Transfiguration is focus of Pope’s Sunday audience

August 07, 2017

The feast of the Transfiguration “offers a message of hope” for the faithful, Pope Francis said at his Angelus audience on Sunday, August 6.

The Transfiguration, which the Church celebrated that day, encourages Christians to “reflect on the importance of detching ourselves from worldly things, in order to complete our journey to the heights and to contemplate Jesus,” the Pope said. He urged his audience to discover the beauty of contemplative prayer. “When we do this, Bible in hand, in silence, we begin to feel this inner beauty, this joy that the Word of God generates in us,” he said.

During the summer, the Holy Father remarked, there may be more opportunities for times of quiet prayer, as “students are free from their scholastic commitments, and many families take their vacations.” He urged his audience to make use of leisure time to restore their energy and to enrich their spiritual lives.

However, the Pope continued, the apostles did not remain on the mountain; they were encouraged to spread the message of the Lord. Similarly, he said, the faithful, enriched by the grace that flows from contemplatiev prayer, should “decide on new steps of authentic conversion, and constantly bear witness to charity as the law of daily life.” We ourselves should be transformed, he said, and become “a concrete sign of the live-giving love of God for all our brethren.”

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• The Pope’s words at the Angelus prayer (Vatican press office)
• Pope reflects on Transfiguration, summer vacation at Angelus (Vatican Radio)