CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA COLLECTION

Last May, Pope Leo XIV promulgated his first encyclical letter.  Entitled Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, it addresses familiar concerns about AI.  The title, Latin for “magnificent humanity,” points to the document’s teaching that no machine can replace the God-given magnificence of the human person.  Pope Leo writes: “We must lovingly safeguard the grandeur of humanity bestowed upon us and revealed in its fullness in Christ, the splendor of which no machine can ever replace” (§15).

This very timely encyclical covers a number of topics. Among them is the importance of schools, where “new generations can learn to seek and love the truth, to reflect on the meaning of life and to recognize the dignity of every person” (§143).  Our Holy Father acknowledges that “for this reason, many parents, who want their children to grow in the capacity to form relationships, develop critical thinking skills and embrace solid values, place great expectations on schools as valuable partners in their children’s education (§143).

We are blessed here in America with many Catholic schools, including colleges and universities that help our children learn about God and embrace solid Christian values as they prepare for their adult lives.  Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., is the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Bishops and chartered by the Vatican.  It enjoys the distinction of being the national university of the Catholic Church and is charged with educating the future leaders of the Church, nation and the world.  It is a national research university with more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students.  It offers more than 250 academic programs on a residential campus that provides a transformative experience – academic, spiritual and social – to prepare students for a life of meaning and purpose in accordance with our Catholic faith.  I had the privilege of studying Sacred Scriptures at CUA (1984 – 86) in its outstanding doctoral program under such world renowned theologians as Fr. Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S. J., who was the general editor for the authoritative Jerome Biblical Commentary, and Fr. John Meyers, recognized worldwide for his scholarship on the writings of St. John.

The founders of CUA set down the following first principle: “The teaching of the University should be faithfully Catholic, conformed in all things to the creed of the Church and the decisions of the Holy See.”  It is still faithfully Catholic today.  So, it is particularly important to support CUA today at a time when so many people – including many Catholics – are being misled away from the truth of the Gospel.   Our annual collection for the Catholic University of America will be taken up next weekend.  Please be generous so this institution can continue to educate the next generation of Catholic leaders.

 

TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD

 Every year, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on 6 August, 40 days before the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross which is celebrated on 14 September.  The account of the Transfiguration is also proclaimed on the Second Sunday of Lent every year – and for good reason.  Just as our Lord was transfigured before the three disciples up on Mount Tabor to encourage them as they prepared to accompany Jesus to Jerusalem where he would be crucified and then rise from the dead, so it encourages us at the beginning of every Lent as we prepare to accompany our Lord through his suffering, death and resurrection.

This Thursday, we will have the opportunity to reflect on the Transfiguration of our Lord with a slightly different focus.  During Ordinary Time – the liturgical season we’re in right now – we recognize that God has ordered our lives toward him.  His Son, Jesus, followed his heavenly Father’s will and, as we read so poetically presented in the Letter to the Philippians, “though he was in the form of God,… he humbled himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness” (Php 2:6a, 7).  He lived among us, fully human, a man who showed us God’s love in person.  As the transfiguration demonstrated, however, he remained truly God and even communed with the prophets of old.  We hear in Thursday’s gospel account that Moses and Elijah accompanied him at Mount Tabor.  In this glorious encounter, the disciples Peter, James and John were privileged to catch a glimpse of heaven where all the faithful will be able to join the prophets of old – along with all of the other saints – as they commune with God.  When we think of the Transfiguration, we might be tempted to focus on the miraculous transformation of Jesus with a face that “shone like the sun” and clothes that “became white as light” (Mt 17:2).  I invite you to consider, however, the even greater miracle of Jesus hiding his divinity for all of those 33 years that he was among us.  Finally, on Mt. Tabor, he could let his divine nature poke out!

Another interesting aspect of this account of the Transfiguration is that Peter, recognizing this divine encounter, suggested building three tents – one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah.  These tents would be like the Tent of Meeting that Moses had erected during the Exodus where he would encounter God.  To further demonstrate the similarity between the encounter with God during the Exodus and on Mount Tabor, the gospel account recalls that a “bright cloud cast a shadow over them” just as a column of smoke would fill the Meeting Tent whenever Moses came before God.  From that bright cloud came a voice that announced: “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”  This recalls our Lord’s baptism at the Jordan where similar words are spoken after he is baptized.

As we continue Ordinary Time, let us listen to God’s Son.  Jesus is the Word of God made flesh who ceaselessly shows us God’s love and teaches us how to follow him until the day when he returns in all his glory to lead the faithful to commune with God forever in heaven!