On top of a cloud-enshrouded Galilean mountain, God reveals His glory in the person of Jesus. What’s distressing about Jesus’ Transfiguration, is realizing His glory is directly related to a topic about which most of us spend our lives in denial: Death.

In Romans, St. Paul personifies God’s hidden action during times of transition as a woman in labor.

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait.”

Reflecting on the birth image, last Sunday we pondered what God might be laboring to birth in the midst of this worldwide pandemic and civil and political unrest.