Catholic News 2

Šibenik, Croatia, Mar 7, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A giant 55-foot statue of Our Lady of Loreto is in the works in the coastal city of Primošten, Croatia, which will be known as one of the largest Marian sites in the world when it is completed.

“This project is unique in Croatia and beyond,” stated the Municipality of Primošten, according to Total Croatia News.

“It has been an object of considerable interest and acclaim, and a blessing has been given by the Holy See and Pope Francis,” they continued.

The larger-than-life statue of Our Lady of Loreto is being constructed along the coastline of Primošten, a hill-city about 20 miles south of Šibenik. Primošten is known for its vineyards and beaches, and will now also be marked as the site of one of the biggest Marian statues in the world.

The citizens of Primošten are known to have a particular devotion to Our Lady of Loreto, and the townspeople hold a traditional feast in honor of Our Lady every May 9-10, with a festive procession around the boats and coastline.

On a clear day, the facing coast of Italy will be able to see the Marian monument after its completion.

The construction of the statue has been in collaboration with Cammini Lauretani, which works to connect the dots among Marian shrines across Europe, in a joint effort with the European Cultural Itinerary of the European Council Initiative.

Mayor Stipe Petrina of Primošten has been meeting with leaders from Cammini Laurentani in an effort to link Marian shrines in Italy and Croatia, with the overarching goal of creating sustainable religious tourism and development.

Their most recent meeting took place in Gaj hill, where the organizations were able to see the progress of the statue.

The Croatian municipality has yet to declare when the Marian site will be complete, although they did note that the statue is in the final stages of construction.

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(Vatican Radio)  Archbishop Bernardito Auza has given a talk at the Seton Hall University in the US state of New Jersey, speaking about Pope Francis’ diplomacy to the students and faculty at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations.

The Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations said the Church speaks “of continuity – as seamless as possible – of a journey guided by perennial doctrine discerned in the context of a world in constant flux.”

He said, “Holy See diplomacy is a ministry and task carried out in the secular world by the Church and in the name of the Church. Thus, like all Church ministries and actions, it is also bound by the principle of salus animarum suprema lex [‘The salvation of souls is the supreme law of the Church’].”

Encounter and dialogue at heart of Pope Francis’ diplomacy

Archbishop Auza said the “golden thread that ties together the words and actions of the Pope” is the “theme of encounter and dialogue”.

“Pope Francis especially relates the ‘culture of encounter’ to solidarity and charity… It’s a diplomacy of dialogue to resolve conflicts, promote unity and fight exclusion. It’s what he’s called caminar juntos [‘journeying together’] as a way of life.”

Holy See diplomacy at United Nations

Archbishop Auza also spoke about the Holy See’s involvement at the UN, saying the Holy See was initially reluctant to engage with the United Nations after its founding in 1945.

He said the Holy See had concerns about the UN, including the veto-power given to the five permanent members of the Security Council – putting into question “the equality of States” – and “that it was not universal in membership, as many countries, especially small ones and those that gained independence against the will of their colonial masters, were excluded”.

The Holy See became a Permanent Observer to the UN on April 6, 1964.

Archbishop Auza said, “This was fitting, not only because of the burgeoning involvement of the Holy See in UN deliberations, but above all because the four pillars of the UN as enshrined in its Charter dovetail very well with four main pillars of Catholic Social Teaching: the prevention of war and the promotion of peace; the protection and advance of human dignity and rights; human development; and helping nations to keep their word and honor international treaties and law.”

Please find below the full text of Archbishop Auza’s speech:

Archbishop Bernardito Auza

Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations

“Pope Francis’ Diplomacy”

School of Diplomacy and International Relations

Seton Hall University,  South Orange, New Jersey

1 March 2017

Your Eminence the Archbishop of Newark, Joseph William Cardinal Tobin, Honorable President of Seton Hall University. Dr. Gabriel Esteban and Mrs. Esteban, Honorable Provost ad interim of Seton Hall University, Professor Karen Boroff, Distinguished Dean of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Professor Andrea Bartoli and Mrs. Bartoli, Dear Faculty members and Students of the School of Diplomacy, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased that my first act of Lenten penance is a talk at Seton Hall University!

