Transfiguration

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What’s the Transfiguration about, really? And why is it so important that we should dedicate one of the Luminous Mysteries and a Sunday to it?

It’s about God’s direct declaration that Jesus, indeed, is His Son. Despite what Jesus might be saying to His followers, this is God speaking.

We shouldn’t doubt God.

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Christ, our King

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Today’s celebration is officially The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

I think that Americans in particular are a bit uncomfortable with such grandiosity. After all, we rejected the rule of a King nearly 250 years ago!

And we certainly we didn’t want to form a new country under a king or queen! No, just a temporary presider … a president.

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The Kingdom

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“Seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,
for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”

Luke 12:31-32

Jesus is speaking here not just to the twelve apostles, but to all His followers. Which means all of us who are working to follow His teachings.

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Body and Blood

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What a fabulous sending forth after the Easter season! Today we are celebrating the Solemnity of what Christ gave us in the Last Supper.

His body and His blood, shed for the salvation of every person in all of humanity.

On Holy Thursday we remembered that meal, but today I’m thinking about the implication of His gifts.

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Transfiguration

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Then a voice came out of the cloud and said, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen. Keep listening to him!”

Luke 9:31 ISV

I’m pondering today this wonderful story of God’s endorsement of His Son’s work in this world. One of the things which can help bring these readings to life is to use a site (like BibleHub, in this case) which captures all the English translations in a single place.

I picked the International Standard Version here because others simply say, “Listen to him!”, or something similar. In that case, it’s signifying that Jesus will say something important.

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The wedding feast

Photo by Kelsey Knight on Unsplash

We’ve heard the story so many times that it ceases to amaze us. Yeah, water into wine. Nice trick.

It was Jesus’ first miracle that we know of. But this amazing event had so many other powerful connections for me!

Our own wedding 40 years ago was such a powerful sacrament. I wasn’t Catholic at the time, but it really drew us closer to God and His Church.

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