Gospel Reflection for The 6th day of August in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Gospel
Matthew 17:1-9
1 And after six days Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: 2 And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. 3 And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4 And Peter answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5 And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.
6 And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid. 7 And Jesus came and touched them: and said to them, Arise, and fear not. 8 And they lifting up their eyes saw no one but only Jesus. 9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man be risen from the dead.
One of the most common condemnations of Catholicism by Protestants is the claim that, “Catholics worship Mary, saints and angels, not Jesus,” and, “Catholics are idol worshipers – they worship statues.” Neither accusation is true. Such charges are based in ignorance, but it is amazing how widespread such beliefs are. Even well meaning Protestants, who don’t have any strong negative feelings toward Catholicism will ask why we worship saints, angels and statues out of genuine curiosity. Other times, such mistaken beliefs have led to “iconoclast” movements, in which historic churches and cemeteries have been vandalized and some of the most beautiful works of devotional, religious art destroyed due to ignorance and bigotry.
I do not believe that most Protestants doubt the existence of Saints although some, such as my professor at the Baptist University certainly did. Saints are mentioned so many times in the Bible that it is very hard to understand how anyone who bases their belief on the sole authority of the Bible could be ignorant to them. Some Protestants, such as is common in the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations, claim that all Christians are saints. They believe that the saints, whether living on earth or eternally alive in heaven, are no more special than anyone else. The more traditional, Protestant belief seems to be that there are certain people who are more holy and more devout than others, whose devotion has established a special relationship with God, and they are rightly called saints. But, such Protestant denominations deny that the saints in heaven can hear our prayers or are aware of what goes on here on earth. There is no Biblical evidence for any of these positions.
The Bible makes quite clear that God does give special graces to certain Christians who live especially holy and devout lives. Several saints performed miracles during their lives and after death, as recorded in the Bible, and some were preserved from death – assumed into heaven, such as Enoch and Elijah. Special graces are granted to the Christian martyrs, and they have a unique position in heaven. The Bible also makes clear the role of angels, not only as the messengers of God, but as beings who advocate for each of us and for the Church.
I think, perhaps, the biggest mistake Protestants make is that they seem to think there is some kind of competition in heaven… as if asking an angel or a saint to pray for us somehow takes something away from Jesus. Truly, this is ridiculous. They state, “There is one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ!” Okay, but how does asking someone to pray for you make them a mediator? Does asking your living relative or friend to pray for you somehow rob God of the honor due him? When Saint Paul asked others to pray for him, did that insult God? No, we are one body in Christ, each member supporting the others… and nowhere is that more true than in heaven. Catholics never worship saints or angels. We venerate them, which means showing them the respect they are due for either living holy lives or being holy angels, and we pray to them just as we talk to the living on earth. We worship God, alone. We pray to saints and angels, asking them to pray for us. We do that because we are all family and we do that because the Bible tells us that their roles in heaven are to worship God and to pray for us. Earthly death does not make them love us less; quite the opposite, they love us more and have more care for us!
“But,” they will argue, “the saints are in Heaven, they cannot hear us on earth. They do not interact with us. They don't know what is going on here. And, the Bible says it is a sin to talk to the dead!” Yet the same Bible says that God is the God of the living and that those in Heaven have eternal life. Saint Paul tells us in his Letter tot he Hebrews that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Certainly the saints are both alive and can see and hear us, or they could not be witnesses. Today's Gospel shows us Jesus talking with two saints who are very aware of what is going on here and very interested. If we are to emulate Jesus, we must follow His example in communicating with the saints in Heaven!
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July-December, 2024 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3ZTXQB4
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His new podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic
Thank you for the thought provoking article. You deftly handled some pieces to my puzzle. Your writing never fails to make a bit clearer the big picture.
Beautiful, so very well said! It needs to be said more often!!!