Thank you, Eminence, for your presence, which, frankly, intimidates me. I can’t get out of my mind the New York Times picture of your benching two-and-a-quarter! For those uninitiated to gym parlance, that’s a hefty 225 pounds! I can hardly bench a quarter!

Thank you, Professor Bartoli, for giving me this opportunity to converse with the Seton Hall community about Pope Francis’ Diplomacy, a topic that goes right to the heart of the Catholic identity of Seton Hall.

Diplomacy in Continuity

In the history of the Church, we don’t talk of ruptures or new starts. We talk of continuity – as seamless as possible –, of a journey guided by perennial doctrine discerned in the context of a world in constant flux. We love the image of Saint Peter’s boat sailing resolutely forward although battered by gales and tossed about by the waves.

That’s the way I love to think of the diplomacy of the Holy See. Between Pope Francis and his predecessors, there have been no ruptures, but rather continuity. Holy See diplomacy is a ministry and task carried out in the secular world by the Church and in the name of the Church. Thus, like all Church ministries and actions, it is also bound by the principle of salus animarum suprema lex [“The salvation of souls is the supreme law of the Church”]. It can only fulfill this principle if it knows how to “scrutinize the signs of the time and interpret them in the light of the Gospel” (GS4), how to discern and act accordingly.

I believe this is particularly true within the context of the presence of the Holy See at the United Nations and other multilateral organizations. The overall goal of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations has always been this: to bring the leaven of the Gospel and the Church’s own bimillennial experience of humanity to the complex reality of international relations and to the international debates about the problems facing our world.

The Holy See’s Presence at the United Nations

Many ask: Why should the Holy See want to be present at the United Nations? Isn’t the UN “right now,” as one President commented recently, “just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time?” “So sad,” he concluded.

Well, I am inclined to believe that getting together, talking and having a good time is not that sad! But, yes, at the UN it does become sad when, as the lyrics of the old Dan Fogelberg song would have it, speeches become “longer than there’ve been fishes in the ocean” and “there've been stars up in the heavens,” and, worse, if they are not “stronger than any mountain cathedral,” and worse still, if they are not “truer than any tree ever grew” or “deeper than any forest primeval.” (Cf. “Longer” by Dan Fogelberg).

Nevertheless, why, indeed, is the Holy See present and actively engaged at the United Nations?

The United Nations, as you well know, was born out of the ashes of the Second World War in 1945. Fifty-one Member States signed the United Nations Charter in San Francisco in 1945.

It was not exactly love at first sight for the Holy See. When the United Nations was being founded, the Holy See was somewhat cautious about it. It recognized the urgent need for an international organization to succeed the failed League of Nations, but had some serious concerns. One concern was that the UN Charter, while recognizing the equality of States, did not in fact enshrine this principle, since the five permanent members of the Security Council, invested with veto-power, were patently unequal to the rest. Another was that it was not universal in membership, as many countries, especially small ones and those that gained independence against the will of their colonial masters, were excluded. Another was that it debated problems but didn’t solve them. In 1953, Pope Pius XII wondered publicly: “Is the General Assembly merely an Academy to formulate Agreements that will never be put into practice?”

I am tempted to say, “So sad!”

Regardless, even though the Holy See was not a part of the UN in the early days, it often participated in the formal and informal work of the UN by invitation, Finally, on April 6, 1964, the Holy See became a Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations and established our Mission in New York. This was fitting, not only because of the burgeoning involvement of the Holy See in UN deliberations, but above all because the four pillars of the UN as enshrined in its Charter dovetail very well with four main pillars of Catholic Social Teaching: the prevention of war and the promotion of peace; the protection and advance of human dignity and rights; human development; and helping nations to keep their word and honor international treaties and law.

The Thoughts of the Popes on the United Nations

During the 53 years of existence of the Holy See Permanent Observer Mission in New York, there have been five Papal visits to the United Nations: Blessed Paul VI in October 1965, Saint John Paul II in 1979 and 1995, Pope Benedict XVI in 2008, and Pope Francis in 2015. During these visits, the Popes expressed esteem for the institution, which they considered essential for the world.

Pope Paul VI told the members of the General Assembly that the purpose of his visit was to be “first of all, a moral and solemn ratification of this lofty institution. ... The edifice that you have constructed must never collapse; it must be continually perfected and adapted to the needs that the history of the world will present.”

