2015
#ViralVideo of 5-Year-Old on "America's Got Talent" Tells Howard Stern She's Got Jesus - SHARE
Video: 5-Year-Old on "America's Got Talent" Boldly Tells Howard Stern She's Got Jesus. This little Girl is amazingly talented and faithful to God. Her name is Heavenly Joy and she tells the judges without fear that she's got Jesus. Of all the talent videos - this is a must see - it will warm your heart to see this young girl tap dance and sing with Faith!
SHARE this to bring Hope and Faith to Everyone!
#BreakingNews over 230 Kidnapped in Syria - many Christians - by ISIS please PRAY
More than 60 Christians among 230 Syrian civilians abducted by the Islamic State in al-QaryatainAfter they seized the city, Jihadis detained hundreds of people, accusing them of collaborating with the Assad regime. People are not allowed to leave the city. IS militiamen detain entire families. Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate says contacts with locals are "very difficult". IS wants to use civilians as "human shields".
Damascus (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Islamic State forces have abducted 230 people, including more than 60 Christians, from al-Qaryatain, a town in central Syria, which they took yesterday from pro-regime forces, said the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) based on reports from its network of local informers.
SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahman said that IS militants abducted about 170 Sunnis and more than 60 Christians for collaborating with the Assad regime when they searched the city on Wednesday.
In an official statement, Bishop Matta al-Khoury, secretary of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus, said that he could not confirm what was happening in the city, because "it is very difficult to reach people." However, we know that “when they entered the city, they [the Jihadis] banned residents from leaving in order to use them as human shields" to protect themselves from Syrian air strikes.
Before the war, al-Qaryatain was home to 18,000 Sunnis and about 2,000 Syriac Catholics and Orthodox. After IS seized the town, Christians fled, with only perhaps 180 left. Some of those detained were Christians staying in the monastery of Mar Elian where gunmen abducted its prior, Fr Jacques Mourad last May.
Local witnesses report that when IS forces moved into the city, they had a list of people to arrest, and detained entire families and anyone trying to flee.
Since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, some 240,000 people have died and more than 3.2 million people have fled the country with an additional 7.6 million internally displaced.
Since it emerged amid war and terror, the Islamic State group has lived up to its reputation of violence and brutality. Thousands of people, including 1.800 civilians and 74 children, have been executed since it established its so-called caliphate from seized chunks of Syria and Iraq. Shared from AsiaNewsIT
Novena to Saint Cajetan for Work - Patron of #Unemployed for #Work - SHARE - Miracle Prayer
Daily Prayer O glorious St. Cajetan, you studied to be a lawyer, but when you felt that the Lord was calling you to his service, you abandoned everything and became a priest. You excelled in virtues, shunning all material rewards for your labor, helping the many unemployed people of your time. You provided loans without interest and you attracted a lot of benefactors who donated to your resources so that you could go on with your activities. Look on us with mercy. We wish to find employment that could help us and our families live with dignity. Listen to our petitions, dear saint; you, who could easily give up the food on your table for the needy, bring our petitions to Jesus (here make your request). Amen.
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First Day You were a model of virtue among the priests of your time, O St. Cajetan. You sought not to receive payments from your ministry, and you taught people how to pray the rosary and develop devotions to saints. You were truly a spiritual shepherd, and your concern was always focused on the salvation of souls. But despite this, you were also aware that with hungry stomachs, the faithful would have difficulty in understanding God’s Word. You embarked to help them, not just by giving them bread but helping them gain their living by work. Look on us with pity, O glorious saint. We have many unemployed people in our midst and their families go hungry. We ask you to guide the fathers and mothers who are looking for work. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us.
Second Day Despite your busy schedule, dear saint, you spent eight hours a day in prayer. Your happiness consists in being united with Jesus, to savor his presence in the Eucharist. Guide us to be like you by giving priority to prayer in our life. Enable us to savor Jesus’ presence and help us become contemplatives like you. Inspire us to understand that prayer is not just asking Jesus for our needs, but being with him, delighting in his presence. We ask you, dear saint, to lead us in this direction that we may learn to delight in Jesus’ presence. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us.
Third Day Since your death, dear St. Cajetan, the unemployed people of the world had sought your intercession. Work is the key to a happy life. Look with pity on the millions of people in our country who wake up each morning without certainty of finding food because they don’t have work. These people become victims of desperation and some even resort to crimes to survive. Help our government leaders formulate policies that will bring about employment. You who established a bank for the needy inspire our leaders to extend loans for the poor so that they may provide for the needs of their families. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us.
