'Mass that morning must have been a strange one in the eyes of God's angels.' The Transfiguration, Year A

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Transfiguration (Cell 6)
Blessed Fra Angelico [Web Gallery of Art]

As the Feast of the Transfiguration is a feast of the Lord  it is celebrated today instead of the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel Matthew 17:1-9 (English Standard Version Anglicised, India)

After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”


Léachtaí i nGaeilge


Fr William Doyle SJ 
(3 March 1874 - 16 August 1917) [Photo: Veritas]

'Transfiguration moments' can occur in the most unexpected situations. Fr Willie Doyle SJ, who was killed during the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, during the Great War, later to be known as World War One, wrote about two Masses celebrated during the war that were very special for him. Though he didn't refer to them as such, I see them as 'Transfiguration moments' when the Lord Jesus truly revealed himself to Father Willie and, through him, to us. The accounts below are from the website of the Father Willie Doyle Association, the official site for the canonisation of the Servant of God Fr Willie Doyle SJ. His cause was officially launched last November. The editor of this is Patrick Kenny who also compiled and edited To Raise the Fallen, published by Veritas, Dublin, in 2017.


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