jim henson

Today's Art and Beauty Tuesday is Back to School by Igor Babailov.  Babailov is a contemporary American artist featured on the Art Renewal Center's website as a Living Master.

This work shows  a pensive girl, perhaps dressed in a uniform, ready for her first day back at school.  She is probably wondering how the year will be, if she will make friends and if she will like her teachers.  Her face shows a quiet hopefulness that often pervades the coming of Autumn.

I like how her face is bathed in light, even though the rest of the portrait is in darkness.  Youth, childhood and education combine to give her hope and light.

This is the first movement of John Rutter's Gloria.

I had the joy and privilege of singing this piece when I was in college.  I could hardly believe my good fortune that year.

Next week I will continue with the second movement.

Below are the Latin lyrics and English translation of this first movement.

Glória in excélsis Deo et in terra pax homínibus bonae voluntátis. Laudámus te, benedícimus te, adorámus te, glorificámus te, grátias ágimus tibi propter magnam glóriam tuam, Glória in excélsis Deo

Glory be to God on high. And in earth peace towards men of good will. We praise thee. We bless thee. We worship thee. We glorify thee. We give thanks to thee for thy great glory. Glory be to God on high.

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at a This, That and the Other Thing. This has been another huge week of posting.  Music Monday, we shared Vaughan Williams, Art and Beauty Tuesday, we spent time in A Shady Spot, Poetry Wednesday looked at the classic, The Owl and the Pussycat and Scripture Saturday talked about Spiritual Diligence and Wisdom.

In between times, we looked at St. Rose of Lima, St. Monica, some worthy non-profit organizations promoting peace, the blog Homeless in America, and new color pictures of the Great Depression from the Library of Congress.

Have a great week, everybody!

Friday's Mass readings talk about diligence--the virtue for the month of August.  The story of the wise and foolish virgins illustrates the importance of sticking with our faith even in tough times.  Mother Teresa of Calcutta was said to have endured a dark night of the soul for decades--a time when she even wondered if God existed.

Both she and St. Monica, whose feast was yesterday, lived out the faith even when it was difficult.

The first reading from Corinthians asks "Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."  


Jesus then tells us in the Gospel from Matthew, "Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."    


The wise virgins made sure they had enough oil to last them the night.  When the bridegroom came, they were ready.  Do we have enough "oil" to "last the night"?  Do we avail ourselves of the Sacraments, sacred reading and prayer to fill our own lamps with holy oil in anticipation of a long, dark night ahead?  


Today's "wisdom" is self serving and transitory.  Strength and diligence is necessary for the wisdom that comes from God. 

Today is the feast of St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine.  She is known for her tireless prayer for her husband who was an abusive and ill-tempered  pagan and for her son, who had left the faith.

St. Monica is the patron of wives and mothers, abuse victims, alcoholics, victims of verbal abuse, widows, victims of adultery and unfaithfulness, and those in difficult marriages.

St. Monica is the saint to pray for a variety of painful situations.

St. Monica, pray for us!

The Library of Congress has released some never before seen color photos taken during the Depression.  This one was taken some time during 1941 or 1942 in Washington, DC.  The color in these photos takes the Depression years from a nebulous black and white dream time, into reality.

Right away I noticed a couple of things.  First, the number of children.  Back then, there were lots of children and they played together around the neighborhood(s).  Second, the gender differentiation.  The girls are all in dresses and the boys all have sticks they are using as toy guns.  Third, the fact that their toys are self-made (the sticks, anyway--I do see a bike on the right.)

 I bet that building still stands in Washington.

This is one of my favorite poems and has been since I was a child.  Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat is a children's classic.

My son had this book on tape when he was a kid.

I found a powerful and challenging blog--Homeless in America.  It is a Catholic blog, complete with quotes and inspiration on the sidebar by Dorothy Day, Mother Teresa and Saint Bernadette.  Yet, it does not (that I've seen) argue or pontificate about what style of liturgy is the "right" style.  It doesn't wring its hands about the minutia of daily worship.  It doesn't spend its time and waste its space complaining about how horrible things are in the Church.