Fourth Day O glorious St. Cajetan, like the society where you lived, we are also beset by the same economic set up where the poor are becoming poorer and the rich, richer. You fasted so that the money you saved could be used to buy food for the poor, you did not accept any payment for your ministries because you wanted people to help the needy. You lived very frugally because you wanted to teach the rich about the need to share. Look with pity on our society where resources are wasted in buying useless goods, while the poor and the needy among us have not received the basic necessities. Inspire us to share that nobody among us would go hungry, and that everybody may live with dignity. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us.
Fifth Day O glorious St. Cajetan, you spent long hours helping the sick and worked yourself to exhaustion in helping victims of plagues which were frequent in your time. You cared for the sick not just to heal them, but to guide them to a happy death. You wanted their souls, not their bodies. Help us to understand that we have to prepare ourselves to a happy death. May we likewise see that the most terrible sickness is our sinfulness, and we always have to examine ourselves for the sins we commit daily. Inspire us to have repentant hearts that we may always be prepared to meet the Lord. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us.
Sixth Day O humble St. Cajetan, you spoke with rulers and kings, but you never gave them much importance. You know that prestige, honor, and positions in society could only be good if they are use to help the needy and the poor. For this reason, you also confronted tyrants and stood against armies that looted, killed, and raped. Your humility did not prevent you from becoming a prophet. You only feared Jesus. Help us to remain humble and self-effacing, knowing that before God, we remain nothing. We can only be someone if we stand close to Jesus. Inspire us to follow your footsteps so that we, too, may fight for justice and help stop corruption in our government. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us.
Seventh Day O glorious St. Cajetan, your unceasing fasting and penance help people understand that God must be loved above all things and above all persons. You sacrificed anything or anyone that could block you from loving God with your whole soul, mind, heart and body. By eating little, you showed to others that man does not live on bread alone. You renewed the faith of many people, touched their hearts, and helped much in the reformation of the Church. Inspire us to fast and do penance for our sins. Instill on us the spirit of sacrifice that we, too, may love God intensely as you did. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us.
Eight Day O glorious St. Cajetan, it pained you to see the Catholic Church divided into hostile groups. You always prayed for unity in the Church, asking laypersons, priests, and bishops to support the Pope through preaching, prayer, and sacrifices. You see the Church as the bride of Christ, the sacrament by which men and women can become holy. You worked hard for the return of the Protestants to the Catholic Church, and you preached against Protestant reformers who were attacking the heart of Catholic teachings. Teach us then to work for unity in our Church and at the same time, to defend her from sects and religious movements that attack her. Inspire us to follow your path. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us.
Ninth Day O glorious St. Cajetan, you received many special blessings from Jesus, visions and mystical experiences because of your union with him. While contemplating the mystery of incarnation, Mary appeared to you and put on your lap the baby Jesus. You held on to the baby and made your heart his dwelling place. Jesus truly loved you and his Mother trusted you. Listen then to our petitions on this last day of our novena and bring them to Jesus. Prove to us that now in heaven you are closer to Jesus and he listens to you. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us.
For all the unemployed -- even if you aren't Catholic -- I would encourage you to say this prayer for nine days.
OUR FATHER Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
HAIL MARY Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
GLORY BE Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
#PopeFrancis "... an ever deeper understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist." to #Youth of #Eucharistic Movement
The Movement was born in 1915 to encourage devotion to the Eucharist among young people and pray for peace. Questions from six young people: from Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, Taiwan, France, Argentina. Pope Francis responds in an unscripted discourse. The biggest challenge: Finding Peace in the Lord, not the devil, who is a criminal. Searching for an encounter with Jesus. "Remember Jesus", who gave his life for each of us. Mass is not only a ritual, its a memorial. A reminder of the plight of the Rohingyas and the persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "To see young people like you who believe in Jesus present in the Eucharist, who believe that love is stronger than hate; that peace is stronger than war; that dialogue is stronger conflict; that harmony stronger than tensions, gives me great hope”, was the heartfelt message of Pope Francis today to the young people of the Eucharistic Youth Movement (MEJ, the acronym in French), in an audience granted to them on the occasion of the centenary of its foundation. Born in 1915 in France, during the First World War, to encourage devotion to the Eucharist among children and pray for peace, MEJ has now reached 1.1 million members worldwide.
