August 6 2025 - Transfiguration and Cross

 

Today we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Why? Why August 6? It seems like such a random day. We read the account of the Lord’s Transfiguration of Mount Tabor every year on the 2^nd Sunday of Lent, but Scripture is not clear that the Transfiguration took place near Good Friday, only that the Transfiguration occurred shortly after the Lord made his first prediction of his Passion.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the feast was adopted in the liturgy about the tenth century in many dioceses, and was celebrated mostly on 6 August. In 1456, Pope Callixtus III extended the feast to the Universal Church in memory of a victory over the Ottoman Turks in Belgrade on August 6, 1456.

Many have noted that August 6 is 40 days prior to the feast of the Exultation of the Cross, which is a much older feast, going back to Constantine’s dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 335.

And that explanation makes sense to me, the Transfiguration cannot really be understood apart from the cross.

The Transfiguration occurs in Luke’s Gospel directly after Christ calls His followers to pick up their Cross and follow Him: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it.”

The liturgy itself makes this connection. In the Eucharistic preface, we will hear that Jesus “revealed his glory in the presence of chosen witnesses and filled with the greatest splendor his bodily form which he shares with all humanity, that the scandal of the Cross might be removed from the hearts of his disciples”.

The Lord foretells how being his disciple includes carrying a cross, suffering, enduring challenge and trial, and dying to self in order to accomplish the Father’s will. And yet, in the Transfiguration, the Lord gives us a glimpse of heavenly glory. St. Paul writes to the Romans, that we have been made “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”

Heavenly glory awaits those who are willing to suffer with Christ to accomplish God’s will on earth. This is why we labor and toil and risk persecution. The promise of heaven. The cross is the road to transfiguration.

May we bear our crosses with faith, hope, and live, dying to self, that we may live for God, dying with Christ, that we may live with Him forever, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

For the Church, that inspired by the glimpse of glory revealed in Christ's Transfiguration, we may have the courage to take up our crosses daily. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our parish community, that our participation in the Eucharist may transfigure us and provide us the strength to bear witness to Christ in our daily lives. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those facing trials and sufferings, that they may find strength and consolation in the promise of Christ's glory, just as the apostles were strengthened for the journey ahead. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those who have died, that they may share in the fullness of Christ's glory in heaven, which was glimpsed on Mount Tabor, especially N, for whom this mass is offered. Let us pray to the Lord.

Heavenly Father, You revealed the glory of Your Son on Mount Tabor, strengthening the disciples for the journey ahead. As we bring these petitions before You, transfigure our hearts with Your grace, that we may faithfully bear our crosses and reflect Your light in the world.

 

August 05 2025 - St. Mary Major - Entrusting ourselves to Our Lady

 

Typically the Church’s Liturgical Calendar calls for the celebration of a holy person, but today we celebrate the dedication of a holy place: St. Mary Major, one of Rome’s four principal basilicas.  The others are St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul outside the Walls.

The basilica is the largest Marian church in the world.  It stands atop one of Rome’s seven hills, and despite many restorations, still has the character of an early Roman basilica, containing ancient mosaics and a breathtaking shrine containing the relics of the crib of Bethlehem.

The basilica is of particular importance to the Christians of Rome, for it contains the ancient and venerated image of Mary, the Salus Populi Romani, depicting the Blessed Virgin as the help and protectress of the Roman People.

According to legend, this image of Our Lady holding the Christ child, was painted by the St. Luke. The story goes that after the crucifixion, the pious women of Jerusalem urged St. Luke to visit Mary in the home of John the Apostle to memorialize her image. While he painted, the Mother of Jesus spoke of the life of her son. This explains how St. Luke’s Gospel contains the all those marvelous stories from prior to the birth of Jesus. St. Luke brought the painting back to Jerusalem where it remained until it was discovered by Saint Helen in the 4th century

Holy Father Pope Francis would visit this image of Our Lady before and after his apostolic journeys. In his last will and testament, the late Holy Father wrote, “I wish my last earthly journey to end at this very ancient Marian shrine where I would go to pray at the beginning and end of each apostolic journey to confidently entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and to thank her for the docile and maternal care.” And so, according to his wishes, it is now where Francis’ remains are laid to rest.

Customarily, the pope celebrates Mass at Mary Major each year on the feast of the Assumption of Mary, Aug. 15. So Pope Leo will be celebrating at Mary Major on the upcoming Holy Day.

The Church universal calls upon our Lady today who we delight in honoring in statutes, shrines, churches, paintings, sculptures, medals, basilicas, and even naming our children after her. Like the late Holy Father, we do well to turn to her image or at least call upon her before and after our endeavors. In doing so, we give glory to God, we entrust ourselves to our spiritual Mother’s maternal care, and we seek her aid in living out our Christian duties, particular vocations, and apostolates, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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For the Church, our Holy Mother: That she may continue to nurture and guide the faithful through her teachings and sacraments, bearing Christ to the world in word and deed. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those who feel distant from the Church: That they may experience anew the maternal love of Mary and the Church, finding their way back to the family of faith. Let us pray to the Lord.

