Passion Week: A Retreat into Holiness

“We are going to commemorate the passion of our Savior; let us strive to prepare ourselves for it by great purity of heart… We shall see Him, during this coming Holy Week on the Tree of the Cross, consumed for love of us… opening His heart to place us therein.”

— St. Frances de Chantal

I recently signed up for my annual retreat at my alma mater, Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD, from June 18-22, to be offered by retreat master, Fr. Brett A. Brennan, a priest of the Diocese of Savannah, GA. Next to Holy Week, my favorite week of the year is when I make my retreat, a reminder of the call to be holy. During my seminary days there at the Mount, my favorite class was “The Passion and Death of Jesus” taught by a Pittsburgh priest, Fr. Bill Fay. Fr. Fay was a graduate of Central Catholic High School and he never lost the methodology of the Christian Brothers and their exemplary way of making scriptures come alive. Students would hang on his every word. Fr. Fay was also a master of languages — Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Taking this course on the passion and death was really a crash course of being a true disciple of Jesus and the challenges one faces in life.

Life is an unfair playing field. Life seldom realizes our ideals. We have the picture of what life is going to be and it never is that. Fr. Fay wanted us to know that to follow Jesus is so radical and counter-cultural that worldly ways end up standing on their heads. For this class we read the four evangelists -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- and their various accounts of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. I always admired the insights Father gleaned from each evangelist that gave me new ways of thinking. His main point of his class was to form us to be holy priests, giving to the people what they need most.

According to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is:

• the place to which one withdraws, our hidden center beyond the grasp of reason which only the Spirit of God can fathom and fully know,
• the place of decision and deeper psychic drives; the place of truth where we choose life or death,
• the place of encounter.

Because we are created in the image of God, we live in relationship and covenant.

Jesus, the Innocent One, died out of love to save sinners and we join Him in doing good or act against Him by doing evil. We are confronted by this same choice, again and again and again, every day of our lives. Not a single day goes by that we have not decided whose side we are on. Are we on the side of honesty or deception? Are we on the side of fidelity or betrayal? Are we on the side of decency or perversity? Are we on the side of generosity or selfishness? Are we on the side of compassion or cruelty? Are we on the side of acceptance or prejudice? Are we on the side of integrity or duplicity? Are we on the side of innocence or guilt? Are we on the side of justice or injustice? Are we on the side of grace or disgrace? Each day is a series of choices in which we have to decide if we are on the right side and following Jesus or on the wrong side and following the deceiver.

In reading the passage of the denial, betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus, it’s easy to put ourselves outside of the fray. But Holy Week makes us cross-examine our lives, where we have been in past choices, where we are now and what new life Christ is calling us to. As we celebrate Holy Week, we are reminded of the price of our exoneration. Forgiveness lies at the very center of Christ’s mission. And regardless of our sin, whether public or private, forgiveness is ours for the asking. What better way to experience this most powerful Holy Week than to come to the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Let us stretch ourselves to make the most of this entire great week of salvation.

I’m happy to have two priest-friends who will be joining us for Holy Week: Fr. Gerry Rogala, a retired priest from the Archdiocese of Chicago and Fr. Joseph Calderone, OSA, an Augustinian priest serving as chaplain for the law school of Philadelphia University. At the Chrism Mass at 10:00 AM on Holy Thursday, Bishop Zubik invites all the priests to renew the promises of their priestly ordination. As representatives from our parish receive the sacred oils blessed at that Mass, the Bishop hosts a luncheon for all the priests on this same day Jesus gathered His apostles at the Last Supper. It’s a beautiful time of the renewing of our priestly hearts.

The Sacred Triduum begins on Holy Thursday, a day also known as Maundy Thursday, which comes from the Latin “mandatum” or commandment, referring to Jesus’ commandment to love one another. The action of Jesus donning an apron and washing His disciple’s feet symbolizes this love and service. As Jesus prepared bread and wine for His friends and washed their feet, we are given impetus to serve through various ministries in the Church and world.

