John 18:37 - Respondit Jesus: Tu dicis, quia Rex sum ego. Ego in hoc natus sum, et ad hoc veni in mundum, ut testimonium perhibeam veritati: omnis qui est ex veritate, audit vocem meam. Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a King. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth, heareth My voice.
Matthew 23:11-12 The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Thessalonians 2:13 In receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.
Matthew 22: 34-37 He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Philippians 2:9-11 – Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BEND, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the glory of God the Father.
Sirach 27:30-28:1 – Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail.
Tomorrow, we will join with our fellow Americans in celebrating Labor Day. Many will have the day off. We should take some time to pause and reflect on the dignity of all work.
Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This is unusual because it is celebrated on a Sunday only when August 6 falls on a Sunday. Nevertheless, we hear of this great manifestation each year in the gospel of the Second Sunday of Lent.
Usually, during a California summer, the image of rain coming down on us is rather remote. However, when I was a child in Pennsylvania and later Indiana, summer rains were common. I still remember listening to the pitter-patter of raindrops, safe and snug in bed under the eaves in our cozy Cape Cod house; or, as a young man, on the sides of a pup tent after a day of hiking. There was always a sense of peace and calm before the voice of God in nature. I felt assured to rest in the Lord’s loving embrace.
In our secular society we accept the same challenge St. Paul made in ancient Rome in his letter to the Romans: “You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. ..For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” More than ever we are true patriots when we are devoted and faithful Christians.