John Paul II talked of areas of collaboration, saying, “Although their respective purposes and operative approaches are obviously different, the Church and the United Nations constantly find wide areas of cooperation on the basis of their common concern for the human family.”

Pope Benedict added, “My presence at this Assembly is a sign of esteem for the United Nations, and it is intended to express the hope that the Organization will increasingly serve as a sign of unity between States and an instrument of service to the entire human family.”

Pope Francis reiterated the appreciation expressed by his predecessors, “reaffirming,” he said, “the importance that the Catholic Church attaches to this Institution and the hope that she places in its activities.”

Moreover, for those of us who are Catholics, members of a Universal Church, the United Nations is a political resemblance of the “catholicity” of the Church. Blessed Paul VI stated it in such a poetic tone: “We would be tempted to say that your chief characteristic is a reflection, as it were, in the temporal field of what Our Catholic Church aspires to be in the spiritual field: unique and universal. Among the ideals by which mankind is guided, one can conceive of nothing greater on the natural level. Your vocation is to make brothers not only of some, but of all peoples. A difficult undertaking? Unquestionably; but this is the undertaking, your very noble undertaking.”

The Popes, however, have not given the United Nations a pass. While granting the “lofty institution” a “moral and solemn ratification,” the Popes also affirmed that there were times when the United Nations has been found wanting, unable to realize its vision by failing to achieve its objectives for some peoples in the world.

John Paul II declared, “The United Nations Organization needs to rise more and more above the cold status of an administrative institution and to become a moral center where all the nations of the world feel at home and develop a shared awareness of being, as it were, a ‘family of nations.’”

Pope Francis, reviewing the first seven decades of the institution, said, “The experience of these seventy years since the founding of the United Nations in general, and in particular the experience of these first fifteen years of the third millennium, reveal both the effectiveness of the full application of international norms and the ineffectiveness of their lack of enforcement.”

Holy See’s Bilateral Diplomacy

Up to here, I have only referred to the diplomacy of the Holy See at the multilateral level, specifically at the UN. At the bilateral level, today the Holy See has diplomatic relations with 182 out of 193 countries in the world, and more are on the drawing board. We have 116 Apostolic Nunciatures and Permanent Missions across the globe, endowing the Holy See with one of the world’s most extensive diplomatic networks.

And if we consider our bishops, priests, men and women religious, catechists and committed laypeople as our equivalent to operatives of the American CIA or the old Soviet KGB, nobody can beat us in information gathering and grassroots operations! Let me share a story. In one of my previous postings, the political officer of a very powerful country’s Embassy proudly announced to me that her Ambassador was about to inaugurate an irrigation system that her Government had financed. I said to her, “Do you know that the dam and the irrigation system are being built on the property of the Speaker of the Parliament?” She was shocked! How was it possible, when her Embassy was staffed with more than a hundred people, and there were only a couple of us at the Nunciature, that I could have had better intelligence? She was unaware that there were dozens of nosey Sisters in the villages where the project was being built! And not far away were Jesuit “social activists” running schools at the same time. When I next saw my very efficient “intelligence operatives,” I had to thank them for their wonderful work!

Pope Francis’ Diplomatic Priorities

Given the time constraints, I must now start the second part of my talk, namely, the priorities of Pope Francis’ diplomacy that we in his service must concretize on the ground.

Before mentioning specific issues that we work to advance at the bilateral and multilateral levels, I would like first to highlight the theme of encounter and dialogue. It is the golden thread that ties together the words and actions of the Pope, the unifying inspiration that has overarching implications not only on the pastoral and spiritual activity of the Church, but also on the socio-economic and political concerns of our time.

Pope Francis especially relates the “culture of encounter” to solidarity and charity. When he speaks about social issues and about the questions with the biggest political implications, he constantly affirms a diplomacy of encounter leading toward better mutual knowledge and mutual respect. It’s a diplomacy of dialogue to resolve conflicts, promote unity and fight exclusion. It’s what he’s called caminar juntos [“journeying together”] as a way of life. This is a diplomacy that privileges greater respect for the weaker countries, the rule of law over the law of force, honest and cordial relations among nations and peoples over mutual suspicions. A culture of encounter cannot happen building walls and promoting isolationism, but only through bridges and open doors.

