19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Friends,

On Tuesday of this past week, we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This is one of my favorite feast days in our liturgical calendar. You may remember that we always focus on this episode of Jesus' life on one of the Sundays during Lent every year, as well as on August 6. Why is it so special? Jesus, before his death and resurrection, reveals his glory to his inner circle of Peter, James, and John. Moses and Elijah also appear conversing with him as his glory shines through his humanity. The Father speaks and is heard by the Apostles: “This is my beloved son. Listen to him.” 

Through his Transfiguration, Jesus shows what is to be our glory in him. Our own humanity will one day participate in the glory of the Trinity! Our own bodies will be glorified. This is an amazing gift that should give us great hope as we move forward in life. As Bishop Bill likes to say, quoting a woman from his time working at a soup kitchen in Arizona, “Remember, this all ends in glory!” … Sticking with Bishop Bill for a moment, you might recall that he begins almost every Mass by saying, “It is good that we are here.” These are the same words Peter utters on the mountain as he experiences the Transfiguration. At Mass, we also get to experience Jesus in his humanity and divinity!

This week on Thursday, August 15, we have one of our holy days of obligation: the Solemnity of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this feast, we see Mary following her son into heaven, body and soul. She first enters into what Jesus revealed at the Transfiguration: the glorification of her humanity in her own body. Again, this is our destiny. Jesus has revealed it to us, and we have seen one of our own – Mary – already enter into this culminating event of our existence. And it won’t end!

As we continue to read through and reflect on the Bread of Life Discourse in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, let’s keep in mind that it is through Jesus, feeding us with his very Body and Blood, that we become capable of the glory God created us for.

Peace.

-Fr. Kennell