Transfiguration

Transfiguration is normally celebrated on 6 August, recalling when Jesus’s appearance gloriously changed while on a mountain with some of his disciples. This prayer form might be used for a week or two following that day.

Lord, it is good for us to be here
For your Spirit is with us
              We pause to recognise God’s presence.
My heart tells of your word, ‘Seek my face.’
Your face, Lord, will I seek.
One thing we ask of you Lord
and that alone we seek:
that we may dwell in your house all the days of our life,
To behold your fair beauty and to seek your will.
                            [from Ps.27]
              A song may be sung. Bibles are made ready to be read from.
As we hear the scriptures
may we listen to your Beloved.
Overshadow us and speak to us
for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit
              Psalm[s] and reading[s].
Our Lord Jesus Christ received honour and glory from God the Father whose voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ By the same Spirit, we hear this voice from heaven, We have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. Let us be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place.
              There may be a time of quiet and/or shared reflection. A framework for reflection, using the pattern of the Lord’s prayer may be used.

Canticle of Solomon
Blessed are you,
O God of our ancestor Israel
for ever and ever.
Yours, O Lord, are the greatness,
the power, the glory,
the victory, and the majesty;
for all that is in the heavens
and on the earth is yours;
yours is the kingdom, O Lord,
and you are exalted as head above all.
                            [1Chr29:10-11]
              Collect or theme prayers may be said.

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
Let your glory be over all the earth.
We honour you and thank you that in Christ we are your beloved children, with whom you are well pleased. In Christ you are transforming us from one degree of glory to another by the working of the Holy Spirit.
[And now we give you thanks because … ]
And so we laud your name:
Holy, holy, holy God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory
Hosanna in the highest.

In the stories and hopes of Moses and Elijah, we glimpse a world transfigured, we ask for transfigurations of here-and-now realities into anticipations of the new heaven and new earth.
              …
Your kingdom come
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us wisdom to share sensitively with all people the good news so that all may behold your glory in the face of Jesus Christ. …
Your kingdom come
your will be done on earth as in heaven.

As we accompany Christ to the wheres and whens that touch glory, be our provider
              …
Your kingdom come
your will be done on earth as in heaven.

Forgive us that in various ways, big and small, we have grieved the Spirit as we have resisted being transformed into the likeness of Christ Jesus.
Gracious God, glorify your name,
We glory in your forgiveness.
Enfold our forgiving of others in your transfiguration of creation that we may continually participate in the transformation of the world.
              …
Give us grace to forgive:
Work your glory into our forgiveness.
Lead us so we do not sleepwalk into sin
awaken us to the signs of glory around us.
Preserve us from attempts to make permanent the provisional;
And from the paralysing fear of the new and awesome.
In the midst of the strange and misunderstandable;
Give us ears to hear you and heart to follow Jesus.
Yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
now and forever. Amen.
We go being transformed into Christ’s image,
from one degree of glory to another;
This comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
Amen.

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