Immediately following Holy Thursday Mass, 100 people will make a spiritual pilgrimage to various churches in the western region of Pittsburgh: Holy Innocents (Sheridan), Guardian Angels (West End), St. Philip (Crafton), Ascension (Ingram), St. Simon and Jude (Scott Township), St. Margaret of Scotland (Greentree) and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (Carnegie). We encourage everyone to come and pray as our parish will be open that night until Midnight for adoration. On Good Friday, a day of fasting and abstinence, a most solemn day where no Mass is celebrated, the altar is bare, without cloths, candles or cross, the liturgy consists of reading Jesus’ Passion and Death from John’s Gospel, solemn intercessions, adoration of the Cross, and a Communion service. We remind the faithful of the Paschal fast, observed on Good Friday, and if possible into Holy Saturday, that we receive the joys of the Lord’s resurrection with uplifted and responsive hearts.

We praise You, Lord, that You sought us in Your humility.

We praise You, Lord, that You have kept us in Your mercy.

We praise You, Lord, that You have glorified us in Your humiliation.

We praise You, Lord, that You have provided for us in Your generosity.

We praise You, Lord, that You have arranged for us in rank of Your wisdom.

We praise You, Lord, that You have shielded us with Your might.

We praise You, Lord, that You sanctified us with Your nobility.

We praise You, Lord, that You have instructed us in Your intimacy.

We praise You, Lord, that You have elevated us in Your love.

— Mechthild of Magddeburg, 13th Century

Paschal Path: Dying and Rising Daily

“Lord, I pray you to help me leave behind the past, to make space to birth a new way of life. Amen.”

— Raul Mendoza

Recently I was called in the morning to anoint a 93-year-old man at Sewickley Valley Hospital. He was a member of my first parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Hopewell Township and was an usher and daily communicant. His family always came to the early 7:30 AM Sunday Mass and sat in the first pew. He had two daughters and one son and his wife was buried four years ago. He lived with one of his daughters who took him daily to Elderberry Court in Ambridge for adult day care. After anointing him in the hospital room, various medical people came in. One was a female Indian physician who gave a full, compassionate, report of his condition and noted that if it were her dad or grandfather, she would take no more extraordinary measures to keep him alive. A family friend, a surgeon at the hospital, came in to offer support and comfort to the family. As the family listened intently, they held on to every word for hope and clarity in the midst of a painful situation.

After the anointing of the sick and consultation with the doctors, the family felt freer in letting go. It was as if a light streaked through the room when the surgeon said, “We must all die at some time and 93 isn’t a bad age to die at.” After the man’s funeral, we traveled to St. Joseph Cemetery for his interment and I noted that every time I thought of him, I was reminded of the “laughing Jesus” who laughed away all the demons of sadness, gloom and sorrow.

On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, as the springtime festival of Passover nears, Jesus reminds us in John 12: 24-26, “...unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life looses it, and whoever hates his life in this world, will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also my servant will be.”

Jesus points to the Paschal Mystery — dying and rising is the paradigm for Christian discipleship. The way of the Cross is the way that leads to the Resurrection. And death is part of life. We are born to die, like the surgeon reminded us in that hospital room. We must die a little each day. Dying to self is a gradual process and it can happen in very little ways:

• every act of humility involves dying to pride
• every act of courage involves dying to cowardice
• every act of kindness involves dying to cruelty
• every act of trust involves dying to uncertainty
• every act of love involves dying to selfishness
• every act of forgiveness involves dying to retaliation
• every act of friendship involves dying to self-concern
• every act of spiritual maturity involves dying to worldly ways
• every act of personal freedom involves dying to unhealthy attachments
• every act of prayer involves dying to your own self-will.

The hour of Jesus’ glory is the hour of His passing over to the Father, and His whole life leads up to that hour, “so that the Son of man may be glorified.” Jesus, the humble, suffering servant, lies down his life freely and willingly, to produce abundant fruit: the salvation of all. It is through His death that we bear much fruit. By destroying the power of sin and death once and for all, and by reconciling humankind once and for all, He restores the possibility of life with God forever. Jesus speaks of the time of His death and resurrection as the hour when He will be glorified for perfectly fulfilling His Father’s will. So too, we must accept or reject Jesus and His saving grace in our own lives, each and every hour.