Instead, it challenges its readers to think about the "least" in the world; in America.  It reaches beyond a particular political fashion du jour and gets to the meat of Christianity--seeing God in the poor; living our faith in Jesus by getting out of our spiritual and financial navel gazing and putting our values where our faith is.

This is where Catholicism excels--although not nearly as much as it could.  The Church built the first schools.  The Church built the first hospitals.  The Church has nurtured men and women who have literally given up everything to serve God's people year after year for their entire lives.

We are being made impotent as a church by infighting about things that even Jesus admitted would not last. It is time we wake up.  It is time we live our faith.  It is time we become Christian.

I wanted to call attention to a new category in my sidebar (second to the last).  It is called Promoting Peace and highlights organizations that help people of greatest need internationally.

The first is Anti Slavery International. This is the world's oldest human rights organization and works exclusively to stop slavery, which still exists today (even in the United States--there was recently a story about a woman who was held without pay and without freedom as a "housekeeper" in Montgomery County, Maryland.)  Horrible things are happening to people, most especially, children, all over the world and it is up to us to stop it.

Catholic Relief Services are all over the world, often the first responders to disasters as they happen.  They are recognized as one of the most effective organizations in the world.

Central Asia Institute and its related websites, Pennies for Peace and  Three Cups of Tea, was founded by Greg Mortenson, a former mountain climber turned philanthropist.   After a failed attempt to climb K2, the world's second highest mountain, Greg lost his way and was rescued by local people in the Pakistani village he wandered into.  Afterwards, he promised them he would build them a school, and, literally, went back to America and started to fund raise from scratch.  He went on to build a bridge and school for that town, and 144 more schools.   Visit his websites, and look in your library for his books.

The other worthy organization is SOS Children's Villages.  They house orphans around the world, not in orphanages, but in homes with family based care.

Please consider giving to one or more of these organizations and promote true peace in the world.

Michele has let me know of a Catholic organization that works internationally to help children and the elderly in need throughout the world.  Chalice is a Canadian Catholic sponsorship program that operates in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and Haiti.  Chalice is considered one of Canada's best charities.

This painting, A Shady Spot on a Summer's Day by Henry William Banks Davis, really made me think of the cows that live up the street from us and huddle under the tree that boarders the stream they drink from.  I love looking at them when I drive by, especially the babies.  In spite of the title, what I notice in this painting is the light.  Everywhere there seems to be light.  And, in spite of the proliferation of light, Davis really turns up the amperage on the stream where the water blindingly reflects the sunlight.  This definitely captures the heat of midsummer.

Today is the feast of one of my favorite saints, Rose of Lima.

Rose was born in Lima, Peru in 1586.  She was named Isabelle but called Rose because of her beauty and rosy cheeks.  When she was 11 years old, she took the name Rose as a confirmation name.

She supported her family by her lace making and embroidery.

She dedicated herself to God early in her life and endured a decade of pressure from her parents to marry.

She was a third order Dominican and was the first American born saint.

She is the patroness of the Americas, needle workers, florists and gardeners.

This is the third movement of Vaughan Williams' Folk Song Suit--another favorite of wind ensembles and one of my favorites.

Sorry about the complete lack of visuals with this--not my choice!

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at a This, That and the Other Thing.

Music Monday this week featured Percy Grainger.  Art and Beauty Tuesday highlighted the most exquisite sculpture of The Assumption by Egid Assam and Poetry Wednesday was a reprise of Billy Collins' poem, Forgetfulness.  I reviewed 2 books this week: The Essential Jesus and The Great Emergence.  For Scripture Saturday, I talked about Jesus' prescription for worry and how trusting in God could change society.  Also on Saturday, I talked about calumny and detraction as a sin against peace.

On a lighter note, I posted a picture of 2 alpacas that I saw on the square at the farmer's market this morning.

Have a wonderful week, everyone.

I was thinking of calumny and detraction today.  They are 2 big words which encompass the sin of gossip. Gossip can be a sin whether or not what we say is true.

Detraction is saying something against another person that is not true--spreading falsehood against one's neighbor.

