Opening Prayer:

God our Father,
Help us to hear your Son.
Enlighten us with your word,
that we may find the way to your glory.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God forever and ever.

Catechism Quote of the Week:
“The Transfiguration”

A Foretaste of the Kingdom: The Transfiguration

CCC 554: “From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master “began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the others understand it any better than he. In this context the mysterious episode of Jesus’ Transfiguration takes place on a high mountain, before three witnesses chosen by himself: Peter, James and John. Jesus’ face and clothes become dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah appear, speaking “of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem”. A cloud covers him and a voice from heaven says: “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!””

CCC 555: “For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter’s confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to “enter into his glory”. Moses and Elijah had seen God’s glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets had announced the Messiah’s sufferings. Christ’s Passion is the will of the Father: the Son acts as God’s servant; The cloud indicates the presence of the Holy Spirit. “The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining cloud.” You were transfigured on the mountain, and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ our God, so that when they should see you crucified they would understand that your Passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you truly are the splendor of the Father.”

CCC 556: “On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfiguration. Jesus’ baptism proclaimed “the mystery of the first regeneration”, namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration “is the sacrament of the second regeneration”: our own Resurrection. From now on we share in the Lord’s Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body of Christ. the Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ’s glorious coming, when he “will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body.” But it also recalls that “it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God”: ^“Peter did not yet understand this when he wanted to remain with Christ on the mountain. It has been reserved for you, Peter, but for after death. For now, Jesus says: “Go down to toil on earth, to serve on earth, to be scorned and crucified on earth. Life goes down to be killed; Bread goes down to suffer hunger; the Way goes down to be exhausted on his journey; the Spring goes down to suffer thirst; and you refuse to suffer?””

Jesus’ Ascent to Jerusalem

CCC 568: “Christ’s Transfiguration aims at strengthening the apostles’ faith in anticipation of his Passion: the ascent on to the “high mountain” prepares for the ascent to Calvary. Christ, Head of the Church, manifests what his Body contains and radiates in the sacraments: “the hope of glory” (Col 1:27; cf.: St. Leo the Great, Sermo 51, 3: PL 54, 310C).”

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Numbers 554-556, 568.

Lenten Activities:

Stations of the Cross:
Tuesday:
5:30pm Stations of the Cross at St. Gabriel
6:00pm Mass at St. Gabriel
Wednesday:
1:00pm Ascension Lenten Program at St. Catherine
5:30pm Stations of the Cross at St. Catherine
6:00pm Mass at St. Catherine
6:30pm Ascension Lenten Program at St. Anne
Thursday:
4:30pm Stations of the Cross at St. Raphael
5:00pm Mass at St. Raphael
Friday:
5:00pm Stations of the Cross at St. Anne
5:30 – 7:30pm Fish Fry at St. Anne Hall

Benediction and Evening Prayer:
Sunday evenings from 5:00 – 5:30pm
Feb. 26 at St. Raphael
Mar. 5 at St. Catherine
Mar. 12 at St. Anne
Apr. 2 at St. Gabriel

Lenten Companion Study Program:
Wednesday’s throughout Lent
1:00-2:00pm at St. Catherine
6:30-7:30pm at St. Anne (Maria Hall)

Lenten Penance Service:
March 19 – For St. Catherine and St. Gabriel
at 2:00-3:00pm at St. Catherine
March 26 – For St. Anne and St. Raphael
at 12:00-1:00pm at St. Anne