TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD!

TRANSFIGURATION
Today is the Transfiguration of our Lord in front of the three Apostles. Can you imagine what that must have been like? Probably made them think that they were going to die at any moment. Having fears like this only to have Jesus say, "Do not be afraid." Only if we are under the influence of sin would we be shivering in our boots. I just hope that the end of my life, I can say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the Faith."
Have you ever wondered why you keep committing the same faults over and over again? I do. I'm a repeater. It's very frustrating! It makes me think of the St. Augustine prayer for after Communion. Maybe it should be before Confession.

Before Thine eyes, O Lord, we bring our sins, and we compare them to the stripes we have received.
It we examine the evil we have wrought, what we suffer is little, what we deserve is great.
What we have committed is very grievous, what we have suffered is very slight.
We feel the punishment of sin, yet withdraw not from the obstinacy of sinning.
Under Thy lash our inconstancy is visited, but our neck is not bent.
Our life groans under sorrow, yet amends not in deed.
If Thou spare us, we correct not our ways; if Thou punish, we cannot endure it.
In time of correction we confess our wrongdoing; after Thy visitation we forget that we have wept.
if Thou stretchest forth Thy hand, we promise amendment; If Thou strikest, we cry out for mercy.
If Thou sparest, we again provoke Thee to strike.
Here we are before Thee, O Lord, confessedly guilty; we know that unless Thou pardon we shall deservedly perish.
Grant then, O almighty Father, without our deserving it, the pardon we ask; Thou Who madest out of nothing those who ask Thee.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

V. Deal not with us, O Lord, according to our sins.
R. Neither reward us according to our iniquities

Let us pray.

O God, Who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy suppliant people, and turn away the scourges of Thy wrath, which we deserve for our sins. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.



St. Andrew of Crete speaks on the point that we might come across in our daily lives; and that is if the Holy Spirit somehow makes His presence known, will we do what is right with it?:

"If the vocation revealed to thee this day be so great and so holy, reverence the call of God. Do not ignore thyself, despise not a gift so great, show not thyself unworthy of the grace, be not so slothful in thy life as to lose this treasure of heaven. Leave earth to the earth, and let the dead bury their dead; disdaining all that passes away, all that dies with the world and the flesh, follow even to heaven, without turning aside, Christ who leads the way through this world for thee. Take to thine assistance fear and desire, lest thou faint or lose thy love. Give thyself up wholly; be supple to the Word in the Holy Ghost, in order to attain this pure and blessed end: thy deification, together with the enjoyment of unspeakable goods. By zeal for the virtues, by contemplation of the truth, by wisdom, attain to Wisdom, who is the principle of all, and in whom all things subsist."

After our Gospel from this past Sunday, let's hope and pray that our ears hear what we need to hear, and our tongue proclaim it everywhere. Let Christ say to us: "Ephpheta! Be thou opened!"