Calumny is harming another's reputation by saying something that is, nevertheless, true.

Both are sins against the 8th commandment and both are discouragingly easy to do.

They are also both sins against peace. If we are to have peace we are to be peace.  It is difficult, but everything is possible through the grace of God.

For a complete change of pace, I wanted to share a picture of these 2 alpacas I saw today at the farmer's market. They were selling lots of cool things made from their wool.  Or, perhaps I should say, lots of warm things! ;)

Look at the birds above your head
     they neither plant nor reap
     they neither store nor hoard

Look at the flowers beneath your feet
     they neither card nor spin
    they neither sow nor weave
yet King Solomon shone less brightly than they. 

So why worry about your life
     what you will get to eat
     what you will have to wear. 

Matthew 6:25-33 

Power is wielded by inducing anxiety, and in our day it is all pervading. We are made to be anxious over everything from our appearance and possessions to the possibility of contracting a rare and fatal disease to the supposed imminent apocalypse.

What if no one bought into the anxiety? If those on the bottom of the social scale lived as though they had no anxieties, think of how this could change society.

The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why by Phyllis Tickle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle is a sociological study on the history and possible future of Christianity.

This text is unusual for its inclusion of and respect for both Catholicism and Orthodoxy in its 163 pages of exploration on how Christianity has changed, from just prior to the Reformation until today.

Its basic thesis is that society, and as a result, the church, changes drastically every 500 years, beginning with the rise of Monasticism about 500 years after Christ, with the transition periods being the most disruptive.

She talks about the effect of a myriad number of things on Christianity including such diverse phenomena as Charles Darwin, Alcoholics Anonymous, Rosy the Riveter and Leave it to Beaver.

The book really is a hopeful one all in all, of the survival of Christianity and even leaves us, in the footnotes, with a prophesy by Joachim of Fiore, that divides Christianity into bi-millennial units emphasizing the Father (from the beginning of time to the birth of Christ) , the Son (up to the year 2000), the Holy Spirit (from 2000-4000) and a glorious union of the three from the years 4000-5000 AD.  

View all my reviews »

For Poetry Wednesday this week, we are featuring Billy Collins' poem, Forgetfulness.   The older I get, the more I identify with this poem.

This is a detail of a sculpture of The Assumption of the Virgin by Egid Quirin Asam who was an 18th century German sculptor and architect. Portraying the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, commemorated on Sunday, is not an easy thing to do in 3 dimensions. Somehow Mary is suspended in the air, wearing a gorgeously patterned gilt dress and being helped to heaven by 2 angels, wearing gold sandals and trailing golden robes.

When looking at the sculpture as a whole, we can see the sculpted clouds above her head as she is taken into heaven and below, the astonished disciples look up into the sky while one (Thomas, perhaps?) reaches into her tomb in disbelief.

The level of artistry in this piece is almost unfathomable. I never cease to be dumbfounded at the skill it must take to turn something like stone into a living form.

There is probably no one who has inspired more great art in the history of mankind, just might be the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This is part VI of Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger and is a favorite among wind ensembles.  As its title suggests, Lost Lady Found is a joyful and upbeat piece.  

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at a This, That and the Other Thing.

     Concluding prayer* 

            God, our Father, in the transfigured glory of Christ your Son, you strengthen our faith by confirming the witness of your prophets and by showing to us the splendor of your beloved Son, help us to become heirs to the eternal life with Him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

 Prayer.  O Christ, you will reform our lowly body and make it like your glorious one, we pray for our brothers and sisters who have died that they may share your glory forever. Amen.

For I know the Lord is great,
that our Lord is high above all gods.
The Lord does whatever he wills,
in heaven, on earth, in the seas.

He summons clouds from the ends of the earth;
makes lightning produce the rain;
from his treasuries he sends forth the wind.

~Psalm 135 Friday, April 13, 2010, Evening Prayer

It rained this week. It was the first real rain we'd had in a long, long time. It was as if God was sending us a heavenly cleansing.

