“You’re glowing!”
I was told this quite a number of years ago when I was pregnant, and now I see the bright glow in my two daughters-in-law who are expecting. This radiant blessing is something many women experience due to the physiological changes that occur during pregnancy. The glow of pregnancy has helped me to view the Transfiguration of our Lord in a slightly different light.
When Peter, James and John saw the transfigured Lord on the mountain- his face shining like the sun and his clothes like a radiant light, I bet they thought, “He’s glowing!” The transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ’s glorious coming, when he “will change our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body.” (CCC 556) This means we can all potentially have that glow even if you are not a woman, or a woman who has never been pregnant! I propose that the glow can start here on earth, though we will have to wait for that fully glorious body till Christ comes again.
Just remember something: A glowing pregnant woman eventually goes through much pain and labor as she gives birth to the child in her womb. The scene is usually full of blood and sweat and screaming. And our glowing, glorious Lord comes down from Mount Tabor and eventually endures much pain and suffering on the cross at Calvary, also with blood, sweat, and agonized cries. Both are acts of deep love. Both are sacrifices of suffering. There is of course great beauty that comes from both of these sufferings. New life!
We too are called to make loving sacrifices. This is not an impossible task, and it’s not just an undertaking for expectant mothers, Jesus, or Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Father Peter John Cameron writes, “Through an encounter with the One who shines on Tabor, we can be transfigured into creatures busting with love, eager to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the ill, and visit the imprisoned.” No it won’t be easy, because true love hurts. But when we focus on the radiant love of our Lord, and accept his grace, we can do it!
Just as there is an indescribable joy that illumines an exhausted new mother when she holds her new little one – so too can we illuminate. Christ can change us, if we let him. When we make sacrifices to radiate the love of Christ to others, we bring “new life” to them, and hearts and souls shine.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and let your love show…or better yet I should say, let your love glow!