Hebrews 11:1-7 / Mark 9:2-13
Love is a many-splendored thing, as the title of a song goes.
Well, if love is a many-splendored thing, then faith is an awesome thing.
To believe in something that is beyond logic or rational proof is really something awesome.
The 1st reading gave us examples of just a few biblical figures who walked by faith - people like Able, Enoch and Noah. Of course there are many more others.
It goes to show that only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of realities that at present remain unseen.
In the gospel, the disciples had just witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus.
For that moment, they experienced something beyond logical or rational proof.
Yet that experience didn't really helped them to understand what Jesus said by "rising from the dead".
But we know what "rising from the dead" means. And we also have glimpses of what rising from the dead means.
When we rise from selfishness, we grow in selflessness. When we rise from vulgarity, we grow in purity. When we rise from sinfulness, we grow in holiness.
We can only rise when we believe that God loves us with an unconditional and everlasting love.
Faith is an awesome thing. But faith in love is a awesome and a many-splendored thing.