From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:
This is my beloved Son, listen to him.

Jesus took Peter, James, and John
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
from the cloud came a voice,
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what rising from the dead meant.

The readings today actually point to three mountains (or hills) in the Holy Land. Abraham, in the first reading, takes his own son Isaac – out of blind obedience to God – to be sacrificed upon a high mountain in the land of Moriah. Saint Paul points us to Mount Calvary, where Christ Jesus dies upon the Cross for the salvation of the world. And in Saint Mark’s gospel, we find Jesus upon the mountain of His transfiguration. He is transfigured before Peter, James, and John. His clothing becomes dazzling white. In transfiguration, Jesus shows Himself to be God.

The mountain is a symbol of a call to prayer. In this Lenten season, examine your own call to pray more fervently each day so that your life, too, may continue to be transfigured by the mountain of prayer. At times, people have shared with me their personal, daily prayer book. I see that these books often appear practically worn out because they really do use it each day. A Knight of Columbus is to carry their rosary in their pocket at all times. Many, too, pray the rosary each day.

In this year of Eucharistic revival, I wish that we are more attentive to this practice of personal prayer, particularly before Mass. We need to be more alert about maintaining silence before Mass begins – in the sacristy, in the vestibule, where the people sit and kneel – so we all can prepare ourselves before the Tabernacle of the Lord. I know that we enjoy one another, and this is good, but our conversations can wait until after Mass to allow one another a time of personal prayer before our communal celebration of the Mass itself. We should cultivate this practice at every Mass – all of us, together. Let’s give it a try, and I think a lot of good will come from it.

Peter said it well, upon the mountain of transfiguration, “Lord it is good that we are here.” Let us be more attentive prayer in our life. Let me be perfectly clear: more things happen through prayer – answers, forgiveness, healing, praise, thanksgiving – than we will ever dream. For the sake of salvation of your immortal soul, never shortchange the power of personal prayer and the power of our prayer together as we offer the Mass.

Twice in my own life, I have been at the Mountain of Transfiguration in Israel. I could see, and actually feel, Jesus transfiguring Himself in dazzling white. This Lent, commit yourself to a lifestyle of prayer, both personal and with the community of the faithful so that one day, when your journey has ended, you may feel and see the transfigured Lord face-to-face.

Monsignor Michael J. Cariglio, Jr., Pastor & Rector, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica – Saint Anthony Parish

God put Abraham to the test.
He called to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am!” he replied.
Then God said:
“Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah.
There you shall offer him up as a holocaust
on a height that I will point out to you.”

When they came to the place of which God had told him,
Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.
Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the LORD’s messenger called to him from heaven,
“Abraham, Abraham!”
“Here I am!” he answered.
“Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the messenger.
“Do not do the least thing to him.
I know now how devoted you are to God,
since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.”
As Abraham looked about,
he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.
So he went and took the ram
and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son.

Again the LORD’s messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:
“I swear by myself, declares the LORD,
that because you acted as you did
in not withholding from me your beloved son,
I will bless you abundantly
and make your descendants as countless
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;
your descendants shall take possession
of the gates of their enemies,
and in your descendants all the nations of the earth
shall find blessing—
all this because you obeyed my command.”

R. (116:9) I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
I believed, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

Brothers and sisters:
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son
but handed him over for us all,
how will he not also give us everything else along with him?

Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones?
It is God who acquits us, who will condemn?
Christ Jesus it is who died—or, rather, was raised—
who also is at the right hand of God,
who indeed intercedes for us.

It has long been a Catholic understanding that when circumstances prevent one from receiving Holy Communion, it is possible to make an Act of Spiritual Communion, which is a source of grace. Spiritual Communion is an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and lovingly embrace him at a time or in circumstances when one cannot receive Him in sacramental Communion. The most common reason for making an Act of Spiritual Communion is when a person cannot attend Mass. Acts of Spiritual Communion increase our desire to receive sacramental Communion and help us avoid the sins that would make us unable to receive Holy Communion worthily.

Spiritual Communion Prayer

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul.

Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

I embrace you as if you were already there

And unite myself wholly to you.

Never permit me to be separated from you.

Amen.