Often times we live in a rushing, running-out-of-time world. It almost seems like we live in the emergency room. However, for a Christian’s life, time is to gracefully fulfill God’s will in every situation. The Greeks had two words for time: chronos and kairos. Chronos, from which we get the word “chronology,” is the temporal succession of days, months and years that we struggle to harness for our own chosen self-endeavors. However, kairos, or "God’s time or retreat time," is very different. Kairos is when human time and God’s time intersect, as in such moments as a sacrament, prayer, forgiveness, or a wedding. It is where the abundance of God’s presence graces our life’s journey, and thus transcends time.

St. Leo the Great advises us about Lent: “Let us prepare ourselves most profitably by the fast of forty days ... let us use the revered institutions of this health-giving time and cleanse the mirror of our heart with greater care.” God’s unfailing grace offers us time to whole heartedly commit ourselves to serving Him and others. The measure of the glory of discipleship and its fruitfulness is to serve people faithfully, joyfully and humbly.

Looking back on the life of this 93-year-old man, a life of dedication to Church, sacrifice for family and service to neighbor, reinforced for me the glory of the Cross and its victory in Resurrection as I tended to him in this Holy Lenten Pilgrimage of 2012. Death is swallowed in victory. The passing over of this moral earthly life is the hour of triumph.

Lenten Prayer: The Cross Is

The Cross is the hope of Christians,

The Cross is the Resurrection of the dead.

The Cross is the way of the lost.

The Cross is the savior of the Lost.

The Cross is the staff of the lame.

The Cross is the guide of the blind.

The Cross is the strength of the weak.

The Cross is the doctor of the sick.

The Cross is the aim of the priest.

The Cross is the hope of the hopeless.

The Cross is the freedom of the slaves.

The Cross is the power of the kings.

The Cross is the water of the seeds.

The Cross is consolation of the bondsmen.

The Cross is the source of those who seek water.

The Cross is the cloth of the naked.

We thank You, Father, for the Cross. Amen.

— Anonymous

The Cross: Love’s Greatest Height

“I have had crosses in plenty-more than I could carry, almost. I set myself to ask for the love of crosses — then I was happy."

—  St. John Vianney

St. Paul Seminary opened its doors in 1965. Every year on the feast of the Triumph of the Cross, September 11, one of the bishops would come to the seminary, offer Mass and give the seminary the gift of a crucifix. Outside of the chapel there now hang 47 different crucifixes from over the years. I began my seminary journey in 1980, and of all the 47, I am always drawn to the one that marks the year of my entrance. At the beginning and end of each Mass and every prayer, we make the sign of the Cross to signify our Christian identity. Crosses hang around our necks, in our homes, classrooms, offices, hospital rooms and meeting rooms as ways of reminding ourselves that we belong to the Lord. A third century Church Father, Tertullian, wrote, “In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupieth us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the Cross.” Thus the sign of the cross is a most ancient symbol of Christianity. But how visible is the Cross in our interior lives?

One of the most cited New Testament texts, paraded at all sports events and on bumper stickers, is John 3: 16, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life.” God’s love is the dominant theme in Johannine writings. God is love (1 John 4: 8). Love is the mutual relationship between Jesus and the Father (John 15: 9-10 and 17: 23). Jesus loves His disciples and says that their love of service and friendship is to be a hallmark of discipleship (John 13: 34-35; 15: 12-14). Thus this Paschal season is an affirmation and renewal of such great love. St. Augustine said, “God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love.” God LOVES you; GOD love you; God loves YOU! So God loves us personally. Loving God is the whole reason for our being and our joy increases through our sacrifices.

The Cross is the ultimate proof of God’s love for us — a love so complete that God becomes one of us and a love so passionate, He dies in order to rise for us. The Cross is the proof of the persistent tenacious love of God, a love that is unexplainable in its limitlessness and completeness, but real in its presence in our midst. The Cross is history’s clearest proof that love is stronger than hate. The Cross is the greatest enigma in human history. The Cross represents what is worst in us and best about God. Through our sin we slap God in the face, but God turns the other cheek and forgives us again and again and again.

