AMDG
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| The Negev Desert in southern Israel (Judea). |
At once (after being baptized) the Spirit drove
Him out into the desert (south of Jerusalem near the Dead Sea), and He remained
in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and
the angels ministered to him (Mark 1:12-13). Then
he took him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a single
instant. The devil said to Him, "I
shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over
to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.
All this will be yours, if you worship me." Jesus said to him in reply,
"It is written: 'You shall worship
the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve'" (Luke 4:5-8). After John had been arrested, Jesus came to
Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:
"This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark
1:12-15).
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| Mount of Temptations where the devil offered Christ all the kingdoms of the world. |
Christ spent a 40 day retreat, fasting in the
desert and using His survival skills as a preparation for His great mission.……..to
teach us how to live, to save us from our sins, and to establish His Church
against which the gates of hell cannot prevail.
Our Confirmation students must also prepare for the great sacrament and
for the special mission that God has for each one of them as soldiers of
Christ.
We ourselves have the opportunity
to use the 40 days of Lent to grow spiritually through additional prayer,
fasting, and almsgiving in reparation, for the poor souls in Purgatory, and for
the conversion of sinners as Our Lady of Fatima ardently requested. Although fully divine yet fully human, Jesus
was tempted as we are. He prayed for
help in resisting the temptations as we must do. Jesus was tough physically, mentally, and
spiritually, as we also should strive to be.
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| The Church at Cana. |
The Wedding at Cana.
After His retreat in the desert our Lord returned to Galilee apparently to see
His Mom in Nazareth. Mother and son were
invited to a big wedding in nearby Cana to share the joy of the newly
weds. Everybody had such a great time that
they ran out of wine. In her first
public act of intercession Mary presented the problem to her son. She confidently told the workers, “Do as He tells you”. Mary tells us to do as her son tells each
one of us every day. We can see that
Mary and our Lord also care about our mundane daily concerns and highly value
the institution of marriage between one man and one woman with its solemn covenant
(vows) of love and faithfulness until death do they part.
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| A painting in the Church of Cana showing Mary's first public act of intercession. |
At
the church in Cana Jaga and I got married all over again (actually a renewal of
our wedding vows) as the priest who accompanied us blessed & laid hands on each
of the 15 or so couples who responded with “I DO”. See the photos in the appendix. Ever since St. Francis (1181-1226) tried to
convert the radical Muslims who conquered the Holy Land, over 200 Franciscans
from all over the world are the custodians of most of the holy places including
the Cana church. Priests don’t have to
bring anything to say Mass; the Franciscans provide everything necessary for the
Roman as well as the Eastern Rites.
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| Mt. Tabor in Galilee of Israel. |
Mt.
Tabor and the Transfiguration. Our
Lord’s passion was only a few months away.
He tried to prepare the apostles for the shame of seeing their master
crucified in such a degrading way. Thus
he took Peter, James, and John to climb a high mountain in Galilee north of
Judea for a meeting with two great prophets of old. We went up Mt. Tabor (see the photos below) in
minibuses since our big comfortable bus would have a hard time making it up the
narrow, steep, windy road to the top. It rises 1800 feet over the plain
below. There we met several Israelis who
had an interest at least for the beautiful basilica and the magnificent
view. The very fertile farmland of
Galilee below is the breadbasket of Israel.
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The church at the top of Mt. Tabor over the site of the Transfiguration. The nave of the church symbolizes Christ. Originally there were three chapels, but today the left tower symbolizes Moses and the right tower symbolizes Elijah. |
And He was transfigured before them;
His face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold,
Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
"Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents
here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright
cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I
am well pleased; listen to Him."
When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much
afraid. But Jesus came and touched them,
saying, "Rise, and do not be
afraid." And when the disciples
raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone (Matthew 17:2-8).
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| The mosaic over the main altar in the Church of the Transfiguration. |
May
we also be transfigured some day! The
Transfiguration shows the unity between the Old Testament (Promise) and the New
Testament (Fulfillment). The Father
reiterated what He said at the River Jordan in union with the Holy Spirit. Indeed, Jesus Christ is the Son of God as He
said. But the Jewish authorities
considered that as blasphemy and crucified Him.
Appendix
See Blog #73 Meditations For
the Rosary II: The 2nd and 4th Luminous Mysteries, the
Wedding at Cana and the Transfiguration.
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