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February 28, 2010
Have you ever seen a person return from a particularly consoling annual spiritual retreat with a special glow about her? It reminds me of that famous quote from Thomas Merton when he exclaims, “There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.” The whole essence of the person seems to be transfigured. In Luke’s account of the Transfiguration, Jesus goes up to the mountain to pray with Peter, John and James and his “faced changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white,” and from “ a cloud came a voice that said: This is my chosen Son, listen to him.”
While the prayer experience of Jesus was certainly remarkable, we can take out of it that God, the Father, validated him as his own, intimately-loved, chosen Son, especially as Jesus will soon set his face toward Jerusalem where he knows he must endure a deadly fate. Moses, who represents the beloved Law of the Elect, and Elijah, the miracle-working prophet, appear with Jesus representing the fullness of the Jewish faith. Jesus is given special privilege before the Torah and the Prophets as God’s unique revealer whose mission will be consummated in Jerusalem, the Holy City. With God’s personal revelation to Jesus and his closest friends, Jesus will have the confirmation and courage to enter more deeply into God’s will.
While we will not experience the Transfiguration event as Jesus did, God can transform our lives so that we shine like the dazzling sun. Notice that this just did not happen to Jesus. It was a moment of supreme confirmation by his loving Father after spending time in prayer. We need to take greater time in prayer just to be with God so that we can build a more intimate friendship based on mutual care and affection. When we are confirmed by God, our whole being changes and we become more faithful and confident in the providence of God. We learn to listen to the familiar voice that we depend upon and crave. Our whole being radiates God’s favor and like Abram in the first reading, we enjoy divine blessings now and for the ages to come.
Quote for the Week
From Philippians 3, an excerpt from today’s second reading:
“Brothers and sisters: Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm for the Lord.”
Themes for this Week’s Masses
First Reading: The church turns to Daniel this week who yells out that he and the people have sinned, been wicked, and have turned against God and we immediately turn to Isaiah who exhort the people to learn to do what is good and to make justice your aim. We are then reminded of Jeremiah’s fate when he did good works – the people turned against him and his righteousness. Cursed is the one who trusts in humans, but blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. This is illustrated in Genesis when Joseph’s death is plotted by his brothers because he was a dreamer of innocence. When we place our trust in God, our sins are wiped away from God’s consciousness.
Gospel: Jesus tells his friends to be merciful like his Father. Stop judging. Stop condemning. Forgiveness brings a multitude of blessings. Pay attention to the good teachings of the Pharisees, but know that they are hypocritical in their actions. As we have seen in numerous O.T. stories, the righteous are condemned. Jesus tells his friends that the Son of Man will be put to death. The moving story of Lazarus and Dives shows that the poor and the disenfranchised will be comforted for the afflictions they suffered in this life. The righteous, even God’s heir, will be done in by jealous people. The mercy of the Father is highlighted in the story of the prodigal son and his brother.
Saints of the Week
Wednesday: The Philadelphia-born Katherine Drexel is the second American-born U.S. saint and she was canonized in 2000. Katherine formed the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and served the Native Americans and African Americans in the U.S. West and Southwest. She became a vocal advocate for racial justice.
Thursday: Casimir was a 15th century prince of Lithuania and Poland. He was offered the throne of Hungary and after an unsuccessful attempt returned to Poland. He was known for his prudence and justice and is named the patron saint of all youth.
This Week in Jesuit History
• Feb 28, 1957. The Jesuit Volunteer Corps began.
• Mar 1, 1549. At Gandia, the opening of a college of the Society founded by St Francis Borgia.
• Mar 2, 1606. The martyrdom in the Tower of London of St Nicholas Owen, a brother nicknamed "Little John." For 26 years he constructed hiding places for priests in homes throughout England. Despite severe torture he never revealed the location of these safe places.
• Mar 3, 1595. Clement VIII raised Fr. Robert Bellarmine to the Cardinalate, saying that the Church had not his equal in learning.
• Mar 4, 1873. At Rome, the government officials presented themselves at the Professed House of the Gesu for the purpose of appropriating the greater part of the building.
• Mar 5, 1887. At Rome, the obsequies of Fr. Beckx who died on the previous day. He was 91 years of age and had governed the Society as General for 34 years. He is buried at San Lorenzo in Campo Verano.
• Mar 6, 1643. Arnauld, the Jansenist, published his famous tract against Frequent Communion. Fifteen French bishops gave it their approval, whereas the Jesuit fathers at once exposed the dangers in it.
Novena of Grace in Honor of Francis Xavier
Jesuits and their colleagues worldwide pray a Novena of Grace in honor of Francis Xavier, one of the founding Jesuits who was missioned to the Far East and the Indies. This nine-day period of prayer was instituted in gratitude for the canonization of Xavier and Ignatius of Loyola in 1622. The prayer runs from March 4th to March 12th. The Novena is imbedded below.
Lord God, our Father, we honor the memory of the Apostle of the East, St. Francis Xavier. The remembrance of the favors with which You blessed him during life and of his glory after death, fills us with joy; and we unite with him in offering to You our sincere tribute of thanksgiving and of grace.
We ask You to grant us, through his powerful intercession, the inestimable blessings of living and dying in the state of grace. We also ask You to grant us the favors we seek in this novena.
(Pause for personal petitions)
But if what we ask is not for the glory of God and the good of our souls, grant us, we pray, what is more conducive to both. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Closing Prayer
Almighty God, by the preaching of St. Francis Xavier You won many peoples to Yourself. Give his zeal for the faith to all who believe in You, that Your Church may rejoice to see the virtue and number of the faithful increase throughout the world. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Note:
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