Jesus proclaims that just as Moses lifted up a serpent on a pole to save the Israelites, so too, the Son of Man will be lifted up on the Cross for the salvation of all humankind. The serpent meant death for the people, first in the Garden of Eden and now in the desert. But raised on a pole this same serpent means life. God transforms the meaning of the serpent from death to life as a snake sheds its skin to renew itself with the power of healing. According to the ancient Greek myth a serpent was said to have brought to Asclepius, the god of healing, herbs with medicinal powers. The emblem of modern medicine, the caduceus, features two serpents around a staff, symbolizing the healing profession. For doctors veterinarians, pharmacists and dentists represents preventing diseases, curing and prolonging life.

In St. John’s understanding the glorious Cross is a life-giving Cross. On the Cross Jesus embraces the entire universe to save the world. The Cross is the best sign of Jesus and our triumph over our two worst enemies, sin and death. I recall someone once telling me the only single regret in their life was his sins. Because Jesus rose triumphantly from the grave, He still lives with us. And the Cross really spells for a believer life over death, love over hate, victory over defeat and transcendence over tragedy.

This Fourth Sunday of Lent, which Mother Church traditionally calls Laetare Sunday, marks the midpoint of our Lenten journey. As St. Paul reminds us, we have every reason to rejoice (which is the meaning of “laetare”) because our God is very rich in mercy even when we are dead in sin. St. Paul speaks with tender gratitude of God who lavishes the greatest gift of all upon humanity — salvation. Salvation is God’s caring and loving concern. Salvation is free and unmerited as God favors us with His indescribable love.

No life is immune or exempt from the Cross. Every vocation carries crosses. The saints viewed crosses as their ladders to heaven. I recall as a hospital chaplain working on the oncology floor a cancer patient who crossed the threshold door daily to take chemotherapy only to get weaker and sicker. But with courage and hope he remarked to me, “Father, if you can’t carry the Cross Christ gives you in life, just drag it and Christ will carry it the rest of the way.”

We adore the Cross, we carry the Cross and we live the Cross as we embrace it in our lives. Let us develop a sense of gratitude as we offer up our crosses in love for God and for the salvation of others.

In Christ there is no trace of darkness.

His light shows up the darkness in us.

His truth shows up our lies.

His integrity shows up our falsehood.

His generosity shows up our selfishness.

His peach shows up our conflicts.

His openness to others shows up how closed we are.

However, we should not be afraid of His light.

Rather, we should rejoice in it.

Compared to His light, other lights

are mere flares in the night or candles in the wind.

Christ, radiant LIght of the World,

guides our steps in the ways of truth and goodness

And lead us through the gloom of this world,

to the kingdom of unfailing light.

— Fr. Flor McCarthy, SDB

Cleaning House at 50

In the fall of 1980, I entered Duquesne University as a freshman. My first class on my first day in college was entitled “Introduction to Philosophy” taught by Dr. Charles D. Keyes, an Anglican priest. The classroom was filled to capacity as students filed in for this course. Dr. Keyes was a dynamic and entertaining professor. After going from being a big shot in high school to a fearful freshmen in college, I remember being apprehensive about this new chapter in my life. I also remember reading the likes of Socrates, (470-399 B.C.), Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) and Plato (427-374 B.C.), and finding that these sage teachers believed wisdom came at age 50. I thought to myself then, “Who can wait so long for wisdom! It’s too far off!”

But lo and behold, I find myself now celebrating half a century of life, with five decades over the dam, and I feel blessed to reach this milestone today in my life. Maybe those wise, ancient philosophers were right after all. Wisdom comes with age, through life’s changes and challenges. Youth was filled with idealism, perfectionism, naiveté, narcissism, grandiosity, invincibility, vain glory and restlessness. But as one grows, one is challenged to shed these false selves and emerge to a new level of adaptability, authenticity, self-knowledge and acceptance of one’s virtues as well as vices. Through life’s harsh lessons, I feel I was given an “ivy league education” in reality. I have learned that God does not make junk. He seeks to mold and fashion us throughout our lives into his image and likeness, making us ever more aware that His grace supplies for our human futility and sinfulness. As I come to this point of this journey in life, I feel blessed and contented with who I am and not who I think I should be. After a half of century of living, and almost a quarter of century in the priesthood, I see that change is a necessary part of growth, holiness and maturity. At 50, the lens I see life through is certainly different from the rose colored glasses of my youth. I seek to strive for self-acceptance, self-knowledge, self-sacrifice, self-possession and self-transcendence.