Another symbolism of rain is one of sadness or trial. Evening Prayer for Friday also tells us to rejoice in our trials. Very hard to do. It is very difficult when our faith is tested, but scripture tells us that it leads to maturity.

My brothers and sisters, count it pure joy when you are involved in every sort of trial. Realize that when your faith is tested this makes for endurance. Let endurance come to its perfection so that you may be fully mature and lacking in nothing.

~James 1:2-4

     Concluding prayer* 

            God, our Father, in the transfigured glory of Christ your Son, you strengthen our faith by confirming the witness of your prophets and by showing to us the splendor of your beloved Son, help us to become heirs to the eternal life with Him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Day 8.  The Transfiguration of the Lord is one shining moment in the life of the apostles that prepares them for the trials ahead. Peter, James and John experience the glory in the mountain of Transfiguration. This is a foretaste of the glory that will be theirs in the Father’s kingdom, and it will let them see them through the “terrible” days when Jesus undergoes His passion and death, and when they themselves are persecuted in his name. 

Prayer.  O Christ, upon the mountaintop you let the light of your face shin over Moses and Elijah. We ask your blessing upon your people who call on your name, who want to belong to the kingdom of light and life. Amen.

     Concluding prayer* 

            God, our Father, in the transfigured glory of Christ your Son, you strengthen our faith by confirming the witness of your prophets and by showing to us the splendor of your beloved Son, help us to become heirs to the eternal life with Him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Day 7.  Without the Risen Christ, Transfiguration has no meaning. It would appear to be just futile show without a happy ending. But the Resurrection confirms the golry that was shown during the transfiguration and which rightly belongs to Jesus. The golry will be manifested eventually in His second coming for the last judgment.

 Prayer.  O Christ, you gave light to the world when the glory of the Creator arose over you. We pray for the men and women of good will that they walk in your light. Amen.

I wrote this poem this year in the summer heat.  The Queen Anne's lace shot up above anything else that managed to grow in this drought. It reminded me of a young girl.

The picture is Innocent Wedding by Jean Eugene Buland.

Prayer

Father of mercies, you glorified your heavenly Son and revealed yourself in the bright cloud, grant that we may listen in faith to have a love for the word of Christ. Amen.

Profession of Faith

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit; born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to the dead, on the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence, He shall come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.

Concluding prayer*

God, our Father, in the transfigured glory of Christ your Son, you strengthen our faith by confirming the witness of your prophets and by showing to us the splendor of your beloved Son, help us to become heirs to the eternal life with Him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Sixth Day

Day 6. The value of the vision and the accompanying glory is its gift of equipping us for service and endurance. No one can stay on the mountaintop of Tabor forever, for there are responsibilities in the valley. Christ fulfilled His life’s work not in the glory but in the valley, and it was there He was truly and completely the Messiah.

Prayer. O Christ, you took Peter, James and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. We pray for our Pope and bishops that they may inspire in your people the hope of being transfigured at the last day. Amen.

   I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit; born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to the dead, on the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence, He shall come again to judge the living and the dead. 
 I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.

     Concluding prayer* 

            God, our Father, in the transfigured glory of Christ your Son, you strengthen our faith by confirming the witness of your prophets and by showing to us the splendor of your beloved Son, help us to become heirs to the eternal life with Him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Fifth Day

Day 5.  The transfiguration anticipates the paschal mystery which begins with the cross. Jesus can attain His permanent glory in his resurrection. But first He must die on the cross. Transfiguration appears as a preparation and strengthening for the disciples to face the coming passion and death of Jesus, when His glory seems most unseen. It was given to the disciples to prepare them for the tragedy of the cross.

Prayer.  O Christ, before your passion and death you revealed the resurrection to your disciple on Mount Tabor; we pray for your church which labors amid the cares and anxieties of this world, that in its trials it may always be transfigured by the joy of your ictory. Amen. 

Karen Edelmann is a contemporary artist who teaches at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, NY.

Her colorful and painterly style is remeniscent of the Impressionists with a modern flavor. I especially like the above painting, End Day. Ms. Edelmann seems to see the world as consisting of rich, beautiful colors.

