Descending from Mount Tabor

Today, the Eucharist which we are preparing to celebrate takes us in spirit to Mount Tabor together with the Apostles Peter, James and John, to admire in rapture the splendour of the transfigured Lord. In the event of the Transfiguration we contemplate the mysterious encounter between history, which is being built every day, and the blessed inheritance that awaits us in heaven in full union with Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

We, pilgrims on earth, are granted to rejoice in the company of the transfigured Lord when we immerse ourselves in the things of above through prayer and the celebration of the divine mysteries. But, like the disciples, we too must descend from Tabor into daily life where human events challenge our faith. On the mountain we saw; on the paths of life we are asked tirelessly to proclaim the Gospel which illuminates the steps of believers…

…May Mary, our tender and caring Mother, help us to be bright rays of the saving light of her Son Jesus.

-Blessed John Paul II, Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, August 6, 1999

We must obey God rather than men

Peter and the Apostles stood before the Sanhedrin. They again faced the jealous high priest who had thrown them into prison the night before. 

“We gave you strict orders did we not, to stop teaching in that name,” the high priest said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

The Apostles were not afraid. They replied: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5: 17-29).

We encounter these words in the first reading today, and they hold profound meaning for each and every one of us—we must obey God rather than men.

In this “world of men”—this culture—the option to obey God rather than men is often hidden behind a wall of distractions.

Just picture it: A young woman wakes up in the morning and immediately turns on the news to fill her mind as she drinks her coffee and prepares for the day. She puts her headphones in after locking the door, blasting music throughout the entire commute. She gets to work and immerses herself in it, filling up any breaks with texting and YouTube videos. At the end of the day she walks home to the same soundtrack, planning to spend the evening with her favorite shows.