I once read a quote which read, “Your task is to build a better world —God.” I thought, "How? The world is such a large, vast place, so complicated, and I, so small and useless. There is nothing I can do." But God in His great wisdom taught me: “Just build a better you.” Every day is a blessing to behold and gives an opportunity to be our best self.

Pope Gregory the Great said, “No sacrifice is more acceptable to God than zeal for souls.” On this Third Sunday of Lent we hear the story of the cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem. Here we do not find a mild and easy-going prophet but one who is upset and angry and who decides to clean house, as the commercial interest and greed of the vendors took precedence over the observance of prayer for the sacred feast of Passover. At Passover time Jerusalem was a magnet, overflowing with people from around the globe coming to worship God. The artist Michelangelo offers a vivid picture of the cleansing of the temple. Lent is a time of spiritual cleansing. Whether God dwells in buildings or human being’s hearts, they are to be holy places. Evil upsets Jesus, and rightfully so, as Jesus’ angry reaction says, “Zeal for your house will consume me” (Psalm 69). Zeal is a gift of the Holy Spirit. In Greek it means “intense heat.” Zeal means to have eagerness, passion and enthusiasm. Zeal means ardor, intensity and diligence. Zeal connotes having fire, spirit and power. Zeal means having energy, ambition and drive to whole-heartedness. Zeal’s opposite is dullness, boredom, apathy, complacency, laziness or disinterest.

During Lent God breaks through our indifference with a burning desire to destroy the things that clutter our hearts and minds. Addictions, bad habits, and secret sins can easily choke the life of the spirit. Anger, pride, greed, lust, jealousy and unforgiveness can destroy the sanctuary and temple of God within us. Jesus has great zeal for the salvation of everyone. May we have a zeal for holiness, spiritual growth and maturity this holy season. St. Lucy said, “Those whose hearts are pure are the temples of the Holy Spirit.” What better way to clean the temples of our heart than with a good, humble, honest and sincere Lenten confession. A lot of debris through our lives can get in the way of our zeal for faith, prayer and service to others. Saint Paul (1 Corinthians 6: 19-20) bluntly says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” Together we are the living stones, the Church, the Body of Christ.

On Monday, March 12, at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Dan Bylsma, Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and his star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, will be honored as Co-Sportsman of the Year at the 76th Annual Dapper Dan Dinner and Sports Auction. It is their positive enthusiasm, passion and zeal for the game, the teammates and for the organization to work towards its ultimate goal to win the fourth Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh.

1962, the year of my birth, was also a very historic time in the life of the Church as Vatican Council II, the 21st Ecumenical Council of the Church, was convened by Pope John XXIII. It is easy for me to remember this date! Pope Benedict XVI has designated this 50th anniversary of this Council the “Year of Faith.” I am most grateful to God for the gift of my parents and the great gift of faith they shared with their seven children and which continues in their grandchildren. A birthday causes me to remember, reflect and rejoice in the knowledge that a life filled with love and service for the Lord and others is a fulfilling life.

A Birthday Prayer

Thank You, Lord, for one more year! I’ve done the best I could.

And You’ve been right beside me like You always said You would.

I’ve seen You in the beauty of the skies, the trees, the birds.

I’ve heard You speak through caring friends & Scriptures’ treasured words.

I’ve felt Your awesome power in the face of doubt and grief

To shape my understanding and to deepen my belief.

My soul has saved up everything this year of life has taught me,

Your gifts of hope and wonder and the joy Your Love has brought me.

Whatever comes, I’m confident You’ll guide me gently through

This precious earthly part of my eternal life with You.

The Bishop’s Visit: A Transfiguration Moment

“I raise my eyes toward the mountains. From where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. The Lord will guard you from all evil, will always guard your life. The Lord will guard your coming and going, both now and forever."

— Psalm 121: 1-2, 7-8

What a night to remember, the first Friday of Lent, as we welcomed our Chief Shepherd, Bishop David A. Zubik to our parish. Of our forty-day and forty-night Lenten Pilgrimage, that evening was certainly a zenith, apogee, mountaintop transfiguration moment for our faith community. Along with ten Felician sisters and seven seminarians from St. Paul Seminary, Bishop Zubik joined us for our fish fry and we had a wonderful turnout of parishioners. The Bishop went around from table to table, meeting as many people as possible, and they in turn were delighted to see him. You can tune in to our web site to recapture the night and see there the Stations of the Cross, the Bishop’s homily and the beautiful music, revisiting this high point experience in our Lenten journey.