For vocations to the priesthood and religious life: That many may respond generously to God's call to serve as instruments of His love and mercy within Mother Church. Let us pray to the Lord.

That all government leaders may be awakened to the supreme dignity of every human life, and that all people of our nation may work together for an end to the culture of death.

That members of the Church may be attentive to the needs of those who suffer, and that sick and the poor may be open to the merciful grace of God.

For the deceased members of our families and parishes, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, and for N., for whom this Mass is offered.

We pray, O Lord our God, that the Virgin Mary, who merited to bear God and man in her chaste womb, may commend the prayers of your faithful in your sight. Through Christ our Lord.

 

 

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 - Vanity of vanities

 The book of Ecclesiastes was written about 300 years before the birth of Our Lord and is part of the Old Testament known as the Wisdom literature, along with the book of Proverbs and Psalms. The Jewish people read from the book of Ecclesiastes every year during the festival of Booths, when they celebrate the fall harvest. And there is some wisdom there. In the midst of the abundance of the harvest—the abundance of earthly things—they read “vanity of vanities all things are vanity”—a reminder that the things of the earth pass away, they are as ephemeral as a breath.

We are to take the wisdom of Ecclesiastes to heart: that the purpose of life isn’t simply to toil for earthly things—to hoard up earthly treasure. In the end our earthly pursuits really aren’t that important. Scripture calls it foolishness to spend your life toiling away just to make a bunch of money to pass onto children who will likely squander it.

Rather, we are to live wisely. Wisdom seeks what is highest and most important. We are to live in such a way in which we seek not what is earthly, but what is timeless, in which we are oriented not toward the earthly but to the eternal, to accumulate and pass on to future generation not simply earthly wealth but eternal wisdom. Wisdom is more valuable than wealth or earthly accolades. What good is winning an earthly race if you lose the heavenly one.

When confronted by someone from the crowd who is clearly overly concerned with earthly matters, Our Lord in the Gospel this today teaches, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Greed—the love of money—the love of possessions—is a powerful motivating factor for a lot of people, in ancient Israel, in Jesus’ day, and in our own. And so the Lord says, take care to guard against this temptation. Take care, exert effort, to make sure your life is properly oriented.

And then to drive home his point, the Lord tells a parable in which a man who foolishly hoarded earthly possessions dies and ends up with nothing.  “Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”

If we are focused more on earthly things than heavenly things we are dead inside, we are not on the path of life that leads to heaven.

The Scripture readings throughout Ordinary Time are wonderfully challenging. They help us to ensure that our priorities are straight, our lives are in order, that we are properly oriented to running the race that matters most to God.

Consider what we’ve heard over the last three weeks. Three weeks ago, we heard the story of the Good Samaritan. What matters to God is that we exercise charity to all, we expand our definition of a neighbor to include those whom the rest of the world overlooks. What matters to God is that we become Good Samaritans to all.

Two weeks ago, we heard of Jesus’ visit to the home of Martha and Mary. When Martha complained about being overwhelmed with earthly matters, we heard what mattered most to Jesus is what Mary was doing: she was nurturing a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus by listening to his words, sitting in his presence.

And then last week, we heard how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He taught his disciples the perfect prayer, the Our Father. What matters to God is that we seek His Will over our own, that we approach him with open-hands daily instead of relying on our own self-sufficiency, that we practice unconditional forgiveness, that we seek God’s protection and deliverance from all evil every day. The Our Father is a sort of checklist. Are you seeking God’s will every day, are you turning to God for your daily bread, the help you need that can only come from God, are you seeking to become more merciful every day. If not, conversion, change is needed.

Then today’s parable about earthly stuff reminds us that God is not impressed by the quantity of our assets. Heaven—eternal life— is not obtained by the number of trophies, degrees, social media followers and likes.

What impresses God is the quality of our our souls, whether our lives are filled with his truth, goodness, and beauty, or not.

In the Second Reading, St. Paul says bluntly: “put to death, the parts of you that are earthly:” Here’s the remedy for our tendency to love the things of earth more than the things of heaven.

The parts of us that are obsessed with storing up things that do not matter to God, put them to death, bury them and leave them behind. The things that cause you to forget about heaven, your Christian duties, your Christian identity, sever your relationship with them.

Paul says put to death “immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.”  Do everything you can to stop following impulses which are soley focused on earthly pleasure, earthly gain.

God wants to share his very life with us, to make us like himself, full of generous self-giving and limitless charity. But we need practice discipline toward the earthly, so that we may say yes to God.

At this Holy Mass Jesus comes once again to renew us in Word and Sacrament, may he continue to free us from the desire for earthly things and increase our hunger and thirst for holiness, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.