I can cite dozens of reflections of Pope Francis on this, but, insofar as Seton Hall is a top university, I don’t want to rob the students of the pleasure of doing research and working hard on their homework!

The issues on which the Pope proposes a diplomacy of dialogue, bridge-building and encounter are social issues with strong political implications. People ask: Why should the Church, why should the Pope care, about controversial social and political issues? The short answer is: Because Jesus cares! And if Jesus cares, the Pope and the Church cannot but care.

Many of us know by heart the celebrated opening passage of the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et spes: “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts.”

With his repeated and strong, even occasionally provocative, words and actions on the great questions and challenges facing our world today, Pope Francis invites us to do the same, to make our own the joys and sorrows of the world, to get our hands dirty, to begin to smell like the sheep, to act like a field hospital in the midst of battle, to get involved in promoting and carrying out a diplomacy of dialogue and encounter.

This is the spirit that inspires our work at the United Nations and in bilateral relations across the world. It goes without saying that, at the same time, given the Holy See’s and the Church’s unique role and competence, there is the need to avoid identifying ourselves in any way along political or ideological lines, thereby safeguarding our unique identity and influence in the concert of Nations.

Priority Commitments of the Holy See’s Mission to the UN Today

The Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission takes part in almost every debate at the UN and so we are involved in the whole gamut of issues facing the international community. But if you were to ask me to specify priority commitments we have in 2017 following the lead of Pope Francis, I’d offer the following six:

First, the ceaseless pursuit of peace, in particular in war torn areas. That the world is in bad shape is clear in the number of conflicts that continue to rage. When previous UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon started his mandate in 2006, there were 13 open conflicts in the world. As he was about to end his mandate in 2016, there were 39 open conflicts and 11 situations of intense tensions. Pope Francis calls this a “third world war [being] fought piecemeal.” And while many parts of the world are on fire, the firemen don’t have enough water and, worse, are quarrelling and cross-vetoing at the horseshoe table on some of the most tragic of these conflicts.

No month goes by without our reiterating the Pope’s appeal for peace and echoing the cries of those in war-torn areas for the international community, especially the Security Council, to act. We find constant opportunities to emphasize that, as Pope Francis told the UN General Assembly, “War is the negation of all rights and … we must work tirelessly to avoid war between nations and peoples.” In a particular way, we try to make sure the pleas of Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities in the Middle East, in Nigeria, in countries of dictatorial regimes and elsewhere don’t get forgotten.

Second, and closely allied to the first, is the pursuit of disarmament, in particular nuclear disarmament and abolition. At the end of March, the Holy See will be actively participating in a Conference toward a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.” Pope Francis spoke about the importance of such endeavors for the world when he addressed the UN General Assembly in September 2015, saying that strongly opposed to the pursuit of peace, the pacific resolution of disputes and the fostering of friendly relations among nations, is the “constant tendency to the proliferation of arms, especially weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear weapons. An ethics and a law based on the threat of mutual destruction – and possibly the destruction of all mankind – are self-contradictory and an affront to the entire framework of the United Nations, which would end up as ‘nations united by fear and distrust.’”

Third, responding to the crisis of refugees, migrants, and internally displaced people across the globe. This has been a primordial and constant concern for the Holy See. But with today’s 255 million people crossing international borders, of whom 65.3 million qualify as refugees, the Holy See’s voice also takes a more urgent tone. Since actions speak louder than words and in order to underline how high a priority this issue is for him, Pope Francis undertook his first trip outside Rome to Lampedusa, the small island in the Mediterranean that has become a symbol of both death and salvation. Then he went to Lesvos to meet the refugees and forced migrants fleeing wars and persecutions, and, putting faces into his words of solidarity, he brought back with him to Rome a dozen Syrian refugees.

