Addoliad ar Ŵyl Gweddnewidiad ein Harglwydd
Yn ystod y tarddiant coronafirws, mae'r Esgob yn darparu deunydd i gefnogi addoliad ar yr aelwyd ar brif wyliau. Mae hyn yn cynnwys trefn o wasanaeth ar gyfer Litwrgi'r Gair, a myfyrdod wedi'i recordio. Mae testun y myfyrdod hefyd ar gael yma.
Darlleniadau
2 Pedr 1:16-19
Nid dilyn chwedlau wedi eu dyfeisio'n gyfrwys yr oeddem wrth hysbysu i chwi allu ein Harglwydd Iesu Grist a'i ddyfodiad; yn hytrach, yr oeddem wedi ei weld â'n llygaid ein hunain yn ei fawredd. Yr oeddem yno pan roddwyd iddo anrhydedd a gogoniant gan Dduw Dad, pan ddaeth y llais ato o'r Gogoniant goruchel yn dweud: “Hwn yw fy Mab, fy Anwylyd; ynddo ef yr wyf yn ymhyfrydu.” Fe glywsom ni'r llais hwn yn dod o'r nef, oherwydd yr oeddem gydag ef ar y mynydd sanctaidd.
Y mae gennym hefyd genadwri gwbl ddibynadwy y proffwydi; a pheth da fydd i chwi roi sylw iddi, gan ei bod fel cannwyll yn disgleirio mewn lle tywyll, hyd nes y bydd y Dydd yn gwawrio a seren y bore yn codi i lewyrchu yn eich calonnau.
Luke 9:28-36
Ynghylch wyth diwrnod wedi iddo ddweud hyn, cymerodd Pedr ac Ioan ac Iago gydag ef a mynd i fyny'r mynydd i weddïo. Tra oedd ef yn gweddïo, newidiodd gwedd ei wyneb a disgleiriodd ei wisg yn llachar wyn. A dyma ddau ddyn yn ymddiddan ag ef; Moses ac Elias oeddent, wedi ymddangos mewn gogoniant ac yn siarad am ei ymadawiad, y weithred yr oedd i'w chyflawni yn Jerwsalem. Yr oedd Pedr a'r rhai oedd gydag ef wedi eu llethu gan gwsg; ond deffroesant a gweld ei ogoniant ef, a'r ddau ddyn oedd yn sefyll gydag ef. Wrth i'r rheini ymadael â Iesu, dywedodd Pedr wrtho, “Meistr, y mae'n dda ein bod ni yma; gwnawn dair pabell, un i ti ac un i Moses ac un i Elias.” Ni wyddai beth yr oedd yn ei ddweud. Tra oedd yn dweud hyn, daeth cwmwl a chysgodi drostynt, a chydiodd ofn ynddynt wrth iddynt fynd i mewn i'r cwmwl. Yna daeth llais o'r cwmwl yn dweud, “Hwn yw fy Mab, yr Etholedig; gwrandewch arno.” Ac wedi i'r llais lefaru cafwyd Iesu wrtho'i hun. A bu'r disgyblion yn ddistaw, heb ddweud wrth neb y pryd hwnnw am yr hyn yr oeddent wedi ei weld.
Dyfyniadau o’r Beibl Cymraeg Newydd a’r Beibl Cymraeg Newydd Diwygiedig 2004 hawlfraint Cymdeithas (Brydeinig a Thramor) y Beibl. Cedwir pob hawl.
Testun myfyrdod yr Esgob
Ystyr y nef | Full of heavenly meaning
The account of the transfiguration is found in the first three gospels of the New Testament and happens, perhaps importantly, just after the moment Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah even if he doesn’t quite understand what this means. It’s one which has a couple of layers that need peeling back if we are to understand it properly.
And the story starts with something familiar: a prayer and a mountain but what takes place next is anything but expected: Jesus’ face is changed, his clothes become bright, dazzling even and Moses and Elijah are there too. It seems as though we are looking into something that has a bit of heaven about it all. Which is why the conversation which follows – the ‘departure’, as Luke says, seems all the more striking. This is a very earthly matter not heavenly, surely? Even if Luke is a little less clear about what he means we assume he really does mean ‘dying’ as opposed to moving into another place.
