The Transfiguration of the Lord: A Spectacular Revelation!

by Fr. Kilian McCaffrey  |  08/03/2023  |  Pastor's Letter

This great Feast of The Transfiguration of the Lord is one of my favorite feasts. The Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit all together in one place, just as they were at the Baptism of the Lord. The relatively new Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, like “The Chosen” television episodes, have given much attention to the life and ministry of Christ. The first time I visited the Holy Land in 2014, the place I wanted to visit the most was Mount Tabor, the mountain of the Transfiguration.

The mountain is east of Nazareth and west of the Sea of Galilee and rises about 1,000 feet above the surrounding Jezreel Plain. It is a place of exquisite beauty and is the place where this great mystical event occurred, where Heaven literally came down to earth. Fr. Robert Cavalier explains in The Miracle of Love Pro-Life Rosary:

“What glorious light shines from the face of Christ in the spectacular revelation as He gives his disciples a foretaste of heaven and his hidden glory. Truly, He is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. He is the desire of all people for the fullness of life. “As the Father commands his disciples to listen to Him, so we are also told to do likewise: listen to Him and do as He says as we await that blessed day when we will see him face-to-face.”

Jesus came to renew the face of the earth. Jesus “came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10: 10). With our Jubilee, our 50th year as a parish, we have the opportunity to renew our parish, to breathe new life back into and rebuild our community.

We look forward with great joy and hope that we will increasingly live life to the full.

This is our time to transform our parish and continue to let our light shine on our city and the Diocese of Phoenix.