Blessed Sacrament Parish

Dear members of Blessed Sacrament Family,
 
Greetings of Peace, Joy and Love to each one of you! This year, on August 6, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Matthew, Mark and Luke describe in detail what happened on mount Tabor when Jesus was transfigured before his three disciples, Peter, James and John.
 
The mountain in the Bible represents a place close to God, of an intimate encounter with Him, a place of prayer where one stands in the presence of the Lord. There, up on the mount, Jesus was seen transfigured, luminescent and most beautiful. Moses and Elijah appeared and conversed with Him. His face was so resplendent and his robes so white that Peter, awe-struck, wished to stay there, as if to stop time.
 
Suddenly from on high, the voice of the Father resounded proclaiming Jesus to be His most beloved Son, saying, “listen to Him”. These words are important because the Father says this to us as well: “Listen to Jesus, because He is my beloved Son.” We, the disciples of Jesus, are called to be people who listen to His words seriously.
 
From the event of the Transfiguration, I would like to take two significant elements that can be summed up in two words: ascent and descent. We all need to go apart, to ascend the mountain in a space of silence, to find ourselves and better perceive the voice of the Lord. This we do in prayer.
 
But we cannot stay there! Encounter with God in prayer inspires us anew to “descend the mountain” and return to the ‘plain’, to our daily routine. Our ‘ascent’ to his mountain will help us to deal with all the fatigue and challenges of the ‘descent’. It will also help us to be a source of comfort to so many brothers and sisters weighed down by fatigue, sickness, injustice, ignorance, poverty both material and spiritual. To these brothers and sisters in difficulty, we are called to bear the fruit of that experience with God, by sharing the grace we have received.
 
In Christ,
Fr. Simon