And then there is Peter. Again. Peter the impetuous, Peter the Braveheart who engages his convictions before his mind, who has courage but little sense of his limitations. And He rushes in sensing something important is taking place here: Elijah, Moses and the newly confessed messiah. Let’s eek this moment out a bit longer and put up tents for everyone. Like in the Torah – tents or booths for important figures and an important time.
Ac yna mae na ddistawrwydd llethol. A wedyn y llais cryf yn cyfarwyddo Pedr i siarad llai a gwrando mwy. Felly beth ddylen ni ei gasglu o'r darlleniad hwn? Gadewch imi awgrymu dau beth.
Y cyntaf yw'r pwyslais yma ar graidd y hwn a welwn ni. Mae’r dillad gwynion, yr olygfa lachar oll yn ein cyfeirio ni at undod y person a’r digwyddiad. Yn wirioneddol, dyma Fab Duw yw ei hun, a fydd yn marw, an yn siglo seiliau’r nefoedd ei hun.
Pan ddarllenwn hanesion y croeshoeliad, mae’n bosibl i lefel y manylder corfforol beri inni anghofio fod hwn yn fater nefol: mae marwolaeth, atgyfodiad ac esgyniad Iesu yn arloesol – yn dyngedfenol yn y bethynas rhwng Duw a’i fyd. Dyma’r efengyl: ‘Bu farw Crist. Atgyfododd Crist. Daw Crist mewn gogoniant’, fel rydyn ni’n ei ddweud yn y Cymun.
Raphael Sanzio Raffaello was a Renaissance painter who tried to capture this in his painting of the Transfiguration. A Google search will show you the painting. He shows the dual aspect of Christ, in glory and brightness with Moses and Elijah beneath him but at the bottom there we see a squabbling distracted crowd seemingly oblivious to what is taking place immediately above them. And his point is we dare not fail to see this moment, continuing on our way like the crowd. We must hear that voice speaking, we must see that this is God the Son on earth bringing salvation to all people by what will happen in Jerusalem.
Pan gefais if y nghonffyrmio, dywedwyd wrtha’i fod dameg yn stori ddaearol sydd ag iddi ystyr nefol. Siawns fod hyn yn wahanol iawn. Onid oes angen i ni weld Iesu fel hyn? Fel Gwaredwr ac Arglwydd, yn ogoneddus yn ei farwolaeth a'i atgyfodiad gwerthfawr.
The second relates to the presence of Elijah and Moses and Peter’s haste. These two great figures from the past relate to big themes in the Old Testament: the prophets and the law. But Jesus is not like them, not really. He doesn’t merely speak the words of God, He is the Word of God. And he doesn’t recite the law, he fulfils it on our behalf. In other words this is no First among Equals. This is the Lord who surpasses all before him.
Mewn oes pan mae “dewis” yn un o syniadau mawr ein dyddiau ni, gall fod yn hawdd gweld Iesu fel un ffigwr crefyddol arall – un ymhlith llawer. Rydyn ni'n hoffi ei ddysgeidiaeth (y Gwynfydau, er enghraifft); mae ei gariad at y tlawd yn arbennig; ac ma na fodlonrwydd a ddaw o’i weld yn dwrdio arweinwyr Cristnogol ei oes. Rwy'n siŵr ein bod ni i gyd yn llunio Iesu ar ein delwedd ein hunain. Ond y cwestiwn tyngedfenol yw: a fyddwn ni'n gwneud lle i'r gwir Iesu hwn annerch ni, yr Arglwydd, yr un nefol. Pan ddaw'r llais hwnnw o'r cwmwl (lais sy’n floedd, neu lais tawel, cymhellol) fe ddeallwn ni fod Iesu yno’n aruchel, yn sefyll goruwch bawb a phopeth, ar ei ben ei hun.
So what’s our take home from today’s reading? We are invited to see how the arrest and death of Jesus might seem gritty, ‘this world’ events but they are full of heavenly meaning showing us how God has reached out through him to all the world in saving love. And secondly that Jesus is not just another religious sage. He is the Lord. Like Peter, when faced with this, we ought to hold some silence and take in what we have seen and heard.
