When the dawn comes and the morning star rises . . .

It's the literature teacher in me. I like imagery. And imagery is popping up everywhere in today's Mass Readings.

. . . His throne was a blaze of flames

. . . A thousand thousand waited on him

. . . the books were opened

. . . a lamp for lighting a way through the dark

. . . until the dawn comes and the morning star rises in your minds

And then we come to the Gospel Reading where we see and hear what Peter, James and John saw and heard.

As they came down from the mountain he warned them to tell no one what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They observed the warning faithfully, though among themselves they discussed what ‘rising from the dead’ could mean.

And because we are on this side of the resurrection, we know something these three men did not know at that moment. We know that "rising from the dead" is not merely fluffy speech. It is not solely imagery. It is precisely what it says. Jesus Christ conquered death. He triumped over our greatest enemy. He rose from the dead.

Yes, the literature teacher in me loves to read the passages listed above and imagine the scene. I ask myself, as these three men did at the Transfiguration, what might this mean. The words are greater than my comprehension. But that does not mean that they are not real, nor does it mean that they are merely poetic phrases, or imagery alone, or wordy fluff.

They mean something I cannot quite grasp - yet.

But one day . . . one day . . . God willing . . . I will understand - when the dawn comes and the morning star rises in my mind . . .

When the dawn comes and the morning star rises . . .