Today is the great Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on Mount Thabor in the presence of the Apostles Peter, James and John and in the company of Moses and Elias. God the Father repeated the proclamation that He had made as His Co-Equal Son made Flesh in Our Lady's Virginal and Immaculate Womb was baptized by His cousin, Saint John the Baptist in the Jordan River prior to the assumption of His Public Ministry, "This is My beloved Son, hear yet Him."
Our Lord was transfigured in the glory that He shared with the God the Father and God the Holy Ghost for all eternity in Heaven in order to show forth His Sacred Divinity to Saints Peter, the first Pope, Saint James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem and the first of the Apostles to be martyred, and Saint James's brother, Saint John, the beloved Apostle and the Apostle of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, to help console them during the events of His Passion and Death.
It is our goal to be transfigured in glory for all eternity in Heaven. The only path to the heavenly Mount Thabor, however, is by climbing atop Mount Calvary every day of our lives, willingly bearing our crosses in reparation for our sins and those of the world as we offer whatever merit we gain for the patient and joyful endurance of these crosses to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. Indeed, our climb to Heaven by ascending first to Mount Calvary is signified every day a true bishop or a true priest completes the prayers at the foot of the altar and ascends the three steps (mystically symbolic of the Thee Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity and of the three stages of the interior life) to the altar itself. If we desire to be transfigured in all glory in Heaven we must, therefore, be willing to be shamed and humiliated by the the ignominy associated with the Holy Cross.
The glories of Heaven are worth such temporary shame and humiliation and ignominy, are they not? May Our Lady, who awaits us in the heavenly Mount Thabor and intercedes for us from there, help us to ascend to Mount Calvary every day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so that we can keep her company at the foot of the Cross every day our lives as a a preparation for spending all eternity in the glories of Heaven with her and Saint Joseph and all of the angels and the saints.
A blessed Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to you all.
This reflection has been revised slightly. As a new billing cycle for our internet service has begun, I have a whopping (I am being very sarcastic) twenty gigabytes at my disposal for the next thirty-one days. This is a penance all by itself!
Work has commenced on the next original article to be posted on this site. I am endeavoring to have it ready for posting by tomorrow morning, the Feast of Saint Cajetan.
Finally, in light of Jorge Mario Bergoglio's comments yesterday concerning his belief that those within the conciliar sect who divorce and remarry civilly without a conciliar decree of nullity are not excommunicated, I would like to direct readers to an article published last month, "Jorge Plays Strictly by the Montini Playbook," which contains useful information as Bergoglio's belief contradicts the teaching of none other than "Saint John Paul II," who reaffirmed traditional Catholic doctrine by the use of conciliarspeak, thus making it possible for Jorge to his own version of conciliarspeak to do as he pleases. More commentary will be provided on this matter very soon.