Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2023 2:23:32 GMT
Transfiguration of the Lord - proper readings of the day:
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14
Psalm 96(97):1-2,5-6,9
2 Peter 1:16-19
Matthew 17:1-9
Today, holy Church celebrates with both solemn joy and trembling the Solemnity of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
This day, as Jesus was Transfigured with Elijah and Moses, the Father spoke unto Peter and James, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’
Today's reading from the prophet Daniel prefigures the Transfiguration whilst the epistle from 2 Peter explains its meaning.
In today's Gospel (Matt 17: 1 - 9), whilst Peter wanted to erect tents to perpetuate the moment of joy and glory, the Lord showed him the real meaning of what had happened, when Jesus said "Stand up" and "be not afraid". The glorious and holy mystery of the Transfiguration is not an end in and of itself. Rather, it is a glorious mystery that provides us with strength as we persist through the trials of the Christian life. For the Christian life is not one of boundless joy and constant happiness - it necessitates suffering, both as a result of the rejection of the sins of the flesh and as a result of unchosen suffering that the Lord gives to us in the knowledge that if borne out with trust in the will of the Lord, it will purify our souls.
The holy father St Gregory of Sinai wrote that various stages of the life of Christ correspond to the stages of man's spiritual journey. The Transfiguration, he wrote, corresponds to man's contemplation of divine light, which happens after one's soul has been made clean through baptism.
This holy Solemnity celebrated by the Church calls us to an internal change, emphasising in particular Jesus' call to conversion, a conversion that takes place and is renewed every day by believers. The mental ascent to Mt Tabor will not be easy, but once there we experience in joy the transfigured Lord, and we receive from Him the graces to continue along the journey of the spiritual life, knowing that our object is He whom the prophet Daniel foretold: "a son of Man...On whom was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship, [whose] sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be destroyed." (Daniel 7:13-14).
May Jesus Christ Our Lord, and the Perpetual Virgin Mother of God, be at our sides as we walk along the path the Lord has laid out for us. In Him we shall never hope in vain.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen!
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14
Psalm 96(97):1-2,5-6,9
2 Peter 1:16-19
Matthew 17:1-9
Today, holy Church celebrates with both solemn joy and trembling the Solemnity of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
This day, as Jesus was Transfigured with Elijah and Moses, the Father spoke unto Peter and James, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’
Today's reading from the prophet Daniel prefigures the Transfiguration whilst the epistle from 2 Peter explains its meaning.
In today's Gospel (Matt 17: 1 - 9), whilst Peter wanted to erect tents to perpetuate the moment of joy and glory, the Lord showed him the real meaning of what had happened, when Jesus said "Stand up" and "be not afraid". The glorious and holy mystery of the Transfiguration is not an end in and of itself. Rather, it is a glorious mystery that provides us with strength as we persist through the trials of the Christian life. For the Christian life is not one of boundless joy and constant happiness - it necessitates suffering, both as a result of the rejection of the sins of the flesh and as a result of unchosen suffering that the Lord gives to us in the knowledge that if borne out with trust in the will of the Lord, it will purify our souls.
The holy father St Gregory of Sinai wrote that various stages of the life of Christ correspond to the stages of man's spiritual journey. The Transfiguration, he wrote, corresponds to man's contemplation of divine light, which happens after one's soul has been made clean through baptism.
This holy Solemnity celebrated by the Church calls us to an internal change, emphasising in particular Jesus' call to conversion, a conversion that takes place and is renewed every day by believers. The mental ascent to Mt Tabor will not be easy, but once there we experience in joy the transfigured Lord, and we receive from Him the graces to continue along the journey of the spiritual life, knowing that our object is He whom the prophet Daniel foretold: "a son of Man...On whom was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship, [whose] sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be destroyed." (Daniel 7:13-14).
May Jesus Christ Our Lord, and the Perpetual Virgin Mother of God, be at our sides as we walk along the path the Lord has laid out for us. In Him we shall never hope in vain.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever. Amen!