06/08/2023

The power wielded by the priests of the pagans derived from the control that they had over the "oracles" that only they could interpret and from their role as intermediaries between their "gods" and the state. They were also the supposed to be the recipients of secret knowledge which gave to them sacred power in the eyes of the people.

 The people themselves attributed their lives to the care of their personal household gods and the "inhabitants' of sacred locations near to  where they lived.. All over the world the really powerful rulers became "Sons of Heaven" or actual "gods" who demanded worship as their due. 

Most of  those who were to be convinced by Jesus, those who became the nucleus of Christianity were familiar with the Old Testament which contained attempts by the prophets to describe the glorious immateriality of the Evergreater IAMIAM in human language. All of the attempts by Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra and also by John in the Apocalypse fail because God is not to be known by our senses but  reveals himself to us by our worship and devotion to him. Moses'  the "burning bush"on Mt Sinai , together with the "still quiet breeze" also on Mt Sinai have the holy simplicity that impresses me more than the vastness of the other visions.

What is it that happened on Mount Tabor when Peter, James and John trudged up the dusty slopes with Jesus? We know that there was a transfiguration of their Rabbi that produced a vision of brilliant light and engulphed them in an unknowing wonder which they tried to interpret but were in truth unable to do so. This is one of the few occasions that Jesus asks individuals to remain silent about their unique experiences of him.

Our Lord, Son with Father and Holy Spirit, one God did not empty himself of his unlimited Being to take on humanity in the womb of  Mary Theotokos to remain unknown on earth. His objective was to make the holiness and forgiveness of God known openly to the whole world not in arcane secrets known only to initiates. 

For thirty years he lived as one man among thousands, his mystery being known only to Mary and to Joseph and remained as man for another three years until the Resurrection when he has been proclaimed to be God to all the world.

Of the three who had been shown the hidden Glory of the Lord on Mount Tabor only one remained to the bitter end on Golgotha. 

Dear Lord , let me be filled with the loving Faith of John and the three Marys. Let the fire of the Holy Spirit enlighten my soul, let me return  unconditionally  the love of Son and let me search for the immensity of  Father letting the Glory of the Trinity guard me and all of creation from the ignorance and stupidity that lets us  be overcome by the transient happiness and pleasures of this world to the detriment of our everlasting souls.