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Sunday, August 6, 2000

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Transfiguration


Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
2 Peter 1:16-19
Psalm 97
Mark 9:2-10

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"He was transfigured before their eyes." —Mark 9:2

Revelation implies responsibility. If we know that God is Love, Jesus saves, that the Trinity wants to live in us, that we can have a new nature and be free, pure, holy and at peace, etc., then we have a great responsibility to share these revelations, more than does a man with food in a starving land. "When much has been given a man, much will be required of him. More will be asked of a man to whom more has been entrusted" (Lk 12:48).

Not only are we responsible to share God's revelations, but He is likewise responsible to reveal Himself further to prepare us to fulfill our responsibilities. For example, the apostles were responsible to believe in Jesus and to be faithful to Him even when He was crucified. Jesus prepared them for this by revealing His divinity to three of them at the Transfiguration. However, these three leaders of the apostles failed to apply the revelation of the Transfiguration. They did not accept Jesus' message of the cross. Rather, they led the other apostles to abandon Jesus before His crucifixion rather than to be faithful to Him.

The Lord in His mercy gave them another revelation. At Pentecost, God the Father and God the Son revealed to the apostles the third Person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit. This revelation opened the apostles to the revelation of the Transfiguration. This prepared them to take the responsibility to take the gospel to the ends of the earth and to die for love of Jesus.

Today, on this feast of the Transfiguration in the year of the Great Jubilee, the Lord is revealing Himself to you. He is preparing you to take the awesome responsibilities of life in Christ. Receive this revelation and respond.

Prayer:  Father, may "the morning star" rise in my heart (2 Pt 1:19).

Promise:  "We were eyewitnesses of His sovereign majesty. He received glory and praise from God the Father...: 'This is My beloved Son, on Whom My favor rests.' " —2 Pt 1:17

Praise:  Praise Jesus, our God, transfigured, risen, and glorified!

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Edward J. Gratsch, March 8, 2000


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, March 9, 2000