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00:23Let us pray.
00:50Let us pray.
00:54Let us pray.
01:26Let us pray.
01:42Let us pray.
02:11Let us pray.
02:24Let us pray.
02:28Let us pray.
02:38Let us pray.
02:41Let us pray.
02:58Let us pray.
03:31Let us pray.
03:54Let us pray.
04:05Let us pray.
04:08Let us pray.
04:17Let us pray.
04:45Let us pray.
04:59Let us pray.
05:04Let us pray.
05:15Let us pray.
05:33Let us pray.
05:36Let us pray.
05:38Let us pray.
05:40Let us pray.
05:47Let us pray.
05:50Let us pray.
05:53Let us pray.
05:58Let us pray.
06:03Let us pray.
06:06For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth from generation to generation.
06:30Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning,
06:45is now and ever shall be,
06:50world without end. Amen.
07:27Amen.
07:33Amen.
08:01Amen.
08:23Amen.
08:35Amen.
08:57Amen.
08:59Amen.
09:04Amen.
09:10Amen.
09:19Amen.
09:47CHOIR SINGS
10:07CHOIR SINGS
10:47CHOIR SINGS
11:18CHOIR SINGS
11:48CHOIR SINGS
11:56A reading from the Gospel according to St Matthew, chapters 16 and 17.
12:03Then Jesus said to his disciples,
13:06and his face was shining like the sun, his clothes became white as light.
13:12Moses and Elijah came before their eyes, talking with him.
13:18Peter made answer and said to look, Jesus,
13:20Lord, it is good for us to be here.
13:23If you will let me, I will make here three tents,
13:26one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
13:31While he was still talking, a bright cloud came over them,
13:34and the voice out of the crowd said,
13:37This is my dearly beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.
13:42Give ear to him.
13:46At these words the disciples went down on their faces in great fear.
13:50But Jesus came and put his hand on them and said,
13:53Get up, do not be afraid.
13:58Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
14:04When they were coming down from the mountain,
14:06Jesus gave them orders, saying,
14:08Let no man have word of what you have seen,
14:11until the Son of Man has come again from the dead.
14:16His disciples, questioning him, said,
14:19Why then do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first?
14:24In answer he said,
14:26Elijah truly has to come and put all things bright.
14:30But I say to you that Elijah has come.
14:33And they had no knowledge of him,
14:36but did to him whatever they were pleased to do.
14:40The same will the Son of Man undergo at their hands.
14:45And then the disciples realised
14:47that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
14:53This is the word of the Lord.
14:55Thanks be to God.
15:03Jesus here set out the terms of his discipleship.
15:07What must we do if we truly want to be his disciples?
15:12And I say truly want, because that is exactly what is meant.
15:17We have to make this decision for ourselves.
15:22For many of us find ourselves in church on a Sunday to please others,
15:26and not because it is where we want to be.
15:30There are three things that we must do.
15:34First of all, we must deny ourselves.
15:38To do this we have to learn to set aside our own desires and aspirations for this world.
15:43And we learn to be content with what we have,
15:47or however little.
15:48And if we have more than we truly need,
15:51look for a better home for these things amongst the needy.
15:56We need to live modestly and simply.
15:58We do not need expensive houses and flashy cars.
16:02Yes, of course, we need a house and some form of transport these days.
16:06But let us be modest about it.
16:09First, the disciple is not one to show off,
16:12but should be embarrassed by affluence.
16:17We need to learn to avoid excess at the meal table.
16:21For example, just eating simply and leaving behind the gourmet meals
16:27in favour of a bowl of soups, a bread, a cheese and perhaps a glass of wine.
16:34Secondly, we must take up our burden in obedience to Christ.
16:40Whatever he calls us to do,
16:42we must go and do it,
16:44taking pleasure in the doing thereof.
16:49There is a nuance here in the Greek language of the Gospel.
16:54Taking up our burden is often translated as taking up our cross,
16:59suggesting that we be crucified.
