On Monday, we celebrate one of the twelve Great Feasts of our Church-the Feast of the Transfiguration.

"Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!' And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.'"

More than anything else, this is a Feast that celebrates the power of God, especially the divinity of His Son. Jesus Christ is revealed as He truly is, wrapped in the glorious spiritual light and life of the Creator of the Universe.

Immediately following His transfiguration, He enters in to Jerusalem and begins to walk the path of His passion, which concludes in His final triumph and revelation of His omnipotence: His Resurrection and overthrowing of death itself.

The Transfiguration is a Feast of the conquest of death. I am reminded of the story through which we all lived just a few months ago, the passing of a beloved member of my congregation in Christ Eleutheria, Terry, earlier this year. I will never forget when her dear daughter MaryAnn said goodbye to her mother, and told her to rest with Jesus and the saints.

Our Lord Jesus is the Lord of Life. He came to bring us Life-abundant Life. He came to draw all of us in to His arms, to let us all find our fulfillment as part of His Body.

What is the Body of Christ? It is His Church, and those who have joined His Body will never be separated from Him. Let me ask you: Is our departed sister Terry still a member of the Church? Is she still a member of the Body of Christ? Of course she is!

But often, without realizing it, many Christians deny that this is true. They do this by denying the presence and power of the servants of Christ who have passed beyond the veil of death. There are even many Orthodox Christians who are troubled by, or even deny, the doctrine of the Orthodox Church that speaks plainly to this question-the doctrine of our communion with the saints.

This denial most often takes the shape of arguing that Christians cannot, and should not, ever have any contact with or relationship with those who have died. Now, there are genuine spiritual dangers in this realm. Great discernment is needed. But the simple fact is that our Lord Himself at His Transfiguration, at this greatest moment of the revelation of His divinity, chose to manifest not only His own power, but His intimate communion with the departed and their own life in Him.

The words of this Scripture are clear. The disciples did not imagine that they saw Moses and Elijah present with Jesus on Mt. Tabor.

They did not see an illusion.

They did not even see ghosts.

There is no doubt about what happened: "Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him." These two great men, our brothers in the Body of Christ, were present with Jesus and interacting with Him.

Now, once we think about it, this makes perfect sense. We know that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death. It is the one thing that every Christian must affirm. As our Creed confirms: I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered and was buried, and on the third day He rose again. In one of the best known verses of the entire Bible-the verse that you even see held up on big signs by fans at football games-John 3:16, Jesus says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Everlasting life. That's what God offers us. That's what it means to be a Christian-it means to be one who has received everlasting life, by being joined with the Body of the One who is Life. Our great saint, Symeon the New Theologian, beautifully captured this truth with these words:

"I know that the Immovable comes down; I know that the Invisible appears to me; I know that he who is far outside the whole creation takes me within himself and hides me in his arms. . . . And I know that I shall not die, for I am within the Life, I have the whole of Life springing up as a fountain within me."

Our departed brothers and sisters are not dead, my friends. They have merely passed through death. They are alive today, as alive as Moses and Elijah were the day they appeared to the disciples at the side of Christ.

They are within the Body of Life Himself.

This is the heart of the Orthodox Christian teaching of the communion of the saints.

We are in communion with all those who are, with us, part of the Church. When we celebrate the Divine Liturgy together, we make visible the communion we share. This is why we also call the Eucharist, Holy Communion. We fulfill Christ's prayer at the first Eucharist, the Last Supper, when He prayed to the Father "that they all may be one."

Much of our language for expressing this great mystery comes from the Epistle to the Hebrews, which you all should read. In chapter 12, St. Paul describes the nature of our worship: "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect."

In our Liturgy, the entire Body of Christ turns to God in celebration-those of us here in this world, and those of us who have gone on to the city of the living God and joined the assembly registered in heaven.

Earlier in Hebrews, St. Paul gives us the phrase that most clearly describes the nature of this gathering of our departed brothers and sisters: the great "cloud of witnesses."

Once we recognize this truth, all the other pieces fall in to place. While our sister Terry is no longer here with us in this world bodily, she is not cut off from us either.

There is no chasm between us. We are part of the same Body, part of the same Church. And our relationship with her is more alive today than ever. So, for this reason, let me leave you with a few things that I want you to remember and practice:

First, while it is good and right to weep for the dead, do not let that lead you in to despair. Jesus Himself wept over the death of His friend Lazarus. But He knew that Life would conquer all, and you must know this as well. So, as well as you are able, rejoice in the Life that our departed loved ones now enjoy-and continue to build your relationship with them.

This leads to my second point: turning to our loved ones in our prayers. Many Christians are uncomfortable with the Orthodox practice of praying for the departed, and of asking them to pray for us. But how could it be otherwise? Isn't it perfectly obvious that each of us sitting here today should ask each other for prayers?

If I ask my dear Presbytera to pray for me, am I doing anything wrong? Of course not! And if I pray for her, am I doing anything wrong? Of course not! So, should I stop doing this if, God forbid, she departs this life before me? Of course not!

Here is another example of how I too make this mistake. Recently a visiting clergyman came into our area to serve one of our churches. His wife had died this year and his son drown about two years ago. As I approached him, a man who I respect very much, I said, "Father, I am so sorry for the loss of your wife." He said, "Fr. Chris, you know I haven't lost my wife I will see her again." An awkward moment for me for sure! He followed up by asking me to please pray for her. I do, every day.

This is the next stage of our relationship with our loved ones. We are in communion with them still, so we can't help being in communication with them still-through the vehicle of our prayers, both in words and also simply in resting in their presence, and the presence of Christ that they and we still share in common.

And finally, my third point. As much as all of this is true for our own dear ones who we have been blessed to know in our earthly life, it is all the more true for our relationship with those great heroes and heroines of the Church who have gone before us, the saints.

Each of the great saints of Christ have grown so close to Him that they have become vessels of His grace.

Out of His overflowing love, He shares with them His power and they mirror His love by interceding on behalf of all of His children here in our world. While we have never met them face to face, they are part of our family.

They want to help us, and they can help us, if only we ask.

So, this is what I want you to do:

I want you to get to know your family better. Read about the saints, particularly your own patron saint.

Spend time with their icons, those windows in to heaven that show us their presence.

And most of all, turn to them in prayer and ask them for their aid.

To be a Christian means to never be alone. We are one family. One Body. One community. And the bond that joins us all together is unbreakable-the bond of the love of the Holy Trinity, in whose image we are made.

The love that is shared between the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the same love that is shared between us all, and between us and the departed. And that love is the power that has defeated death itself.

So as Christ said to Peter, and James, and John that day on Mt. Tabor: "Arise, and do not be afraid."

Fr. Christopher Metropulos is founder, host, and executive director of the Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) and the Come Receive The Light national Orthodox Christian radio program (www.myocn.net). He is pastor of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he and his wife Georgia are raising their six children.