To say that migration is a huge issue in the United States of America as well is to major in understatement. Regardless of which side of the wall — of the argument, I mean — you are on, everyone knows how ‘huge’ it is. Consequently, it is a priority pastoral issue for the whole Church, starting with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In his Address to the joint Congress on 24 September 2015, against the backdrop of Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech, Pope Francis said that “the dream” continues: America “continues to be, for many, a land of ‘dreams.’ Dreams that lead to action, to participation, to commitment. Dreams that awaken what is deepest and truest in the life of a people.” Perhaps the best recalled passage of that Address was this passionate reminder: “In recent centuries, millions of people came to this land to pursue their dream of building a future in freedom. We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners. I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descended from immigrants.”

Fourth, and related to the third, is fighting human trafficking and other forms of modern slavery. Pope Francis is universally recognized as the leading moral voice in the fight against trafficking in persons. It is one of the defining priorities of his papacy. Human trafficking, he said, is “an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ…. a crime against humanity.” If we are going to fight this toxic flood effectively, we must block its tributaries and address its root causes, like extreme poverty, corruption in governance, injustices and exclusion in the economic field, and the ethical degeneration that occurs when people are treated as objects, when, in the Pope’s words, they are “deceived, assaulted, often sold many times for different purposes and, in the end, killed or, in any case, physically and mentally harmed, ending up discarded and abandoned.” The Pope exhorts us that now is the time for action.

Fifth, seeking to lift up those in extreme poverty. In his Address to the UN General Assembly, Pope Francis said, “Economic and social exclusion is a complete denial of human fraternity and a grave offense against human rights. The poorest are those who suffer most…: they are cast off by society [and] forced to live off what is discarded …, [casualties] of today’s widespread and quietly growing ‘culture of waste.’ … Government leaders must do everything possible to ensure that all can have the minimal spiritual and material means needed to live in dignity.”

Sixth, the fundamental and constant priority of the defense and promotion of the dignity of every human person and of the family. This is one of our most constant areas of emphasis, because some Member States and UN Agencies never cease to try to use every negotiation and mechanism they can to push the agenda of abortion, under the smokescreen of “sexual and reproductive health and rights,” the definition of gender not as male and female but as a social construction, as well as the redefinition of marriage and family. It is in this area that the Holy Father’s expression of “ideological colonization” is primarily relevant, especially when certain donor countries or a UN Agency uses development aid to pressure poor countries to adopting practices contrary to their religious beliefs and culture.

Pope Francis, before the UN General Assembly, called for “respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, the infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic.” He stressed that the “right to life” is the “common foundation” of all the pillars of integral human development. He urged governments to ensure “that all can have the minimum spiritual and material means needed to live in dignity and to create and support a family, which is the primary cell of any social development,” and defended the “primary right of the family to educate its children.” 

Papal Diplomacy is Pastoral and Spiritual Diplomacy

Dear friends,

These priorities are aspects of Pope Francis’ and of the Church’s pastoral and spiritual diplomacy. To many, spirituality and diplomacy don’t mix and may even sound contradictory. Diplomacy, for them, is practically synonymous with two things: first, with guile, the willingness to lie placidly for the sake of one country’s interest’; and second, with worldliness, with elegant receptions of caviar and champagne filling the imagination!  When as part of my duties I have to eat caviar, Saint Paul is almost there whispering in my ear: Eat caviar as if you were not eating it, and drink the chilliest vodka as if you were not drinking it! I shouldn’t be telling you this on Ash Wednesday!

Knowing fully well that there is much more to diplomacy than guile and champagne – indeed, that guile and endless receptions are far from the core of effective diplomacy – I insist on talking of a pastoral and spiritual diplomacy of the Holy Father. Diplomacy understood in this way is a charism, and charisms, we know, are beneficial not to the one who exercises them, but to the community. In this sense, diplomacy is an essential art of a leader whose objective is the good of all and whose means to achieve that end is unselfish service.

This is Pope Francis’ diplomacy before the world. We should therefore understand his diplomatic style and substance primarily within a spiritual key, conscious of the fact that no matter how famous he has become or how respected he is among the world leaders and ordinary citizens, he remains primarily a Pastor and Teacher, and for those of us who are Catholic, our Holy Father.

Thank you for your attention.