The above painting is on sale at The National Arts Club.

Here is another performance by my friend, Elisa Koehler, this time with the Victorian Cornet Band in the Vintage Band Festival in Minnesota on Friday.  Wish I could have been there!

        Concluding prayer 

  In the transfiguration episode, we can see just how much Peter lived his calling with enthusiasm and with a sense of responsibility. “Master, it is wonderful for us to be here, so let us make three tents, one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Here we see Peter in all his generosity. At this moment he feels at the height of his power and ability. He is growing in awareness of his responsibility, the weight he carries on his shoulders. 

  The Transfiguration was necessary to help the apostles increase their faith and recognize the divinity of Jesus, His union with the Father and the Spirit as well as with the prophets of the Old Testament. Maybe there is another kind of transfiguration that is needed for us so that, like the apostles, when the vision was over, we may be able to “look up and see no none, but only Jesus.” The transfiguration to which we refer is the indwelling of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Word, in our neighbor as well as in us. The kind of transfiguration will enable us to see the common things of earth, sky and sea with a new wonder and fresh joy. It will also enable us to see the presence of Jesus within ourselves and in the people who cross our path, even if they drive us crazy. We may think that such an attitude is too difficult to acquire but it is something that we can continuously ask for and desire.

Sunday Snippets is brought to you each week by RAnn at a This, That and the Other Thing.

Our Music Monday this week was one of my favorite pieces, How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place by Brahms. For Art and Beauty Tuesday, we looked at The Campfire by Winslow Homer.    For Poetry Wednesday, I featured Sonnet 29 by Shakespeare, When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men's Eyes.

Two posts this week have been borrowed from Paul at Sober Catholic.  The first is about a man's encounter with St. Dymphna and the second is about this 40 day period we are currently in between the Feast of the Transfiguration and the Triumph of the Holy Cross as being a second Lent.

Next I reported on an article, The Transfiguration of Creation by Vincent Rossi.

Three of my posts have been the prayers of the Novena to Our Lord of the Transfiguration from EWTN. These posts will continue for 6 more days until the 9 day novena is over.

Scripture Saturday this week is about the tie between the Feast of the Transfiguration and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which also happened on August 6.

Today's Scripture readings are taken from the Mass readings for the Feast of the Transfiguration, August 6th.

August 6 is also the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. These two events, occurring on the same day, beg the question: Who is God? Whose power and light do we follow and why?

The first reading is from the Book of Daniel:

As I watched:
Thrones were set up
and the Ancient One took his throne.
His clothing was bright as snow,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;
his throne was flames of fire,
with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire
flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.
The court was convened and the books were opened.
Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14 

Here, God is seen as light and fire.  He is also convening a court of judgement.  On us, perhaps?

The first atomic bomb that was ever tested was code named "Trinity".  Why in the world would the designer of the atom bomb, Robert Oppenheimer, chose that name?!   He said later, that it was because of the religious poetry of John Donne: "Batter my heart, Three-person'd-God".  

When  he saw the results of the first atom bomb test, Oppenheimer quoted the Hindu scripture, Bhagavad Gita, "We are become as gods, destroyers of worlds."

In the second reading on the feast of the Transfiguration, St. Peter tells the early Christians that the power he witnessed at the Transfiguration was "a lamp shining in a dark place"  and that we should "be attentive to it...until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."

We did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received honor and glory from God the Father
when that unique declaration came to him from the majestic glory,
“This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven
while we were with him on the holy mountain.
Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.
You will do well to be attentive to it,
as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
2 Peter 1: 16-19

From where do we get our power?  Where is our trust?  In man's ability to destroy the world or in God's eternal Light?

Note: Much of the information for this post came from an article in Inside the Vatican magazine by Robert Moynihan via Spirit Daily.

   I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit; born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to the dead, on the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence, He shall come again to judge the living and the dead. 
 I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.