17:04The Greek word stathros,
17:07historically,
17:10means a burden
17:14or a cross rose.
17:18The translation of cross,
17:21as in the crucifixion,
17:23is something that dates from the time of the Gospel.
17:29However,
17:30taking up the burden
17:32may well involve things that are physically unpleasant,
17:36and it may involve putting ourselves in danger of persecution,
17:42normally mentally from people around us
17:44who will make fun of our vocation.
17:48Remember that our lives are no longer about pleasing these people,
17:52but pleasing God himself.
17:56Thirdly, we must follow him wherever he leads us.
18:00We have to learn always to follow his example,
18:03to behave as he behaved,
18:05to be meek and humble,
18:07at the same time being resolute of purpose and principle.
18:12We must spend our time with him in prayer,
18:15study and meditation.
18:19If we stick resolutely to these three things,
18:22then we will find ourselves walking closer and closer to Christ in our daily lives.
18:28Wherever the master goes,
18:30there goes the serpent.
18:35We are then presented with an interesting and perhaps confusing prophecy.
18:40There were those in the assembly to which Jesus was speaking,
18:44who would witness in their own lifetime the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
18:50He was saying that some of those presents would live to see the establishment
18:53of his church throughout the world,
18:56the New Jerusalem,
18:57and the overthrowing of the Old Jerusalem in 70 and 71 AD.
19:06For one, we know that John survived the sacking of Jerusalem
19:10and the massacre of his population by a good 20 years.
19:18We then move on to the well-known encounter on the mountain,
19:23which, according to St Mark's Gospel,
19:25took place six days after the prophecy.
19:32In taking Peter, James and John up the mountain
19:35for a very special encounter,
19:37Jesus allows these three disciples a glimpse of what is to come,
19:41perhaps as much for their comfort and reassurance
19:44as for their education.
19:48It is worth noting that Jesus did not take all the disciples of the mountain,
19:52but just a mere quarter of them,
19:55sufficient to give witness in due course as to exactly what happened.
20:01In the same way, Jesus reveals to all his faithful
20:04different heavenly truths, depending upon their needs.
20:09It is not necessary for us to know all the secrets of heaven,
20:13for we would be truly incapable of coping with the knowledge.
20:18Likewise, it is also wrong for us to engage in speculation
20:22as to what some of these truths might be.
20:26It should be sufficient for us to accept Jesus as he is
20:29and to trust in him,
20:31leaving it to him to decide what we are to receive
20:35as our education in his ways.
20:41Verse 3 of chapter 17
20:43tells us that the clothes of Jesus became brilliant white.
20:48The use of the original language suggests
20:50that this was a gradual rather than a sudden process,
20:53so that the disciples would have been under no doubt
20:56that it was still Jesus,
20:58their friend and teacher, who was in front of him.
21:02It also gives us a glimpse of the purity of heaven,
21:05for Jesus was shown to be completely pure and without blemish,
21:09its clothes being whiter and brighter
21:11than any amount of bleach or worldly detergent
21:14could possibly make them.
21:18Such was the intensity of the experience
21:21and the deep fear felt by the disciples
21:23that Jesus was obliged to comfort them further
21:26by laying his hands on them and blessing them.
21:31Certainly this would have been a terrifying experience for me,
21:35to be shown even for a few brief moments
21:37something so very different,
21:38so unexpected.
21:41And as we might say in these days,
21:44out of this world,
21:45as some would put it.
21:48Not surprisingly,
21:49they were told to keep quiet about what had happened
21:51and what they had seen and heard
21:54until they knew that the time had come
21:55to speak openly about it.
22:01On the mountain Jesus had been shown in his full glory to the three disciples.
22:07Hearing the voice of God,
22:08they were filled with fear.
22:11But Jesus spoke kind words and comforted them,
22:15telling them they should not be afraid.
22:17They were, after all, his disciples,
22:20and he had just given them a view of himself in his full glory.