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Gen 12:1-4a; II Tim 1:8b-10; Mt 17:1-9

 A. Redhead, Jr. tells of a father and son who have a really good relationship. Among their many good times together, one stood out above all the rest: It was a hike up a particular mountain where they seemed to reach the height of a beautiful friendship. After they returned home, there came a day when things did not seem to run as smoothly. The father rebuked the son, and the son spoke sharply in return. An hour later, the air had cleared. “Dad,” said the son, “whenever it starts to get like that again, let’s one of us say ‘The Mountain Top.’” So it was agreed. In a few weeks another misunderstanding occurred. The boy was sent to his room in tears. After a while, the father decided to go up and see the boy. He was still angry until he saw a piece of paper pinned to the door. The boy had penciled three words in large letters: “The Mountain Top.” That symbol was powerful enough to restore the relationship of father and son. Come with me to the mountain. It is there that relationships can be made right. Come with me to the mountain. See who Jesus is. See what, by his grace, you and I can yet become.

Introduction: The common theme of today’s readings is metamorphosis or transformation.  The readings invite us to work with the Holy Spirit to transform our lives by renewing them during Lent, and to radiate the grace of the transfigured Lord around us by our Spirit-filled lives.  The Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain reminds us that the way of the cross leads to Resurrection and eternal life and that the purpose of Lent is to help us better to enter into those mysteries. Both the first and second readings present salvation history as a response to God’s call, a call going out to a series of key persons beginning with Abraham and culminating with Jesus Christ and His Apostles.  Faith is presented here as the obedient response to the call of God which opens up channels for the redemptive action of God in history, thus transforming the world.  In answering this call, both Abram and Saul broke with the experiences of their past lives and moved into an unmapped future to become new “people of the Promise,” for a new life.  The first reading presents the change or transformation of the patriarch Abram from a pagan tribesman into a man of Faith in one God and the father of God’s chosen people, Israel, and somewhat later the transformation of his name from Abram to Abraham.  The second reading, taken from St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy, explains the type of Lenten life-transformation expected of us.  Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ Transfiguration during prayer on a mountain.

First reading: Genesis 12:1-4: The reading from Genesis explains how  blind obedience to God transforms the childless and pagan Abram into a believer in the one true God, and, later in his story, from Abram into the Abraham who became the prototype of trusting Faith and the father of God’s Chosen People. Blind obedience to God at His command transformed childless Abram into the Patriarch Abraham, a believer in the one God.  Today’s passage is really the first encounter between Abram and God. Abram was prosperous in land and livestock, but he had no children, and that, to people of his time, was the most serious of all possible deprivations.  So God challenged him with an offer: "I will make of you a great nation." But God's requirements were absolute: "Go forth from the land of your kin."  The requirements were to become even more absolute when, after Abraham finally had a son, God asked him to sacrifice that same son (Genesis 22:1-18).  God asks us, too, to leave our old life of sin behind, to go forth with Him into a period of repentance, renewal of life and transformation and to surrender to Him the whole of our being in loving surrender forever.

The second reading: II Timothy 1:8-10:  St. Paul’s letter to Timothy explains the type of Lenten life-transformation expected of us.  We should be ready to bear hardship for the Gospel and be thankful to God for our call to holiness, not trusting in our own merits but in grace.  “Bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.”  This passage has the following Lenten themes: a) bearing hardship for the sake of the Gospel; b) understanding that we are called not because of our own good works, but by undeserved grace; c) allowing God to make our belief that we were drawn into Jesus from before time began the central reality in our daily living; and d) facing death but hoping for immortality, a share in the Resurrection.  The phrase "manifest through the appearance of our Savior" may be a reference to today's Gospel story of Jesus' Transfiguration, traditionally read on the second Sunday of Lent.

Exegesis: The objective and time of the Transfiguration:   The primary purpose of Jesus’ Transfiguration was to consult his Heavenly Father in order to ascertain His plan for Our Lord’s suffering, death and Resurrection.  The secondary aim was to make his chosen disciples aware of His Divine glory, so that they might discard their worldly ambitions about a conquering political Messiah. A third purpose was to strengthen their Faith and hope and to encourage them to persevere through the future ordeal. The Transfiguration took place in late summer, probably in AD 29, just prior to the Feast of Tabernacles.  Hence, the Orthodox tradition celebrates the Transfiguration at about the time of the year when it actually occurred in order to connect it with the Old Testament Feast of Tabernacles.  Western tradition celebrates the Transfiguration twice, first at the beginning of Lent with the Gospel account and second on August 6 with a full feast day liturgy.

