The Transfiguration is not only a manifestation of glory; it is a confrontation with evil. The event prefigures Jesus’ resurrection: “his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.” (Mt 17:2) Beautiful, but what we sometimes miss is that, in order to arrive at that goal, Jesus had to first confront a great evil - everything that would happen when he faced the authorities in Jerusalem.

Moses and Elijah came to Jesus to strengthen him. Moses had faced the horrible evil of slavery, the reduction of the Israelites to objects who could be used at the pleasure of the Pharaoh. Elijah confronted the Israelites themselves when they began to worship the gods of temple prostitution and child sacrifice.

On Good Friday a group in Seattle will stand before a particular evil of our society: the utilization of human embryos for scientific research. Like many other cities, Seattle has sleek, modern centers which promote such research.* The centers do many good things, including the use of adult stem cells to develop promising new therapies. Nonetheless, the fact that they hope to achieve certain positive ends does not justify the exploitation of tiny humans. The Pharaohs did good things – some of which we continue to marvel at today – but that does not justify their enslavement of the Israelites and other groups of people.

Our local newspapers have written in glowing terms about these research centers. They point out that the centers will attract great scientists to our area, that they will give a much needed boost to our economy and above all, that they hold out the promise of cures for various diseases. The media's enthusiasm cannot hide a certain uneasiness. One of the editorial writers complained that embryonic stem-cell research has been “erroneously linked with abortion.” That statement raises a question: Why would that linkage (whether erroneous or not) bother the editorialist unless he sensed there is something wrong with abortion?** If so, at what point does abortion involve a moral concern: When the fetus can sleep, smile and listen to music? When it would survive outside the womb? When it is capable of feeling pain? When it has a human form with eyes, hands and feet? When its heart begins to beat?

Personally I can only see one realistic cut-off point: when we have all of our physical characteristics and have begun the process of development that will only end with death. The reason why embryonic stem cells are so marvelous is that they can develop into any of the tissues and organs which constitute a functioning human person: liver, skin, ears, brains, blood, bones and the rest. The embryo is only small when compared to a newborn child; in comparison to, say, the gene which determines hair color, it is like Mount Rainier. To produce and use such embryos for scientific research is a modern form of child sacrifice. Each one has a mom, dad, grandparents, even uncles, brothers and sisters. The fact that their own parents willingly offer them to science does not justify the practice. The ancient Israelites offered their children to god Moloch – and Elijah had harsh words for them.

This year Good Friday falls on March 25 – the Feast of the Annunciation.*** Is God trying to tell us something? I don't like to read too much into coincidences, but this one is happening precisely when governments are racing to sponsor embryonic research. The Feast of the Annunication marks the beginning of Christ’s human existence - his conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary. In the Apostle's Creed we state that Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Conception is the crucial moment. Like all of us, he began as an embryo; from that day his human potential began to unfold. Today we see a glimpse of the glory in which he desires that all humans partake. If we want to join him in his glory, we must also walk with him on his path of suffering - his great confrontation with the powers of evil.

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