Day 14: Love Never Fails

Transfiguration by Sieger Köder

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or our last day of reflection on the last line of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “Love never fails,” I would like to recommend that we spend this day of love in prayer through 'Visio Divina' or what I call as 'seeing with heart's eyes'. Using the Ignatian style, the grace I recommend to beg for is the amazing grace of love. It means: "All my strength and heart and mind are straining themselves to affirm you, O God (and myself only in you), and those whom you have placed beside me as my neighbors" (Hans Urs Von Balthasar). The artwork is the Transfiguration by Fr Sieger Köder (1925-2015). In a 2009 interview, he said: ‘I hope I can preach with each painting, not just make pictures. I want people to look at the pictures, of course, but if the message of my deepest motivation for painting comes across, then I hope that the message of the Gospel comes with it as well’.

I am quoting the beautiful meditation guide entitled "LET THE GAZE TRANSFIGURE YOU" written by Fr Philip Chircop SJ (A-MUSED) to accompany each of us in contemplation. Let us be transfigured by Jesus who is love himself.

"The vision of the Transfiguration is a vision of the soul, the heart, the mind. Look at the painting of the Transfiguration by Sieger Köder. Take your time to gaze into it, become familiar with it and let the colours and the characters enter your consciousness. We are drawn to Christ and, in meditation, we feel Christ drawing near to us.

Feel yourself in the Presence of Christ, Moses and Elijah. Notice how the three figures in Köder’s painting look at each other in such a way as to form a circle, a union: Christ looks at Elijah, Elijah looks at Moses and Moses looks at Jesus. In Köder’s work, the vision is seen in prayer by the disciples (Peter, James and John); their eyes remain closed. In the darkness of prayer, in their innermost selves, they see the Divine. God dwells within each one of us.

In the Orthodox tradition, it is not so much Christ who is transfigured, as the disciples. The Light of God shines continually upon and through Christ, but only fleetingly and seldom do the disciples see Jesus as He truly is. The Transfiguration is a moment of what Gregory of Nyssa calls epektasis or unending progress (see my note below). Entering into the Holy and opening one’s self to the Holy already within is an unending journey. In the story of the Transfiguration, in meditative prayer, the disciples took a leap forward. As we gaze into the painting, allow the silence of our gazing to become our prayer."

Nota Bene: St Gregory of Nyssa's usage of epektasis alludes to St Paul's image found in Philippians 3:13 ἐπεκτεινόμενος τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν (epekteinomenos tois emprosthen) meaning straining or stretching in front of time (Strong's Greek 3588)–the image of 'unending love'.

Fr JM Manzano SJ