He was transfigured (St. Leo the Great / St. Anastasius)

He was transfigured so that
we might be transformed.

—St. Leo the Great 

    Jesus goes before us to show us the way, both up the mountain and into heaven and — I speak boldly — it is for us now, to follow him with all speed. . . Let us run with confidence and joy to enter into the cloud like Moses and Elijah, or like James and John. Let us be caught up like Peter to behold the divine vision and to be transfigured by that glorious transfiguration. Let us retire from the world, stand aloof from the earth, rise above the body, detach ourselves from creatures and turn to the Creator, to whom Peter in ecstasy exclaimed: ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here.’

--St. Anastasius 

Image source: Giovanni Bellini, Transfiguration of the Lord (ca. 1480), https://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-did-jesus-privilege-peter-james-and.html
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Being happy (Pope Francis)

    You can have flaws, be anxious and even be angry, but don’t forget that your life is the greatest business in the world. Only you can stop it from failure. You are appreciated, admired and loved by many. Remember that being happy is not having a sky without storms, a road without accidents, a job without effort, relationships without disappointments. 

    Being happy is to stop feeling a victim and become the author of your own destiny. It's going through deserts, but being able to find an oasis deep in your soul. It's to thank God every morning for the miracle of life. It’s kissing your children, cuddling your parents, having poetic moments with your friends, even when they hurt us. 

    To be happy is to let live the creature that lives in each of us, free, joyful and simple. It's having maturity to be able to say: "I made mistakes". Having the courage to say "I'm sorry". It's having a sensitivity to say "I need you". Is having the ability to say "I love you". May your life become a garden of opportunities for happiness... that in spring I can be a lover of joy and in winter a lover of wisdom. 

    And when you make a mistake, start over. Because only then will you fall in love with life. You will find that being happy doesn't mean having a perfect life. But life uses tears to irrigate tolerance. Use your defeats to train your patience. 

    Use your mistakes with the serenity of the sculptor. Use pain to tune into pleasure. Use obstacles to open the windows of intelligence. Never give up ... Above all, never give up on the people that love you. Never give up on happiness, because life is an amazing show. 

 --Pope Francis, 2023 

Image & quotation source: https://sacredheartfl.org/wisdom-from-pope-francis/

Allowing his love to transform us (Fr. Patrick van der Vorst)

There’s something beyond this world
that can be glimpsed through this world.

--Bishop Robert Barron

     Many of us have likely stood on the summit of a mountain at some point in our lives. Standing there, we often experience a profound sense of distance from the world below, a peaceful detachment from the busyness of everyday life. It was to such a place that Jesus led three of his disciples to pray, away from the crowds and distractions. As He prayed, something extraordinary happened: “the appearance of his face changed.” In that moment, Jesus heard his Father’s voice calling Him in love: “This is my Son, my Chosen One.” There’s something deeply human about hearing our name spoken with love—it transforms us. Our faces light up, and our hearts are lifted. Conversely, when we encounter hostility or rejection, the opposite effect is visible—our features darken, and sadness takes hold. We see this contrast vividly in images from war-torn regions, where countless faces reflect grief and suffering. 

    On the mountain, Jesus was being strengthened for what lay ahead: the journey into the valley, where suffering and sacrifice awaited Him. The disciples, however, struggled to grasp this reality. When the voice from heaven commanded, “Listen to him!” it was a call for them to heed Jesus’ words about the necessity of his suffering and death, words they found difficult to accept. They hesitated to come down from the mountain, reluctant to face the challenging road that awaited them. 

    As followers of Jesus, we too live between the mountain and the valley—between moments of prayerful encounter with God and the daily challenges of life and work. We tend to spend far more time in the valley than on the mountain. Yet, the mountain of prayer is essential. It’s where we step back, quieten our hearts, and simply be in God’s presence, allowing his love to transform us and strengthen us for whatever the valley may bring. 

--Fr. Patrick van der Vorst 

Image source: Transfiguration, St. John’s Bible, https://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/cmurphy/courses/sctr015/prep/xams/saint-johns-bible.htm.
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To help God transfigure the world (Michael Battle)

   You and I are placed in this world of hatred, violence, anger, injustice, and oppression to help God transform it, transfigure it, and change it so that there will be compassion, laughter, joy, peace, reconciliation, fellowship, friendship, togetherness, and family. We are here to bring others out of exile. 

—Michael Battle

Image & quotation source: https://cac.org/daily-meditations/loving-in-a-time-of-exile-weekly-summary/

Notice how often the Lord blesses you (Fr. Patrick Michaels)

    I will bless you, God says to Abram. What does that mean for us? 

   How conscious are we of the blessings of God that occur in our lives? We are in the middle of blessing, always, but do we notice? And can we then give witness to the fact that God is sending us blessings? 

   Notice how often the Lord blesses you in your life, big and small. These blessings link you, connect you, give you a place in world. 

    We are also to be blessing to others, as Abram was, because God is active in us, acting through us. It’s about how we understand our own existence and we are challenged to see how God is involved in it. 

--Fr. Patrick Michaels,
Scripture Class,
March 2, 2023

Image source: https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/what-was-gods-promise-to-abraham.html

Sunday Gospel Reflection, March 1, 2026: All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you

All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you…
Are we blessed? Are we blessing? 

    When, in the Book of Genesis, the Lord tells Abram to go forth from the land of his kinsfolk to a land that the Lord will show him, Abram must abandon all he knows and trust that God will fulfill all his promises: I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, the Lord says to Abram. I will make your name great. I will bless those who bless you. But Abram must then be a witness to all of the blessings of God, for God created us to be blessing to one another. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you, God says. 

    Like Abram, and as Psalm 33 reminds us we must place our trust in the Lord, hoping for his kindness… and for nothing else. Absolute trust in God is our greatest hope, for it is through ongoing trust that our relationship with God develops over time. Timothy, the leader of the Christian community at Ephesus, was similarly called to trust in God’s Word, as Paul tells him, with the strength that comes from God. In spite of any hardship Timothy is experiencing, he knows he has been called to a holy life. God will steer him in the right direction, giving him the strength to give witness to the gospel, so long as Timothy remains open to God’s love and willing to share God’s blessing with all. 

    In Matthew’s Gospel, Peter, James and John are witnesses to an impossible scene: on a high mountain, Jesus is transfigured before them; his face shines like the sun and his clothes become white as light. Do the three disciples trust enough to accept this revelation as God has chosen to reveal it to them? Do they recognize the blessing they are experiencing? Peter seems confused and proposes making three tents on the site. But the Transfiguration is a profound event out of space and time that cannot be memorialized by tents. If the three concentrate and listen to Jesus, they will know how much they are loved by God and how God wants them to bless their world. 

    Revelation is not easy, often involving a significant disruption of our comfort zone, challenging us to see things differently. If we look, if we are open, we will see the blessings of God revealed in our lives and trust in his promises. Only then will the communities of the earth find blessing… in us.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture Class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

A garden of solitude (Henri Nouwen)

   To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude. This requires not only courage but also a strong faith. As hard as it is to believe that the dry desolate desert can yield endless varieties of flowers, it is equally hard to imagine that our loneliness is hiding unknown beauty. The movement from loneliness to solitude, however, is the beginning of any spiritual life because it is a movement from the restless senses to the restful spirit, from the outward-reaching cravings to the inward-reaching search, from the fearful clinging to the fearless play. 

--Henri Nouwen 

Image source: Ryan Mountain, https://www.hikespeak.com/ca-desert/
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