Dear Brothers and Sisters, How do we share in the very life and grace of God through Jesus Christ? The best way is through the Eucharist. The Greek definition of glory is “valuing something for its real substance.” What substance could be more real than the Eucharist? The body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus the Christ – and we have the dangerous opportunity to take that divinity into our earthly bodies at communion time. I say dangerous because Eucharist should change us – it should transfigure us – to become more like Christ – and change can be scary. Lent is a wake-up call, not to settle for what is flimsy and passing, but to realize, as St. Paul puts it, “our citizenship is in heaven.” Lent reminds us that we have expected too little of ourselves and of our God. The scriptures invite us to look beyond our daily lives and routines to a deeper union with the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s an invitation to transformation (or transfiguration if you prefer). It’s an opportunity to change from what is merely earthly and passing, to the promise God has made us, in Christ – that we are already “citizens of heaven.” Lent is a reminder that we are not in charge – that there are supernatural forces beyond us that we cannot control or manipulate. That God is God, and we are not. The long season of Lent is meant to symbolize our long walk through the suffering of life, at the end of which is the glory of the eternal Easter. In the meantime, just like Peter, John and James, we are permitted certain glimpses of God’s glory in our lives. The challenge for all of us is to have the wisdom to recognize those glimpses when they come our way. Deacon Vic