Catholic Men Chicago Southland - https://cmcsmen.net  

Mostly short videos about the fundamentals of Catholic Manhood from Frank J Casella, Catholic Men Chicago Southland Co-founder & Executive Director -  'Living the Goodness of a Catholic Man'.

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March 16, 2025

Second Sunday of Lent

Topic: When Our Vices and Not Our Virtues Take Charge.

Gospel - Luke 9:28b-36 - The Transfiguration of Jesus.

Jesus took Peter, John, and James

and went up the mountain to pray.

While he was praying his face changed in appearance

and his clothing became dazzling white.

And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,

who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus

that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.

Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep,

but becoming fully awake,

they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.

As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,

“Master, it is good that we are here;

let us make three tents,

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

But he did not know what he was saying.

While he was still speaking,

a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,

and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.

Then from the cloud came a voice that said,

“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”

After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

They fell silent and did not at that time

tell anyone what they had seen.

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031625.cfm

**Summary of the Excerpt**

This short video by Frank Casella is from this Sunday's Gospel of St. Luke 9:28-36 and discusses the importance of faith and perseverance in the face of adversity. It highlights the story of Christ's transfiguration, where he showed his disciples a glimpse of his future glory to strengthen them for the upcoming trial of his passion and crucifixion. The video emphasizes that despite human weakness, we can still enter eternal glory through Christ's suffering if we remain true to our faith.

The video also touches on the importance of gratitude and appreciation for God's love and promises. However, it acknowledges that we often struggle with our vices and temptations, and that we can still put things right with God as long as we have life. Then Frank concludes by emphasizing the beauty of being adopted sons of God and the promise of a glorified body in the afterlife.

**Message**

The Gospel of St. Luke 9:28-36 is where this story comes from. It's about how God showed his disciples a glimpse of what Christ would be like after he rose from the dead. This was to help them get through the tough times that were coming up, like the crucifixion. God could see that his disciples were weak and that they were going to be really shaken by what was about to happen. So, he gave them a preview of the good stuff that was waiting for them if they stuck with their faith.

We're in a similar situation today. We believe in God and we know that Christ was sent to help us get to heaven. But, just like the disciples, we're not perfect and we struggle with our faith. We've got more proof now that Christ is the real deal - not just a messenger from God, but actually God's son. But, we're still human and we're prone to making mistakes.

The disciples had to go through a tough test of their faith when Christ was crucified. But, now we know that Christ's suffering was actually part of the plan to help us get to heaven. We can see how good God has been to us and how much he wants us to be happy. He's given us an eternity of happiness, which is basically the ultimate human goal. And, all he asks in return is that we stick with him for a short time.

It's not always easy, though. We've got moments when we're tempted to give up our faith for something more immediate and tangible. But, there's always hope as long as we're still alive. We can still make things right with God. And, the best part is, we get to be adopted sons of God and get a brand new body that's free from pain and corruption. It's going to be amazing!