1,500 young people from 35 countries, more than 600 families from America, Asia, Oceania, Europe took part in the audience. In a flurry of multicolored flags, hats, scarves, smiles and selfies, six young people from Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, France, Taiwan, Argentina have put some questions to the pope.
The Pope responded calmly and spontaeously, in a very familial conversation. The young girl from Taiwan, Pi Joulu, asked him if he saw signs of hope in the Church and society of the twenty-first century. Francis replied, pointing to the assembly: "This [pointing to the young people] is a sign of hope ... We are in the midst of a war, piecemal World War III, which is negative, but there are signs of hope and joy. "
Responding to Magat Diop, a young African living in Italy, who asked for advise on dealing with conflicts in the family, the Pope noted that only "in a graveyard .... are there no tensions and conflicts: only in dead things. When there is life, there is always tension and conflict". At the same time he said that the conflicts in the family are overcome through dialogue, achieving harmony. He asked the young people "not to be afraid of conflict", of dialogue, but also not to "love tensions for tensions sake".
Gregorios, a young Indonesian asked him instead about conflicts within his country with great cultural and religious diversity, Francis suggested not only "dialogue" but "respect" for the identity of the other. He cited the plight of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority that is expelled from Bangladesh and Myanmar and whose ships full of refugees are pushed back from the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia.
"Social conflicts - he said - are resolved through dialogue, but above all with respect for the other's identity." He added: "In the Middle East we see that many people, religious minorities, Christians, are not respected and are killed, persecuted. Because there is no respect for their identity”.
Asked by a Brazilian girl about "the greatest challenge that Pope Francis faced in his mission," the Pope replied: "Always finding peace in the Lord, that peace that only Jesus can give." Soon after he added "another challenge" for everyone, even for young people: "Being able to discern betweentrue peace and false peace", the peace of Jesus and that of the "enemy" of the devil. This "makes you happy, you don't worry, but inside inside, inside there's a catch ... The Devil is a crook."
Another question – put to him by a French girl - was about the consequences of friendship with Jesus. The Pope spoke of the gifts of "peace, of joy, of wonder," inviting the young people to an encounter with Jesus, seeking him "in prayer, in the Eucharist, in the responsibilities of your daily life, going to seek the most needy”.
The last question put to him by a young Argentine, is "What would Pope Francis to young people to discover the depth of the Eucharist?". The pope mentioned several times the advice of St. Paul to Timothy (2 Tim 2,8): "Remember Jesus Christ”. We must "always think of the Last Supper, of the words that he said, his body, his blood; do this in memory of me. The memory of Jesus is present there. At each Mass, he is there and saves us there. And after this, he went to die for me. He gave his life for me. Everyone must be able to say this. This is 'the grace of memory. " Mass, he added, "is not just a ritual, a ceremony. It is with this memory that we can come to an ever deeper understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist. "
And before concluding with the Hail Mary ("each in his own language!"), He said: "The world has so many bad things, we are at war. But there are so many good and beautiful things, and hidden in the many holy people of God. God is present and there are many reasons to hope to move forward. Courage, and move forward! ".
Text from AsiaNewsIT - Image Google Images of Eucharistic Movement Meeting
Today's Mass Readings and Video : 1st Friday, August 7, 2015
Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 411
Reading 1DT 4:32-40
Moses said to the people:
“Ask now of the days of old, before your time,
ever since God created man upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky to the other:
Did anything so great ever happen before?
Was it ever heard of?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God
speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself
from the midst of another nation,
by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,
with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
all of which the LORD, your God,
did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
All this you were allowed to see
that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.
Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you;
on earth he let you see his great fire,
and you heard him speaking out of the fire.
For love of your fathers he chose their descendants
and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,
driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you,
so as to bring you in
and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.
This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart,
that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.
You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today,
that you and your children after you may prosper,
and that you may have long life on the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever.”
“Ask now of the days of old, before your time,
ever since God created man upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky to the other:
Did anything so great ever happen before?
Was it ever heard of?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God
speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself
from the midst of another nation,
by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,
with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
all of which the LORD, your God,
did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
All this you were allowed to see
that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.
Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you;
on earth he let you see his great fire,
and you heard him speaking out of the fire.
For love of your fathers he chose their descendants
and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,
driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you,
so as to bring you in
and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.
This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart,
that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.
You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today,
that you and your children after you may prosper,
and that you may have long life on the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever.”
