This is the feast of the Melkite Catholic parish in Toronto. It was celebrated on Sunday August 4 in the 12:00 noon Divine Liturgy presided over by the visiting former Patriarchal General Vicar over the See of Jerusalem Most Reverend Emeritus J. Jules Zerey at the Byzantine Cathedral of the Transfiguration.
Let us turn to an inspiring lecture on the transfiguration of Christ:
The Gospel reading recalls to mind not only the transfiguration of Christ but also two great persons who appeared with him on the mountain: Moses and Elijah. In a talk at Jesus the King Church in 2008, Fr. Georges Farah, who earned his doctorate in philosophy from France and taught philosophy in Lebanon, expressed the deep meaning of the transfiguration. Let us contrast the two characters, he said. Moses was the Law maker – He experienced God’s presence at Mount Horeb in a burning bush that never extinguished its light. Moses delivered his people out of Egypt's slavery by mighty signs and gave them the Ten Commandments. Elijah, on the contrary, was the challenger of the Law. Elijah heard the Lord God and delivered his people out of another slavery: that of the false god: Baal. For this, he had to face the tyrant Ahab the king and his queen and their priests. While the Baal’s priests offered offerings to the Baal and prayed all day with no result, Elijah’s word opened heaven and fire descended at once and consumed his offering. He was the greatest prophet of Israel. Both Moses and Elijah transformed the lives of the people of God. Why did they appear and talk with Christ? Here is the question. If we go back to the event, we will find the key: Christ goes beyond the Law maker and the Prophet. The Law maker shows us the past- the Prophet shows the future. Christ is beyond both: He is the eternal one. To him, past and future are present. Eternity is beyond time. And Christ the Divine needs no time. The Law restricts (or regulates) our freedom (You shall not kill…You shall not desire your neighbour’s wife…etc.). Christ’s law goes beyond the Law- The law of Christ is perfect freedom! Christ’s law goes beyond good and evil. There are no categories for people: No one is inherently evil. Recall the healing of the man born blind. For the Jews he was born blind because of his sins or his parents’ sins. For Christ, the reason is utterly different: to make God’s wonders present in him. i.e. to show God’s love to him. Civilizations are tired with the old question of good and evil. Christ’s answer is simple: No human is evil. The more Christian values for human dignity are embedded in human laws, the closer we are to Christ’s law. In the developed world today, capital punishment has been eliminated – Why? Because people started to understand that a murderer is to be treated as a sick man not as a criminal. The Transfiguration offers us a glimpse of divinity’s light. The great light is that in spite of his impending suffering and death, Christ, the Eternal One, lives a life beyond the Law- a life of self-emptying love and joy. He teaches Israel his new law: love to the end. Do you want to start to be like Christ? Love and accept each one you encounter as he is. Treat your intimate husband or wife as you would treat a stranger with respect and dignity. Treat your children as they are with respect. They are not your slaves. They are God’s gift to you. We have nothing here that is not given to us. And receive that joy of life that the Spirit of God gives. Do this and you will experience the Transfiguration. * Based on a lecture by Fr. Georges Farah on Friday August 8, 2008 at Jesus the King Church, Toronto
On Sunday July 21, I was highly impressed by the 12:00 noon Divine Liturgy presided over by Most Reverend Emeritus J. Jules Zerey. In the same Divine Liturgy, sung by the renowned Homsy choir, the parish celebrated the 22nd anniversary of priesthood of Reverend Ibrahim El-Haddad, BSO, Pastor of Jesus the King whose patron is the Prophet Elijah (St. Elias). Following the celebration, the Council of the Knights of Columbus at Jesus the King invited both of them, and me to Jerusalem Restaurant along with many other parishioners. As we shared bread together, Most Reverend Emeritus Zerey gave us a little cross from Jerusalem which I pinned on my shirt, and, on behalf of Jerusalem Students project pioneered by the outgoing Grand Knight at Jesus the King, handed me a nice certificate due to sponsorship of a student in the Patriarchal school near Jerusalem.
