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All Issues > Volume 29, Issue 5

<< Tuesday, August 6, 2013 >>

Transfiguration

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
2 Peter 1:16-19
View Readings

Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9
Luke 9:28-36
Similar Reflections

SLEEPING IN THE CLASSROOM

"Peter and those with him had fallen into a deep sleep; but awakening, they saw His glory." —Luke 9:32

Jesus took Peter, James, and John off by themselves, and "went up onto a mountain to pray" (Lk 9:28). "While He was praying, His face changed in appearance and His clothes became dazzlingly white" (Lk 9:29). However, Peter, James, and John had fallen into a deep sleep (Lk 9:32). When they awoke, they were in a fog (Lk 9:34). They heard God tell them to listen to Jesus (Lk 9:35). They saw Jesus transfigured in radiant glory, but they missed the encouraging message that God is all-powerful.

Jesus again took Peter, James, and John off by themselves and went into a garden to pray (Mk 14:32:33). He began to change in appearance once more, suffering distress and sweating blood (Lk 22:44; Mk 14:34). Jesus intended the first prayer class, with its transfigured glory, to serve as an encouragement for this second prayer class, with its suffering and defeat. However, Peter, James, and John forgot the first lesson and fell asleep again (Mt 26:43). This time, they awoke to find Jesus' captors at hand. Though Jesus and the Father had prepared them, they abandoned Jesus and fled (Mk 14:50).

Jesus knows our "spirit is willing but [our] nature is weak" (Mk 14:38). He will keep teaching us until we learn to pay close attention (2 Pt 1:19). "Awake, O sleeper" (Eph 5:14). Fix your eyes on Jesus transfigured (Heb 3:1). "Listen to Him" (Lk 9:35).

Prayer: Jesus, give me "ears open to obedience" (Ps 40:7).

Promise: "We possess the prophetic message as something altogether reliable." —2 Pt 1:19

Praise: Praise Jesus, Whose glory shines upon us all! Alleluia!

PRAYER FOR THE UNBORN CHILD

Almighty God, our Father, you who have given us life and intended us to have it forever, grant us your blessings.
Enlighten our minds to an awareness and to a renewed conviction that all human life is sacred because it is created
in your image and likeness. Help us to teach by word and the example of our lives that life occupies the first place,
that human life is precious because it is the gift of God whose love is infinite. Give us the strength to defend human life
against every influence or action that threatens or weakens it, as well as the strength to make every life more human
in all its aspects.

Give us the grace...

When the sacredness of life before birth is attacked, to stand up and proclaim that no one ever has the authority
to destroy unborn life.

When a child is described as a burden or is looked upon only as a means to satisfy an emotional need, to stand up
and insist that every child is a unique and unrepeatable gift of God, a gift of God with a right to a loving and united family.

When the institution of marriage is abandoned to human selfishness or reduced to a temporary conditional arrangement
that can easily be terminated, to stand up and affirm the indissolubility of the marriage bond.

When the value of the family is threatened because of social and economic pressure, to stand up and reaffirm that the family is necessary
not only for the private good of every person, but also for the common good of every society, nation and state.

When freedom is used to dominate the weak, to squander natural resources and energy, to deny basic necessities to people,
to stand up and affirm the demands of justice and social love.

Almighty Father, give us courage to proclaim the supreme dignity of all human life and to demand that society itself give its protection.
We ask this in your name, through the redemptive act of your Son and in the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

(From Pope John Paul II's homily of October 7, 1979.)