First Friday Holy Hour - August 2021 - Luminous Eucharist

 

Liturgically, we celebrate today the feast of the Transfiguration. This morning, I recalled how it’s been almost 20 years since Pope St. John Paul II gave us the luminous mysteries. So, in addition to the 15 joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries, now, we would add meditation upon Jesus Baptism in the Jordan, his self-manifestation at the wedding at Cana, his call to conversion through the preaching of the Kingdom, his Transfiguration, and the institution of the Eucharist

Of the five luminous mysteries he called the Transfiguration the mystery of light par excellence as it reveals to us the face of Christ shining with the light of divine glory. The transfiguration sheds light upon who Jesus is, what he has come to do: he has come to lead us out of darkness, he’s come to show us that in the darkest hour, even in the agony of his passion, the light of God still shines. He sheds light on the very darkness of death itself, that for faithful Christians, death is not the end. Bearing the cross with Jesus, dying in union with Him as Lord will lead to the luminous glory of the resurrection. 

Each of the luminous mysteries shed light upon who Jesus is and what he has comes to do. This includes of course, the fifth luminous mystery, the institution of the Eucharist—the Eucharist before which we kneel and pray this evening at this holy hour.

The Eucharist sheds light upon the nature of Jesus, the nature of God, that God gives us what we need in order to live—that he loves us so much that he gives his body and blood for us. Even though he had to endure ineffable suffering, even though many would turn their back on him, even though many would continue to engage in sacrilege upon sacrilege, he still wishes to give of himself that we might live.

The Eucharist sheds light upon the nature of God, that God is love, and gives and gives and gives us what we need in order to participate in that love for all eternity. “I am the Bread of Life, the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Let us drink deeply of God’s great love for us as we contemplate and worship the Lord in the Eucharist this evening. May his love fill us with his light and love for others, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.