The location of the Transfiguration was probably Mount Hermon in North Galilee, near Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus had camped for a week before the Transfiguration.  The 9200-foot mountain was desolate.  The traditional oriental belief that the transfiguration took place on Mount Tabor is based on Psalm 89:12.  But Mount Tabor is a hill in the south of Galilee, less than 1000 feet high with a Roman fort on top of it, an unlikely place for solitude and prayer.  

The scene of Heavenly glory: The disciples received a preview of the glorious figure Jesus would become at Easter and beyond. While praying, Jesus was transfigured into a shining figure, full of Heavenly glory.  This reminds us of Moses and Elijah who also experienced the Lord in all His glory.  Moses had met the Lord in the burning bush at Mount Horeb (Exodus 3:1-4).  After his later encounter with God, Moses' face shone so brightly that it frightened the people, and Moses had to wear a veil over his face (Exodus 34:29-35). The luminosity of the face of Moses is also meant to signal the invasion of God. The Jews believed that Moses was taken up in a cloud at end of his earthly life (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 4. 326).  Elijah had traveled for forty days to Mt. Horeb on the strength of the food brought by an angel (1 Kings 19:8).  At Mt. Horeb, Elijah sought refuge in a cave as the glory of the Lord passed over him (1 Kings 19:9-18).  Finally, Elijah was taken directly to Heaven in a chariot of fire without experiencing death (2 Kings 2:11-15). In addition, “Moses led his people out of slavery in Egypt, received the Torah on Mount Sinai and brought God’s people to the edge of the Promised Land. Elijah, the great prophet in northern Israel during the ninth century B.C., performed healings and other miracles and stood up to Israel’s external enemies and the wicked within Israel. Their presence in Matthew’s transfiguration account emphasizes Jesus’ continuity with the Law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah) in salvation history.”(Fr. Harrington S. J.)

These representatives of the Law and the Prophets, foreshadowed Jesus who is the culmination of the Law and the Prophets.  Both prophets were initially rejected by the people but were vindicated by God.  The Jews believed that these men did not die because God Himself took Moses (Dt 34:5-6), and Elijah was carried to heaven in a whirlwind (II Kgs 2:11).  So the implication is that although God spared Moses and Elijah from the normal process of death, He did not spare His Son.

God the Father’s Voice from the Cloud: The book of Exodus describes how God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai from the Cloud.  God often made appearances in a cloud (Ex 24:15-17; 13:21-22; 34:5; 40:34; 1 Kgs 8:10-11).  I Kgs 8:10 tells us how, by the cover of a cloud, God revealed His presence in the Ark of the Covenant and in the Temple of Jerusalem on the day of its dedication.  The Jews generally believed that the phenomenon of the Cloud would be repeated when the Messiah arrived.  God the Father, Moses and Elijah approved the plan regarding Jesus' suffering, death and Resurrection.  God’s words from the Cloud: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with Him I am well pleased; listen to Him,” are the same words used by God at Jesus' baptism (3:17).  They summarize the meaning of the Transfiguration: on this mountain, God reveals Jesus as His Son -- His beloved -- the One in Whom He is well pleased and to Whom we must listen.  

Life messages: (1) The Transubstantiation in the Holy Mass is the source of our strength.  In each Holy Mass our offering of bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus under the appearances of bread and wine.  Hence, just as Jesus’ Transfiguration strengthened the Apostles in their time of trial, each Holy Mass should be our source of Heavenly strength against our own temptations and our source for the renewal of our lives during Lent.  In addition, communion with Jesus in prayer and in the Eucharist should be a source of daily transformation of both our minds and hearts.  We must also be transformed by becoming more humble and selfless, sharing love, compassion and forgiveness with others. But in our everyday lives, we often fail to recognize Jesus when he appears to us “transfigured,” hidden in  someone who is in some kind of need.  Jesus will be happy when we attend to the needs of that person.  With the eyes of Faith, we must see Jesus in every one of our brothers and sisters, the children of God we come across each day and, by His grace, respond to Him with love and service.

