On 16th March 2025
The Feast of Transfiguration
God spoke to them, ‘this is my Son, the beloved. Listen to him’.
Mk 9: 2-8 ‘There in their presence (Peter, James & John) he was transfigured, his clothes became brilliantly white, whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them. Elijah appeared to them with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus. Then Peter spoke to Jesus, Rabbi; he said, ‘it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ Jesus was transfigured today as we are celebrating the Feast Day of Transfiguration of our Lord. When we visited Holy Land, this prophecy became true as we saw the huge church with three different Altars to honor Elijah, Moses, and Jesus. The first church was built in 400 A.D, but Muslim Invaders destroyed it. In the time of the Crusaders, the Benedictines built a Monastery there. Many of the Benedictine Monks were martyred on this mountain. This is the place called the Altar of God (the natural Altar) as Fr. Eugene and our guide was explaining to us. We could see many caves there; those were used by the monks as individual cells to pray and live. When we see this mountain from far, it’s an amazing experience. The Muslim invaders destroyed that one also. Again, the Franciscans came to rebuild it in the 17th century. The Franciscans were there to protect the church when it lay in ruins. It came to my mind that our Lord had given another key to St. Francis just as he has given to St. Peter for the safe keeping of His household in a perfect manner.
This mountain is very blessed with the serenity and the silence of nature allowing one to hear properly what God spoke to his people. As my personal experience, I was just recollecting my memories, at a night Jesus had visited me in my early years of conversion. It was a mountain experience for me. Jesus came to meet me in the form of Eucharist and embraced me in a night which I cannot forget. He also brought Mother Mary to give me in that night. Since I experienced this, I never missed the Holy Mass in my life, unless there may arise any difficult situation. We felt the presence of God everywhere. God spoke to them, ‘this is my Son, the beloved. Listen to him’. ‘Then suddenly, when they looked round, they saw no one with them anymore but only Jesus. God the Father is asking us to listen to Jesus while we are reading and meditating the Word of God. We can hear his voice while we are praying by humbly in the presence of him.
This holy mountain (Mount Tabor) was one of the places Jesus touched me with his gentle Love.
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