Sunday Church Bulletin
Feb 17, 2008

 

VALENTINE’S LOVE AFFAIR!

 

On the 14th of February the world gets ‘all starry & misty eyed’ with the amorous raptures of sweethearts.  Every    Valentine’s Day signals the occasion for a special date, the sending of cards, E-cards, U-tube & text messages and gifts to one’s ‘Dearly Beloved’.  In nature the stirrings of    Spring-time begin to churn the mating instincts of birds, animals and fauna to embark on a new courtship for the perpetuation of their species. 

 

The Catholic Traditions and legendary lore from the acts of the saints describe the total and passionate love affair of two St. Valentines with the ‘Dearly Beloved of God’, the          followers of Christ.  These two Valentines lived in and around the year 269 C.E., when the Church was in the heart of a bitter persecution under the reign of Emperor Claudius II.  One of them, the Bishop of Terni, Italy, with passionate love laid down his life for his dearly beloved by undergoing extreme torture and final execution rather than betray the names and whereabouts of his beloved flock of Christian followers.   The other Valentine was a priest and physician in Rome who sent letters of love and encouragement to dearly beloved persecuted Christians of his flock. His letters of love and prayers sustained and strengthened the dearly beloved to hold on to their love for Christ & His Church  before his own martyrdom.  May  we too deepen in our love for Christ and for one another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GLORY BE!

“Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before their eyes. His face became as dazzling as the sun, His clothes as radiant as light."

—Matthew 17:1-2

 

 "This is My beloved Son on Whom My favor rests. Listen to Him." —Matthew 17:5

 

The glory of the Transfiguration is the foretaste of the promised glory offered to all  Jesus’ faithful disciples. Jesus took Peter, James and John up the high mountain to strengthen them against the attack of Satan and the scandal of the passion and the cross that He would embrace on our behalf, to save us from our sins.

 

In the heart of Lent we are called to meditate on the future glory offered to the faithful sons and daughters of the Father.  WHO ARE THE FAITHFUL, PROMISED THE GLORY OF THE RESURRECTION?

 

The glory of the resurrection is given to all who do the will of the Father like Jesus. In our first reading, from the Book of Genesis, Abraham our Father in Faith, left his homeland at the age of seventy-five to obey God’s word to him.  He did not know what or where the Promised Land would be and he could not grasp how his barren wife would sire him a son, - but he listened in faith and acted in faith and is glorified by God.  St. Timothy as bishop had to face untold trial, persecution and hardship    because he heard and followed Jesus. St. Paul in our second reading encourages him ”to bear his share of the hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.”  (2 Tm 1:8).  Timothy was glorified and welcomed into the fellowship of the saints in heaven.

 

Listening to the voice of the Lord and acting upon it was hard for Abraham and Paul and Timothy and every one who claims Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  Discipleship demands that we listen to Jesus as exhorted by the Father and that we act in faith. No guts, no glory!  If we are unable to keep our gaze on the transfigured Christ and do not heed the voice of God the Father to listen to Him, we could very likely be left out of the glorified kingdom of the sons and daughters of God.  Sometimes listening to  Jesus involves confronting one’s own hypocrisy and double standards, false values, pride and lack of love for God and His Church.  Glory be to those who give glory to God, His kingdom, His values, His Church and His will above all else!

Fr. Francis Nigli