The church was packed this morning, because the university students have returned for the fall session. Surprisingly, I was reminded of the Endtime, mysteriously present in germ even now, when we will see the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer, “That all may be one” (John 17).
In fact, the communion procession was almost overwhelming in its beauty. There were people of all ages and races. There were families, some in “Sunday” outfits, others in what they would relax in later today. There were many students in jeans and shorts, and one young man with neon pink hair on half his head. The child in her white first communion dress, the black couple in striking African clothes, the woman in the wheelchair, the choir, the musicians — all were filing up in a kind of glory.
When Moses came down from the mountain, we are told that he “did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” (Exodus 34:29) These students and families, the children and old people, those who rejoice and those who mourn, the healthy and the sick — do they know how beautiful they all are? Do they know that the light of Christ is shining in them and around them?
“And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” (2 Cor: 3:18)