      Concluding prayer 

            God, our Father, in the transfigured glory of Christ your Son, you strengthen our faith by confirming the witness of your prophets and by showing to us the splendor of your beloved Son, help us to become heirs to the eternal life with Him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Second Day

Sometimes during the intense moments of our lives, we ask ourselves, in a very special way, “what we ought to do… what our vocation and responsibility is…” These are moments when we are touched by the pain of injustice around us, and with our strength, we share something in the hope that the things may change. This is the time when we experience the presence of God who leads us toward the future full of hope. This is the moment when God speaks to us and we become so enlightened as to understand the meaning. This is how Jesus felt when He was transfigured in the Mountain of Tabor.Prayer. God you have scattered the darkness with your light and have poured your light into our hearts so that we might look upon the radiant face of Jesus Christ. Noursih in us the desires to contemplate your beloved Son. Amen. 

       One day Jesus left Nazareth, His hometown, and lived in Capernaum. During that time it was a big city, not distant form Nazareth. The decision entailed a gesture of farewell to His mother and his town mates. Everyone making a decision must say goodbye and give up something. A vocation of service always signifies some form of sacrifices. It is the price of the Kingdom of God.

 Prayer

 Father of mercies, you glorified your heavenly Son and revealed yourself in the bright cloud, grant that we may listen in faith to have a love for the word of Christ. Amen.

       Profession of Faith

   I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit; born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to the dead, on the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From thence, He shall come again to judge the living and the dead. 
 I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.

    

  Concluding prayer

            God, our Father, in the transfigured glory of Christ your Son, you strengthen our faith by confirming the witness of your prophets and by showing to us the splendor of your beloved Son, help us to become heirs to the eternal life with Him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Much of the ideas in this post are taken from the essay, The Transfiguration of Creation by Vincent Rossi. Hat tip to Vivificat for pointing the way there.

Today is the feast of the Transfiguration in both the East and the West.  The biblical Transfiguration occurred when Jesus took Peter, James and John up on top of a mountain and suddenly, Jesus became transfigured: "his clothes became dazzlingly white" and He began to converse with Moses and Elijah, who appeared with Him.  [Mark 9:3-4]

What is Transfiguration? 
Often, we hear this story and think, "That's nice that Peter, James and John got to see that."  Like Peter, we completely miss the point!  ("Rabbi, it is good for us to be here.  Let us put up three tents--one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." [Mark 9:5])  However, as Rossi illustrates in his essay, there is *much* more to it than that.

The English word for the biblical Greek term for "transfiguration" is metamorphosis--a profound change in form from one stage to the next in the life history of an organism. Rossi says that it "signif(ies) the crossing of (or) passing through a boundary" and that "the cosmos itself is (a) three-fold (created) boundary" of time, space and matter that "is breached, torn open and transfigured by the power of the Triune God. The boundary is between the Divine and the human, the uncreated and the created, eternity and time, the heaven and the earth, death in life, and life in death."  To transfigure, then, is to completely change.  In the case of humanity and creation, it means to heal--to make it become like God--to cross that boundary to the Divine.

God calls us to "consecrate and transfigure the world".  At the Transfiguration, the Light from Christ shown on the apostles themselves and even transfigured Christ's own garments.  Thus, we are called, as Christians, to become transfigured, to transfigure society and even to transfigure all (creation) that we come in contact with.  We must, like St. Francis of Assisi, treat everything in creation as having God's Presence.  We must recognize the sacramental nature of all things and all people.

Barriers to Transfiguration
A big task?  Yes.  Rossi writes that the Church fathers point out three obstacles to this transfiguration:  ignorance, forgetfulness and sloth.  Ignorance, not of "facts" for we have those at our fingertips, but of God's Presence in all of creation.  Similarly, the sin of forgetfulness, involves forgetting that God is in all He created, including ourselves and all those we have been put with on this earth. Sloth, in this case, is linked to despair.  We think we can do nothing to change the world.  We are even sure, many times, that we can do nothing to change ourselves so that is what we do--nothing.

The Way to Heal God's World 
 How can this be done?  St. Paul gives us the way in Romans.  