(2) Each Sacrament that we receive transforms us.   Baptism, for example, transforms us into sons and daughters of God and heirs of heaven.  Confirmation makes us the temples of the Holy Spirit.  By the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God brings back the sinner to the path of holiness. By receiving in Faith the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, we are spiritually, and if God wills physically, healed and our sins are forgiven.

(3) A message of hope and encouragement.  In moments of doubt and during feelings of despair, the expectation of our transformation in Heaven helps us to reach out to God and listen to His consoling words: “This is my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well pleased.”

(4) We need these 'mountain-top’ experiences in our own lives.  We can share experiences like those of Peter, James and John when we spend some extra time in prayer during Lent.  Perhaps we may want to fast for one day, taking only water, thus releasing spiritual energy, which in turn, can lift our thoughts to a higher plane.  Such a fast may also help us to remember the starving millions in the world, and make us more willing to help them.

The 17th century English poet, John Donne, tells of a man searching for God. He is convinced that God lives on the top of a mountain at the end of the earth. After a journey of many days, the man arrives at the foot of the mountain and begins to climb it. At the same time God says to the angels: “What can I do to show my people how much I love them?” He decides to descend the mountain and live among the people as one of them. As the man is going up one side of the mountain, God is descending the other side. They don’t see each other because they are on opposite sides of the mountain. On reaching the summit, the man discovers an empty mountaintop. Heartbroken, the man concludes that God does not exist. Despite speculation to the contrary, God does not live on mountaintops, deserts, or at the end of the earth, or even in some Heaven, - God dwells among human beings and in the person of Jesus. – Staying on in the safety of the mountain is what Peter would prefer. During the Transfiguration, Peter and his companions got a glimpse of the future glory of Jesus’ Resurrection. They want nothing more. However, after they come down the mountain, they are told by Jesus that the glory they witnessed would be real only after he had gone through suffering and death. We too will share in his glory, only by sharing in his suffering and death.

(Source: Homilies of Fr. Anthony Kadavil)

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Minneapolis, Minn., Mar 7, 2017 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Facing over one hundred lawsuits concerning sex abuse claims dating back to the 1950s, the Diocese of New Ulm has filed for bankruptcy and plans a reorganization.

“I have come to the conclusion that financial reorganization is the fairest way to compensate victims and survivors of sexual abuse while continuing the good work of the Church in our communities,” Bishop John LeVoir of New Ulm said March 3.

“Filing for financial reorganization is not an effort to avoid responsibility. But rather, it is the only way the diocese can assure that available assets are fairly utilized to resolve all the pending sexual abuse claims against it,” the bishop said.

“If we were to resolve the cases on a piecemeal basis, available diocesan assets could be exhausted in the first few cases, leaving nothing for the remaining claimants.”

There are a total of 101 lawsuits against the New Ulm diocese and some of its 75 parishes. The diocese, located in south-central Minnesota, serves about 60,000 Catholics.

Most of the lawsuits concern incidents that allegedly took place from the 1950s through the 1970s. The suits were filed under a Minnesota law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for cases of sexual abuse of children. The diocese said no priests accused of abuse are presently in public ministry.

Bishop LeVoir acknowledged concerns about the reorganization. He said parishes, schools and other Catholic organizations are not part of the reorganization.

The bishop described the reorganization as “a step towards the future... a future that I pray brings healing for victims and survivors as well as renewed hope for parishioners and our communities.”

He again voiced his “deepest apologies” to those sexually abused by clergy.

“It takes great courage to come forward to share your experiences. You deserve not only our compassion but also fair compensation to help you in your healing,” Bishop LeVoir said.

He added that abuse victims are in the diocese’s daily prayers.

The bishop cited “great strides” in efforts to provide safe environment for children, noting the diocese’s training for young people, volunteers and employees.

“We must remain faithful to Jesus Christ and diligent in this work, so that this tragic chapter in our Church’s history is never repeated,” he said. “Guided by our faith in the Lord, let us move forward together as a church family, never forgetting the past but always hopeful for the future.”

He prayed that God’s grace may bring “hope, healing and peace.”

The New Ulm diocese is the third in Minnesota to file for bankruptcy. Fourteen U.S. dioceses have declared bankruptcy, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports.

Minnesota is one of four states to approve a temporary legal window to allow the filing of historic sex abuse claims.

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