Responsorial PsalmPS 77:12-13, 14-15, 16 AND 21
R. (12a) I remember the deeds of the Lord.
I remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I remember your wonders of old.
And I meditate on your works;
your exploits I ponder.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
O God, your way is holy;
what great god is there like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
among the peoples you have made known your power.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
You led your people like a flock
under the care of Moses and Aaron.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I remember your wonders of old.
And I meditate on your works;
your exploits I ponder.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
O God, your way is holy;
what great god is there like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
among the peoples you have made known your power.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
You led your people like a flock
under the care of Moses and Aaron.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
AlleluiaMT 5:10
R. Alleluia, alleluia.Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 16:24-28
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
Saint August 7 : St. Cajetan : Patron of Gamblers and Unemployed
FOUNDER
Feast: August 7
Feast Day:
August 7
Born:
October 1, 1480, Vicenza, Veneto, Republic of Venice (now Italy)
Died:
August 7, 1547, Naples, Campania, Kingdom of Naples
Canonized:
April 12, 1671, Rome by Pope Clement X
Patron of:
workers; gamblers; job seekers; unemployed people Founder of the Theatines, born October, 1480 at Vicenza in Venetian territory; died at Naples in 1547. Under the care of a pious mother he passed a studious and exemplary youth, and took his degree as doctor utriusque juris at Padua in his twenty-fourth year. In 1506 he became at Rome a prothonotary Apostolic in the court of Julius II, and took an important share in reconciling the Republic of Venice with that pontiff. On the death of Julius in 1523 he withdrew from the court, and is credited with founding, shortly after, an association of pious priests and prelates called the Oratory of Divine Love, which spread to other Italian towns. Though remarkable for his intense love of God, he did not advance to the priesthood till 1516. Recalled to Vicenza in the following year by the death of his mother, he founded there a hospital for incurables, thus giving proof of the active charity that filled his whole life. But his zeal was more deeply moved by the spiritual diseases that, in those days of political disorder, infected the clergy of all ranks, and, like St. Augustine in earlier times, he strove to reform them by instituting a body of regular clergy, who should combine the spirit of monasticism with the exercises of the active ministry.
Returning to Rome in 1523 he laid the foundations of his new congregation, which was canonically erected by Clement VII in 1524. One of his four companions was Giovanni Pietro Caraffa, Bishop of Chieti (in Latin Theate), afterwards Paul IV, who was elected first superior, and from whose title arose the name Theatines. The order grew but slowly. During the sack of Rome in 1527 the Theatines, then twelve in number, escaped to Venice after enduring many outrages from the heretic invaders. There Cajetan met St. Hieronymus Æmiliani (see SOMASCHI), whom he assisted in the establishment of his Congregation of Clerks Regular. In 1533 Cajetan founded a house in Naples, where he was able to check the advances of Lutheranism. In 1540 he was again at Venice, whence he extended his work to Verona and Vicenza. He passed the last four years of his life, a sort of seraphic existence, at Naples where he died finally of grief at the discords of the city, suffering in his last moments a kind of mystical crucifixion. He was beatified by Urban VIII in 1629, and canonized by Clement X in 1671. His feast is kept on the 7th of August.
Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/C/stcajetan.asp#ixzz1UJRIcg32
Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/C/stcajetan.asp#ixzz1UJRIcg32
Today's Mass Readings and Video : Thurs. August 6, 2015
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Lectionary: 614
Reading 1DN 7:9-10, 13-14
As I watched:
Thrones were set up
and the Ancient One took his throne.
His clothing was bright as snow,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;
his throne was flames of fire,
with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire
flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.
The court was convened and the books were opened.
As the visions during the night continued, I saw:
One like a Son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven;
When he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.
Thrones were set up
and the Ancient One took his throne.
His clothing was bright as snow,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;
his throne was flames of fire,
with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire
flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.
The court was convened and the books were opened.
As the visions during the night continued, I saw:
One like a Son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven;
When he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
The one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.
Responsorial PsalmPS 97:1-2, 5-6, 9
R. (1a and 9a) The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many islands be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him,
justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the LORD of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
Because you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth,
exalted far above all gods.
R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;
let the many islands be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him,
justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.
R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the LORD of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice,
and all peoples see his glory.
R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
Because you, O LORD, are the Most High over all the earth,
exalted far above all gods.
R. The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.
Reading 22 PT 1:16-19
Beloved:
We did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received honor and glory from God the Father
when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory,
“This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven
while we were with him on the holy mountain.
Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.
You will do well to be attentive to it,
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
from the cloud came a voice,
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what rising from the dead meant.
We did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received honor and glory from God the Father
when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory,
“This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven
while we were with him on the holy mountain.
Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.
You will do well to be attentive to it,
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
AlleluiaMT 17:5C
R. Alleluia, alleluia.This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMK 9:2-10
Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John,and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
from the cloud came a voice,
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what rising from the dead meant.
Saint August 6 : Feast of The Transfiguration of the Lord - #Transfiguration
The Transfiguration of the Lord
Feast: August 6
Information: The Transfiguration of Christ is the culminating point of His public life, as His Baptism is its starting point, and His Ascension its end. Moreover, this glorious event has been related in detail by St. Matthew (xvii, 1-6), St. Mark (ix, 1-8), and St. Luke (ix, 28-36), while St. Peter (II Pet., i, 16-18) and St. John (i, 14), two of the privileged witnesses, make allusion to it.
About a week after His sojourn in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them to a high mountain apart, where He was transfigured before their ravished eyes. St. Matthew and St. Mark express this phenomenon by the word metemorphothe, which the Vulgate renders transfiguratus est. The Synoptics explain the true meaning of the word by adding "his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow," according to the Vulgate, or "as light," according to the Greek text.
This dazzling brightness which emanated from His whole Body was produced by an interior shining of His Divinity. False Judaism had rejected the Messias, and now true Judaism, represented by Moses and Elias, the Law and the Prophets, recognized and adored Him, while for the second time God the Father proclaimed Him His only-begotten and well-loved Son. By this glorious manifestation the Divine Master, who had just foretold His Passion to the Apostles (Matt., xvi, 21), and who spoke with Moses and Elias of the trials which awaited Him at Jerusalem, strengthened the faith of his three friends and prepared them for the terrible struggle
of which they were to be witnesses in Gethsemani, by giving them a foretaste of the glory and heavenly delights to which we attain by suffering.
of which they were to be witnesses in Gethsemani, by giving them a foretaste of the glory and heavenly delights to which we attain by suffering.
LOCATION OF THE TRANSFIGURATION
Already in Apostolic times the mount of the Transfiguration had become the "holy mount" (II Pet., i, 18). It seems to have been known by the faithful of the country, and tradition identified it with Mount Thabor. Origen said (A.D. 231-54) "Thabor is the mountain of Galilee on which Christ was transfigured" (Comm. in Ps. lxxxviii, 13). In the next century St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Catech., II, 16) and St. Jerome (Ep. xlvi, ad Marcel.; EP. viii, ad Paulin.; Ep. cviii, ad Eust.) likewise declare it categorically. Later St. Proculus, Patriarch of Constantinople (d. 447; Orat. viii, in Transfig.), Agathangelus (Hist. of Armenia, II, xvii), and Arnobius the Younger (d. 460; Comm. in Ps. lxxxviii, 13) say the same thing. The testimonies increase from century to century without a single dissentient note, and in 553 the Fifth Council of Constantinople erected a see at Mount Thabor (Notitif Antioch. . . . patriarch.).
Some modern writers claim that the Transfiguration could not have taken place on Mount Thabor, which, according to Josephus, was then surmounted by a city. This is incorrect; the Jewish historian speaks neither of a city nor a village; he simply fortified, as he repeats three times, "the mount called Itabyrion" ("Bell. Jud.", II, xx, 6; IV, i, 8; Vita , 37). The town of Atabyrion of Polybius, the Thabor or Celeseth Thabor, the "flank of Thabor" of the Bible, is situated at the foot of Mount Thabor. In any case the presence of houses on a wooded height would not have made it impossible to find a place apart.
It is again objected that Our Lord was transfigured on Mount Hermon, since He was at that time in its vicinity. But the Synoptics are all explicit concerning the lapse of time, six days, or about eight days including those of departure and arrival, between the discourse in Caesarea and the Transfiguration, which would infer a somewhat lengthy journey. Moreover the summits of Hermon are covered with snow as late as June, and even the lesser peaks of 4000 or 5000 feet are likewise snow-covered in February and March, the period of the Transfiguration. Finally, the ancients judged of the height of mountains by their appearance, and Thabor especially was considered a "high mountain", if not by David and Jeremias, at least by Origen and St. Jerome and the pilgrims who made the ascent.Shared from EWTN
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