1Reflection for Saturday, February 23; Saint Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr; Mark 9:2-13

                                                                      Gospel: Mark 9:2-13

Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." Suddenly, looking around, the disciples no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant. Then they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He told them, "Elijah will indeed come first and restore all things, yet how is it written regarding the Son of Man that he must suffer greatly and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him."

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Reflection:

Do you want to be in heaven with the Lord when your journey in this world is already over?

Jesus showed to the three apostles what heaven was like; He gave them a fleeting taste of heaven. But then, He said not yet; let us go down first and continue my mission of salvation. By doing so He would go through severe hardship, pain and betrayal. But at the end of these all Jesus rose up triumphantly to defeat the darkness of evil.   

Before we achieve success, we must toil in the sun and sacrifice. Before we go to heaven we have to do something for the Lord and His church. And this will surely entail sacrifice even hardship.

Why? Because that’s how it is, there are no shortcuts to triumph. We must go through the eye of the needle to fully enjoy the sweetness of our victory and success. Free riders and freeloaders have no place in the mission for Christ.

We have to sacrifice if we want to be with the Lord in heaven someday. We have to sweat it out if we want to taste success in this world. There are no shortcuts.   – Marino J. Dasmarinas