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The Church of the Transfiguration.
Beautiful churches are a draw for me. I know that many people grumble and gripe about the grandeur of many of our Catholic Churches, but I need them in my life. We have enough ugliness in the world, I need a place full of beauty.
Each time I walk through the doors of a magnificent church, I breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t know if describing it as a sigh of relief is accurate, but it’s as if my soul sighs relief. It’s hard to explain.
Regardless, I need to be in this beautiful space in the presence of Christ.
The church we just left in DC and our new church here in Alabama are suburb churches, nothing incredible. Something happened in the 60s to art and architecture that is a great mystery that leaves one wondering, “What they heck happened?”
It’s always a little down-heartening for me to attend churches that lack beautiful art and architecture. It can give me a bad attitude sometimes. This week, at Daily Mass, I talked to God about this and He reminded me of the Transfiguration.
When Christ was here in earth, He usually looked just like a ordinary guy. He didn’t “look” like anything special and people couldn’t see Him for who He truly was—the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
He gave Peter, James, and John, though, a glimpse into His supreme magnificence.
Our beautiful churches are the best way that we humans try to depict Heaven. I’m grateful that we have so many beautiful ones to raise our hearts and minds to God.
The ordinary ones, though, are kind of like Jesus walking around when He was on earth; people couldn’t see with their eyes who He truly was.
So, God shared with me in my thoughts, “Remember what is happening on the altar. Angels and saints are in your midst adoring My Son there.”
When I started to imagine the space around the altar filled with heavenly beings it changed my attitude. While I may not always have the benefit of “seeing” what is truly happening, like the three Apostles did at the Transfiguration, incredible things are happening at the moment of Consecration—even in a suburban church on a weekday at 8:45 am.
Have a blessed Feast Day of the Transfiguration, Catholic Pilgrims.
In our second reading today, St. Paul is writing to the Christians in Corinth. He says, "To you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those everywhere who call upon the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ." It was the "called to be holy" part that caught my eye. St. Paul doesn't say we can live however we want while calling ourselves a Christian. He, also, doesn't say that we are straight up holy once we become a Christian. He says we are called to be and, that means, there is some participation on our part where we must cooperate with the graces given to us by God and be obedient to Christ's teachings and the teachings of His Church. God calls us to holiness, but we do have to desire it. If we think that we are just "good to go" because we call ourselves a Christian, it will be difficult to desire holiness. I know that I once didn't even desire it because 1. nobody ever talked to me about it. and 2. I thought calling myself a Christian meant I had an assured ticket to Heaven. Consequently, I didn't try to live any differently. In fact, unless you asked me, you wouldn't have known I was a Christian based on how I lived. To be holy means that we want to live out the virtues--courage, prudence, justice, fortitude, piety, etc,-- for love of God and for love of others. We want to orient our lives to look more like Christ's and make choices that don't follow the easy way. We are called to holiness, Catholic Pilgrims. God will work with our desire to answer that call if we ask Him. Have a blessed Sunday. *Church is Mission San Juan Baptista in CA
Continue ReadingIn the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Today, in our reading from Matthew, the Trinity is revealed. At the Baptism of Our Lord, the Father speaks of His love for His Son, The Son gives us the Sacrament of Baptism, and the Holy Spirit descends like a dove letting us know that this action is sanctified. It is holy and pleasing to God. This is why we baptize in the Trinitarian formula and every single time we do the Sign of the Cross it is a beautiful reminder of our baptism and the saving grace we received from it. We must continue to cooperate with those graces throughout our life, but it/was our entrance into the family of God. So many things happen at baptism: You become a child of God and an heir to the Kingdom. Original sin is washed away and any actual sins if above the age of reason. Your soul is permanently marked as belonging to God. Your soul is filled with grace--the Divine life. You receive the three theological gifts of Faith, Hope, and Charity. You receive the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Jesus didn't need to be baptized, but He was showing us what He wanted us to do--this was the new covenantal ritual, circumcision would not be needed anymore. Baptism is the start of our Christian life with God, Catholic Pilgrims. Through it, we are brought into the life of the Blessed Trinity. Have a beautiful Sunday.
Continue ReadingMy husband and I were talking to our daughter on the phone the other day and as we were talking, my husband told her about all the different Masses we had been to in one week. We went to our first Latin Mass the Sunday after Christmas. Then, we went to a funeral Mass in San Jose. The day after that, we went to a bilingual Mass at Mission San Juan Baptista--my 12th California Mission. And this past Sunday, we were back at our base chapel with all the familiar faces of our friends that we live with on base. It never ceases to amaze me how good it feels to just walk into a Catholic Church and know that I belong. I don't even have to know anybody. It's always nice when I do know people, but, even when I don't, I feel a great sense of belonging. As the Catholic Pilgrim, I've visited literally hundreds of Catholic Churches in the 16 years since I converted. I've been to Masses where the people spoke French, Turkish, Portuguese, Polish, and Spanish. Latin can now be added to the list. I've been to Mass in enormous cathedrals and in small caves. I've attended Mass outside with over a million Catholics and I attend daily Mass on base where sometimes it's just my son and me. In all of these different circumstances, I sense the universality of the Catholic Church. Even when I'm surrounded by people that don't look like me, I feel such a connection because of our Faith and our one shared Feast at the altar--the Eucharist, which is Jesus Christ. What a blessing to be part of this one, big, universal family, Catholic Pilgrims. Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Wednesday.
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