Amen.
Worship on the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord
During the coronavirus outbreak, the Bishop is providing material to support worship at home on the major festivals. This includes an order of service for a Liturgy of the Word, and a recorded meditation. The text of the meditation is also available here.
Readings
2 Peter 1:16-19
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.
So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Luke 9:28-36
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
From The New Revised Standard Version (Anglicized Edition), copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
The text of the Bishop's meditation
Ystyr y nef | Full of heavenly meaning
The account of the transfiguration is found in the first three gospels of the New Testament and happens, perhaps importantly, just after the moment Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah even if he doesn’t quite understand what this means. It’s one which has a couple of layers that need peeling back if we are to understand it properly.
And the story starts with something familiar: a prayer and a mountain but what takes place next is anything but expected: Jesus’ face is changed, his clothes become bright, dazzling even and Moses and Elijah are there too. It seems as though we are looking into something that has a bit of heaven about it all. Which is why the conversation which follows – the ‘departure’, as Luke says, seems all the more striking. This is a very earthly matter not heavenly, surely? Even if Luke is a little less clear about what he means we assume he really does mean ‘dying’ as opposed to moving into another place.
And then there is Peter. Again. Peter the impetuous, Peter the Braveheart who engages his convictions before his mind, who has courage but little sense of his limitations. And He rushes in sensing something important is taking place here: Elijah, Moses and the newly confessed messiah. Let’s eek this moment out a bit longer and put up tents for everyone. Like in the Torah – tents or booths for important figures and an important time.
The silence which follows is in stark contrast to the booming voice which directs him to talk a little less and listen a little more. So what should we take from the reading for today? Let me suggest two things.
And the first is that deliberate play on what is occurring here: the departure. You see the bright clothes, the dazzling appearance, they give us a big clue. The person AND the event (the ‘departure’) are all of a piece. This really is the Son of God who really will die and it’s all of heaven’s business.
When we read the accounts of the crucifixion, the sheer level of physical detail might make us forget or miss that this is truly a heavenly matter: the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus are seminal, decisive in God’s dealings with the world. This is the gospel: ‘Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come in glory’, as we say in the Eucharist.
Raphael Sanzio Raffaello was a Renaissance painter who tried to capture this in his painting of the Transfiguration. A Google search will show you the painting. He shows the dual aspect of Christ, in glory and brightness with Moses and Elijah beneath him but at the bottom there we see a squabbling distracted crowd seemingly oblivious to what is taking place immediately above them. And his point is we dare not fail to see this moment, continuing on our way like the crowd. We must hear that voice speaking, we must see that this is God the Son on earth bringing salvation to all people by what will happen in Jerusalem.
When I was confirmed I was told that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. I wonder if this isn’t very different. Don’t we need to see Jesus like this? As Saviour and Lord, glorious in his precious death and resurrection?
The second relates to the presence of Elijah and Moses and Peter’s haste. These two great figures from the past relate to big themes in the Old Testament: the prophets and the law. But Jesus is not like them, not really. He doesn’t merely speak the words of God, He is the Word of God. And he doesn’t recite the law, he fulfils it on our behalf. In other words this is no First among Equals. This is the Lord who surpasses all before him.
In an age when choice is one of the great ideas of our time it can be easy to see Jesus as another religious figure, one among many. We like his teaching (the Beatitudes for example), his love for people and the poor especially and some of his savaging the religious leaders of the day is really powerful. I’m sure we all make Jesus in our own image. But the question is whether we will let this Jesus address us, the Lord, the heavenly one. When that voice comes from the cloud (we assume it must have been loud but perhaps it was just compelling?) we’re left in no doubt Jesus stands head and shoulders above all.
So what’s our take home from today’s reading? We are invited to see how the arrest and death of Jesus might seem gritty, ‘this world’ events but they are full of heavenly meaning showing us how God has reached out through him to all the world in saving love. And secondly that Jesus is not just another religious sage. He is the Lord. Like Peter, when faced with this, we ought to hold some silence and take in what we have seen and heard.
Amen.