On Sunday July 28, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad reflected on how Abraham requested God not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and spare the city for the few innocent persons that lived there (Genesis 18: 20-32) and gave an eloquent homily on the dignity of man in God's truth that we miss today (L'Histoire… un scénario écrit d’avance ? here in French). What he said reminds me of St. Thomas Aquinas who based his reform on Aristotle's philosophy. According to the philosophy of St.Thomas Aquinas (here), every reasonable person acts according to his inclinations. He is free but must act responsibly to avoid falling into error against his natural end that is in God. God, in creating everything, let it be and grow on its own. i.e. God does not predetermine things but let them exist and grow. He sees everything present to him. Nevertheless he does not normally and directly intervene in the cosmos, except in heavenly acts of healing which are rare, until judgment is passed on the living and the dead (Nicene-Constantinople Creed) when every person does an account for his life here according to his conscience. Yes, we are responsible for our acts. The Texas Walmart shooting of innocents on Saturday August 3 was a free act. It resulted in the death of 20 persons (see BBC report here). In Toronto reports show gun violence that injured 17 persons in the long weekend that ended on Monday August 5 (reported here), Man can be an Islamic terrorist or a White supremacist or some other kind of vengeful actors. Yet a free person can attain many good things. The Church continues its mission to bring Christ to non-Christians through her missionaries everywhere in the world. Count only the Congregation of the "Sisters of Charity" founded by Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The nuns serve the poor of the poor and when hospitalized they preach to them the wounds of Christ through which we are healed (see my post here) The Church continues to help every needy in the name of Christ. Some examples include the many hospitals run by nuns and Dominican priests, and here too in Toronto, visit Covenant House in which the Archdiocese of Toronto receives youths who have been expelled from their homes by their parents (see its programs here). I wish to share here a post I wrote in 2017 about the quantum universe that will surely attract the readers attention since it shows how the entire universe and us in it are achieving things because in us God reflects his love for all (see the post here). And without doubt we can also reflect on God's work with two great mystical theologians on the 20th century namely the Jesuit scientist Teilhard de Chardin; and the great mystical theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar regarded as great contributors to the unfolding of Christ's mystery by one of the most eloquent theologians in contemporary Catholicism namely Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (the post is written in May 2019 - see it here).
In the Gospel Jesus speaks of weeds in a way that tells the disciples about the choices that men make and how everyone chooses his/her eternity based on their deeds here and the attempts of the evil enemy of humankind to lure them away. It can be found here:
This past Sunday, August 4, the Gospel reading was that of the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16- 21). In his homily at the 10:00 am Mass at Holy Rosary parish in Toronto the parish pastor and renowned Biblical scholar Msgr. Robert Nusca advised parishioners to give out of their earnings to the needy in society and to support parish programs in which young ones and older ones are being helped and taught. The author of "The Christ of the Apocalypse: Contemplating the Face of Jesus in the Book of Revelation" warned parishioners not to waste time and money on things that perish but "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21). In Cairo, Egypt, Fr. Boulad spoke about being vigilant (in French here "Vanité des vanités… tout est vanité ..."). Christ said to his disciples to be vigilant "for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect."(Matthew 24:44). Fr. Boulad said that he finds this awaiting attitude in John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. "He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light." (John 1:7-8). In the same vein of being vigilant, Fr. Boulad remembered Simone Weil (d. 1943); a French visionary, mystic, and philosopher considered "the only great spirit of our times" by the "Philosopher of the Absurd" Albert Camus. For Fr. Boulad, evolution is a theory that shows that humanity goes forward always. It is the Christian eschatology that made humanity's hope comes close to men's hearts and minds...We find it in the Virgin Mary's attentive reception of God incarnate in her womb...The Lord who was, is and always will be! The "Phenomenon of Man" is Teilhard's evolutionary paradigm from the atmosphere, to the biosphere, and finally to the leap into the noosphere in humanity - it is also in the vision found in Christian eschatology revealed in Christ "the Alpha and the Omega...the One who is and who was and who is to come; the almighty" (Revelation 1:8). In the vision of Teilhard de Chardin, Christ is the "Omega Point." "The One who sat on the Throne said 'Behold, I make all things new'" (Revelation 21:5).
"Maran Atha" (Come Lord Jesus) writes the visionary of the Book of Revelation (Revelation 22:20). Awaiting Him "through whom all things came to be" (John 1:3).
We must not despair for the Judge is Christ who tasted being alone on the cross when his disciples escaped. Following the great theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, we also hope in God's mercy.
Let us conclude with this magnificent hymn sung at St. Anne in Belfast (named Love Divine):
"Finish then thy new creation - pure and spotless let us be" here.
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