“Man does not live in bread alone, but in every word that come forth from the mouth of God.” The apostolic band is on the move to Jerusalem and on the way they encountered the Scribes and Pharisees and Christ exposes the hypocrites for their failure to live in the Word of God, Little later our Lord turns to his apostles and asks them the most important question: “Whom do people say that I Am?” The band of disciples knows all the politically correct answers, Some say John the Baptist, others Elias and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets, Our Lord turns to the ones who watched His many miracles and asks: “Who do you say I Am?” One soul without the consent of the rest speaks up and says: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
Blessed are you Simon bar Jonas for no mere man has revealed this to you but My Father in heaven, Our Lord rewards Peter with the power of the keys but not 20 minutes later Jesus reveals that the Son of Man must suffer at the hands of the Jews, Peter takes our Lord aside and says this shall not be, Our Lord’s response is “Get behind Me, Satan.” Peter is judging from the worldly perspective not the supernatural, The refusal of the suffering Christ is the way of Satan and it is easy to fall into that trap, So our Lord instructs all of the apostles in the principle of true life, “Unless you die to yourself you cannot be my disciple.” Finally, Jesus proclaims that some of them will not taste death until they have seen eternal glory.
As we enter into the mount of transfiguration, Jesus separates Peter, James and John from all the rest and leads them up the mount, There a preternatural event occurs, Jesus’ face becomes as bright as the sun and the apostles can view it without burning their eyes, Our Lord’s garments become whiter that snow, Light is the first element of creation and this is a moment that illuminates the new creation in the Son of God, Then two significant souls appear to speak with Jesus about His passage from this world, Moses and Elias join Jesus, They were the first to experience the 40 days of purification and preparation for their role in the divine plan, Moses represents the covenant of the law while Elias signifies the role of the prophet, Moses had died and is raised for this moment; Elias never died and we wait for his return, But now Peter has to jump in and open his mouth.
“It is good for us to be here, Lord, We shall build three tabernacles: one for you, one for Moses and one for Elias”, At that precise moment a luminous Cloud appeared and a voice spoke: “This is My Beloved Son, hear ye Him.” The apostles went to the ground like dead men in the presence of the Divine, The Holy Trinity manifested their presence and humanity responds in reverence, Peter wanted to stay right there and hence the Crucifixion would never take place and souls would wallow in their sinfulness for eternity, He had to learn that there can be no glory if there is no Cross, Heaven has entered the earthly sphere and seeks to erase the effects of the original sin, Peter would only come to realize it fully after the Pentecost experience.
Are we not like the apostles? We proclaim our faith in the Catholic Church, the Mystical Body of Christ but we do not want the suffering of the cross to touch us or the Church, We want to build tabernacles to resist any desire to mortify ourselves, We want the easy way to the Lord’s kingdom and He responds with self denial, Instead of living in God’s Word, we live in the bread of sensuality and pleasure, Our blessed Mother live in the Word and through divine overshadowing she begets the Eternal Word made Flesh, Who dwells among us, Through devotion to this “honor or our race” we live in God’s Word, The entire rosary recalls for us the mystery of the Word made Flesh, For every failing we possess the rosary has the power to release us from its power, What a great gift from so marvelous a mother.
When the cleansing of the new order vision takes place we will all live in the Word of God and we will have a peace that surpasses all understanding, Light will bring us the truth of our dignity, We are children of God and of our Mother Mary, We can build true tabernacles which contain the thrice holy God, Now our duty is to persevere in the faith of our Fathers, Fear not for this world is passing and as Christ passed over from death to life so shall we, The transfiguration was meant to remove the scandal of the Cross and to present our eyes with the vision of heaven’s happiness, God loves us all.
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Fr. Richard Voigt
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