22:26He was not merely the carpenter from Nazareth,
22:29but the son of God himself.
22:34A few of us maybe have had a similar experience in our early days of faith,
22:39but do not worry if it hasn't happened to you.
22:42It has not happened to many of us.
22:46If it has, it is an experience that leaves us feeling highly privileged
22:50that Jesus has shown himself to us.
22:57After the very special moment on the mountain,
23:01Jesus allowed the three disciples in his inner circle
23:03a glimpse of the true glory
23:05which was to come down the mountain again
23:08and then face the world.
23:11How often for us is life like that?
23:14One moment we are truly in paradise,
23:17worshipping God on some special occasion,
23:20enjoying a spiritual high.
23:22And the next, wham, we are back down to earth again.
23:28Sadly, as long as our Father ordains,
23:30we have to remain in this world
23:32and it is necessary for us to come down from the mountain
23:36again and again.
23:39However, just as Peter, James and John were able,
23:42we can bring Jesus with us and we will not be alone.
23:47Why did Jesus insist that they did not tell anyone about what they had seen?
23:53Surely, if they did, others might have believed.
23:58The problem there was that Jesus still had to endure his torture and execution.
24:02How much better to keep the news of this encounter quiet
24:05until after the resurrection
24:10and add it to the glory of that occasion
24:12rather than announce it early
24:15and have his crucifixion undermine it?
24:20We then come to the question of the disciples
24:23concerning Elijah and John the Baptist.
24:27The religious intelligentsia
24:29were waiting upon the return of Elijah
24:32to announce the coming of the Messiah.
24:35Malachi 4.5
24:40Jesus surprised the disciples
24:41by saying that Elijah had already been and gone
24:44but had not been recognised
24:45and put to death
24:48clearly suggesting to them
24:49that this had in fact been John the Baptist.
24:54If these people
24:55who claimed to be so clever
24:57had only stopped and looked hard
24:58paid real attention and listened carefully
25:01they would have been able to work this out
25:03for themselves.
25:06Instead, because of their arrogance
25:07they failed to appreciate
25:09what they saw and heard.
25:12In the same way
25:13we have all the information we need
25:15at our fingertips concerning Christ
25:17but do we actually consider the information
25:20and meditate over it?
25:23Perhaps, like it does for so very many
25:25it goes in one ear
25:27and out the other.
25:48We praise you, O God
25:51and we allow you to be our Lord
25:56All year, O God
25:59and we allow you to be our Lord
26:01Father, ever I am to be
26:04To your angels, my love
26:08and to our hearts, my name
26:13To your children, I serve Him
26:17Once in glory to pride
26:21For you all may need your life,
26:26in the dark of my eyes.
26:29And with you all my goodness,
26:33it holds it home to the Lord.
26:37For you all may be breathe out in this glass.
26:43I will give us beyond the์คal of this place to heal,
26:50The Lord, my heart, just praise you.
26:57The Holy Church of God, O Lord, my God, and I too.
27:04The Lord, my name and mercy, the Lord, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Son.
27:13Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
27:18You are the glory, O Christ.
27:25You are the everlasting Son of the Father.
27:32And you have found yourself to be there again.
27:38You have found yourself to be one of the perfect men.
27:45When you are ever on the shoulders of God,
27:51We are in the hands of all believers.
27:58You stand bright and above in the glory of the Father.
28:07We believe that you will come to me, our Lord.
28:16You have found yourself to be there again.
28:24You have found yourself to be there again.
28:29You have found yourself to be there again.
28:43You have found yourself to be there again.
29:00You have found yourself to be there again.
29:10You have found yourself to be there again.
29:15You have found yourself to be there again.
29:31You have found yourself to be there again.
29:38You have found yourself to be there again.
29:45You have found yourself to be there again.
30:07may obtain your gracious promises, and be made sharers in your heavenly treasure.
30:13Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
30:21May the Lord bless us and keep us from all evil, bringing us to everlasting life. Amen.
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