 "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice--holy and pleasing to God.  This is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1-2) 

If we seek to be one with God and "be transformed by the renewing of our minds" , we will think like Him and do His work.  We gain the ability to do this "by the mercies of God".  What, specifically, does this involve? It involves a total and complete transformation of ourselves and all that surrounds us.

Notes About Scripture Translation
Offering our bodies as a living sacrifice, does not involve the physical only, but the spiritual, emotional and mental as well.

"Reasonable" here does mean merely "logical" or what we in the west think of as the mind, but "like Christ" who is the "Logos" or Word.  God's Word is what created the world and all that it contains, ("and God said, 'Let there be light") and we are called to transfigure it through Christ.

"Service" is better translated as "worship."  Some translations say "This is your spiritual worship."  So, to be transfigured is really the true worship of God because it involves the transformation of our whole selves and our very lives.

To "renew our minds", we must remember that the "mind" (nous) also involves the heart.  Eastern Christian prayer begins with placing the mind in the heart with which we are able to see God.

The Transfiguration opened the eyes of the disciples to be able to see Christ as He really is.
We, as Christians, are called to join with Christ to heal and transfigure our world, both our fellow human beings, and all of creation.  We are called to heal each other's hunger, sadness, despair, and the spiritual forgetfulness of God's all-consuming presence.

We can only do this by becoming one with Christ.

Another great post from Paul at Sober Catholic.  He points out that tomorrow is the feast of the Transfiguration--40 days prior to the feast of the Triumph of the Cross.  Forty days is an important number in the church.  It is a time to reflect, a time to make new, a time to strengthen our resolve and a time to come to God in prayer.

In light of this I will post a 9 day Novena to Our Lord of the Transfiguration starting tomorrow.  Beginning on September 5, I'll post a Triumph of the Cross Novena to end on that feast. I'll see where God leads me on the rest of these 40 days.

Paul describes this time as a  "second Lent", a "do-over"--a time to re-do a Lent experience in a Church of second chances.

In this hot and dry time of year, we dearly need a second chance, a welcome respite, a drop of water in the desert.

Praise God for second chances!!

Paul, over at Sober Catholic, has pointed out a beautiful article on one man's encounter with St. Dymphna.  Both he and his son struggle with mental illness, and he gets his strength from St. Dymphna. He started saying a novena to her, and admits he was not very enthusiastic at first.

 "...but I was determined to simply open myself up and plead for her intercession. In the process of doing that, I finally ‘got it'. I knew that there was someone in heaven pleading my case and my son's. I probably entered the novena in bad faith. I was unhappy and doubting. In the end, I felt like I had a new friend. That was an immense comfort, and I can't see any way that comfort could have come to me except by her intercession."

The end result, Mark admits, was not a "cure" but a strength given to he and his son to carry on and improve their lives.

Another fascinating result of devotion to St. Dymphna mentioned in the article is the miracles associated with the Shrine of St. Dymphna in Gheel, Belgium where Dymphna fled from her father's advances. So many who suffered from mental illness flocked to the town, that the Sisters of St. Augustine built an infirmary for them and the townspeople took many into their home. The forward thinking model of getting patients out of hospitals and into the community was many hundreds of years ahead of its time.

This is one of my favorite of Shakespeare's Sonnets.  I love how the couplet at the end drives the point home.  I like to end my poems with this powerful ending, like a good gymnastic landing.  

Today's Art and Beauty Tuesday is The Campfire by Winslow Homer.  Having just camped myself, I thought this would be a nice painting to focus on today.  The juxtaposition of darkness, not only in the background, but in the clothing of the figures, with the bright light of the fire shows Homer's true talent and ability with paint.

The boy inside the tent shields his eyes from the light, while the young man sitting nearest the fire seems oblivious to its effect, lost in his own world.  The fire itself seems to crackle with life, its sparks flying upwards and out of the frame.  It is easy to forget this *is* a painting and Homer really captures the mesmerizing effect of fire, as well as its life like quality.  It is also easy to see, in a setting like this, how light became identified with the Energy of the Creator.

Note:  As usual, I can't do justice to the painting in the space allotted in this blog.  Believe it or not, Wiki has a good, detailed image of The Campfire.