As he always does wherever he goes, the Bishop took time to pray quietly in the church prior to beginning the service and he offered a memorable prayer in the sacristy before we began the Stations of the Cross. He prayed, “As we walk these sacred steps to Christ’s Passion and Death, may we adore the Cross, may we carry our cross, and most importantly, may we live the Cross in imitation of Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer. Give us the grace to worship You as You so deserve. And fill us with the grace to be more completely Your follower.”

During the Bishop’s homily, he told the story of the time when as a transitional deacon en route to the priesthood, Bishop Vincent Leonard, the ninth Bishop of Pittsburgh (1969-1983), asked him the question, “What are your three preferences in serving as a priest?” Deacon Zubik answered to be a parish priest in an urban setting, to be a parish priest in the suburbs, and to be a parish priest in the rural area. (The accent was that he wanted to be a parish priest!) Another question posed to him was, “What particular ministries would you rather not be placed in?” And he answered high school ministry, high school ministry, and high school ministry. After ordination by Bishop Leonard in 1966, Fr. Zubik was sent to Sacred Heart Parish in East Liberty to serve under Fr. Unger. But, after being there for only two years, lo and behold, Fr. Zubik got a call that he was being sent to Quigley Catholic in Baden, where for the next twelve years he would serve in high school ministry. Bishop Zubik noted that although he had significant reservations about this ministry, he found in serving there that it brought untold blessings to his future as a priest and bishop. He recalled how meaningful it has been over the years to perform weddings, baptisms, and even the funerals for the students he once taught.

The Bishop also relayed the story of a student who was “perfect” in every way — academically, athletically and interpersonally — and a sure shot for success. But recently, the Bishop received a letter stating that the young man’s life had bottomed out. The Bishop said, “I am sure all of us can relate to this letter and to this life. We can have incredible potential but life isn’t always on a fair playing field and can leave us flailing and lost.”

Lent is the time for contrition, to be humble, to admit our mistakes, poor choices, sins, and it is a great blessing when God manifests to us our secret sins through a humble and contrite confession. Looking back over the evening and considering our wise Bishop, it struck me that this man of faith and father of souls exemplifies certain qualities critical for personal conversion:

Contrition — sorrow for one’s transgressions

Clarity – not wishy-washy, but decisive

Courage – a reliant spirit

Conviction — no compromise of values and beliefs but striving always for God’s glory

Conqueror — being a victor not a victim

Charity — unconditional love

Compassion — suffering with and walking in someone else’s moccasins

Commitment — a radical life-long tenacity for the good

At his departure, the Bishop humbly asked for my blessing and I gave a pep talk to the seminarians. I encouraged them, saying, "Let the Lord search your heart, give your life completely, be faithful in prayer, be real, embrace the Cross and live it. Be a cross bearer for the glory of heaven!"

Prayer of the Transfiguration, Lucien Deiss, CSSp

With Moses, Elijah, Peter, James and John,

Let us pray to be transfigured into children of God.

Christ, be our light of glory.

We were children of this earth.

You transfigured us into children of God.

Thank you, Lord.

Gather us together in your heavenly home.

Christ, be our light of glory.

We heard the words of the earth.

You gave us the words of heaven.

Thank you, Lord.

Open our hearts to your Gospel of Glory.

Christ, be our light of glory.

We ate the stale bread of the earth.

You transfigured it into the bread of heaven.

Thank you, Lord.

Invite us to the feast of eternal joy.

Christ, be our light of glory.

We were a community of sinners on earth.

You transfigured us into the Church of the saints of heaven.

Thank you, Lord.

Keep us in the unity of your Church.

Christ, be our light of glory.

Everything you touch, Lord of glory,

Is transfigured through your divinity.

Transfigure our darkness into your light,

Our sadness into your joy,

Our ugliness into your beauty,

Our body of misery into your body of glory,

Our earth into your paradise,

Our mortal life into your eternity.

We will bless you forever and ever. Amen.