, something extraordinary happens. Jesus’ “face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.” A moment later, a divine voice speaks: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” Matthew 17:2-5
This is the moment of the Transfiguration. Jesus lit up like a spotlight, visited by Moses and Elijah, identified as the Son of God. But it’s all temporary. Before long, Jesus is back to normal, walking back down the mountain with his disciples.
So, what happened? What was this strange, inexplicable moment, a flash of glory, a glimpse of something divine?
This is Peter’s question. He wants to know what this extraordinary event means. He wants to understand it. He wants to stay in this moment, at least for a little while.
So, Peter says, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Matthew 17:4
Specifically, the word for “dwelling” means “tent,” or “tabernacle.” Peter’s not offering to build three houses, three permanent structures. Instead, he wants to build tents, something temporary, movable.
Peter’s suggestion tells us a lot about what he’s thinking. He has had this brush with the divine and he wants to stay with it for a while —to hold on to the moment, to try to grasp it, to understand it.
But a brush with the divine can’t be grasped, it can’t be understood. It can only be experienced.
In scripture, it does seem that these divine experiences often happen on high ground. In the Exodus reading today, Moses goes up Mount Sinai to encounter the presence of God in cloud and fire. Exodus 24:15-end
Perhaps some of us can point to moments in our own lives when we’ve had that encounter with the divine. We need these divine experiences. In the gospel of Matthew, just before the Transfiguration, Jesus tells his disciples that he will be arrested and killed. The road Jesus is traveling, the road he is asking his disciples to travel with him, leads to the cross. They need spiritual strength for the journey ahead. They need this brush with the divine. They need to experience God’s presence to sustain and affirm them in their calling.
Mountaintop experiences are high points in our lives, times when we are lifted out of ourselves and given a glimpse of something that transcends our normal existence, these moments can be rare, if at all, and short lived, but the fact is they do give us strength to return to the valley where Christ asks us to take up our crosses and follow him and it is not easy. And we are asked to do it with only glimpses, only brief encounters, with God.
So, when we get those glimpses, when we have those brushes with the divine, we should treasure them as much as we can, holding them in our hearts because we need those moments to give us strength for our journey.