Transfiguration: A Great Day for the Knights

"The civilization of love is not about getting rid of ordinary life, but about living it in an extraordinary way... in a transfigured way."

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - On this second day of the meeting of the Supreme Council for the Knights of Columbus, Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte of Montreal challenged those present for the morning Mass to live in the Spirit of the Transfiguration. Being August 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration, the Cardinal focused on the fact that all that is done by the Knights, as by all Christians, who are committed to building a civilization of love, do so in the presence and power of the Divine Son of God.

"Today is the feast of the Transfiguration. Jesus takes some of his closest friends with him on a mountaintop, and he begins to shine with glory. His face is as dazzling as the sun. But it is still his human face. Who he is, as a human being, is still present. His human nature is still intact. His divine nature is powerfully revealed - but only by gazing on his human face. It is a face we see today in our brothers and sisters, and in particular the poor and helpless. To build the civilization of love means to seek the face of Jesus in others."

At he Transfiguration, the Cardinal went on to share, Elijah's presence reminds us that we must live as prophetsin the world... being prophets of a life very different from the false standards built by many today. He challenged the Knights to live as prophets in the way we speak and work, love our spouse, parent our children, spend and invest and give, vote, and defend human life and dignity.

He reminded those present that the end of the vision is really a new beginning. "So the vision suddenly ends, and Jesus touches them. They look up, it is Jesus telling them to not be afraid. Seeing his face, they live. At this point, the Transfiguration of Jesus has ended, but the transfiguration of the disciples has just begun."

For the Knights of Columbus, the message was an encouragement to keep doing what they have always been doing and to maintain the quality of Catholic Christian life that is the mainstay of the Fraternal Order.

As Cardinal Turcotte stated, "Our lives - even the practice of our faith - can seem mundane at times. We may even live in times of personal or communal darkness. But this does not mean that Jesus is not there. He is... The civilization of love is not about getting rid of ordinary life, but about living it in an extraordinary way... in a transfigured way. And in a way that invites others to see the face of Jesus and be transfigured too."

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