The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 117: Come Down, Peter

Episode Date: April 27, 2025

The mystery of the Transfiguration begins with ascent to the heavenly mountain, but ends with descent, back to the world. As much as Peter would like to remain atop the mountain, Jesus calls him to persevere in  life of charity, a holy life in the world. Fr. Mark-Mary, with help from St. Augustine, reflects on living out the balance of our call to the mountain and our call to live lives of charity in the world. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Transfiguration and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

Hey, I'm Father Mark Murray with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast where we're through prayer and meditation. The Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 117. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit essentialpress.com forward slash rosary in a year or text R-I-Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to preach month. It's a great way

to track your progress. The best place to listen to podcasts in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recording to the full Rosary with myself and other friars. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in a Year prayer guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to complement this podcast. You'll find all the daily readings from Scripture, Saint reflections, and beautiful full-page images of the sacred art we'll be reflecting on. Today we will be meditating upon and praying with the fourth Luminous Mystery, the Transfiguration with help from Saint Augustine and his sermon number 28, part of the larger work called Sermons

on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. Now we've already had a chance to introduce our author, Saint Augustine, on certainly someone on the Mount Rushmore of Catholic thinkers and authors. So let us go ahead and get right into our reading. The point of emphasis for today's meditation is going to be, Peter, come down the mountain. So again, this is for the transfiguration from St. Augustine.

Peter sees this, referring to the transfiguration. And as a man savoring things of men says, Lord, it is good for us to be here. He had been wearyied with the multitude he had found now the mountain solitude. There he had Christ, the bread of the soul. What should he depart thence against, travail and pains possessed of a holy love to Godward? And thereby, of a good conversation,

he wished well for himself, and so he added, if you will, let us make here three tabernacles, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elias. To this the Lord made no answer, but notwithstanding Peter was answered. For while he yet spoke, a bright cloud came and overshadowed them. He desired three tabernacles, the heavenly answers showed him that we have one which human judgment desired to divide. Christ, the Word of God, the Word of God in the law, the Word in the prophets. Why Peter do you seek to divide them? It were more fitting for you to join them. You seek three, understand that

they are but one. Come down Peter, you are desiring to rest on the mount. Come down, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine. Endure, labor hard, bear your measure of torture, that you may possess what is meant by the white raiment of the Lord, through the brightness and the beauty of an upright laboring in charity. The life came down that he might be slain, the bread came down that he might hunger, the way came down that life might be wearied in the way, the fountain came down that he might thirst. And do you refuse to labor? Seek not your own, have charity, preach the truth,

so shall you come to eternity where you shall find security." The end of the reading. Thanks be to God. Again, the emphasis of our meditation is going to be, Peter, come down the mountain. I'm going to ask you to bear with me just for a second as I share a bit of trivia that eyes of Franciscan find to be really funny. The official website, the missionaries of charity

has a page dedicated to quotes falsely attributed to Mother Teresa. They have a page dedicated to fighting the fake news here. And a lot of the quotes that they clarify are not for Mother Teresa. They're not authentic. They have a page dedicated to fighting the fake news here. And a lot of the quotes that they clarify are not from other treats, so they're not authentic. They're really great quotes. But the thing is, she never said them.

And the sisters are obviously not here for that. They're not fans of that. And I think part of why it tickles me as a Franciscan, and sorry to share the bad news here, a lot of the quotes, maybe even most of the quotes out there attributed to St. Francis, have nothing to do with anything St. Francis ever said. They're just not what Francis did. But unlike the missionaries of charity,

we just haven't taken it upon ourselves to like combat it, to fact check everybody, which also is kind of Franciscan. And to be fair, I actually don't love all of the inauthentic quotes attributed to Francis, especially when they don't do justice to the authentic like voice of the man, the authentic faith and charity of the man. And part of the bummer of it is that it can keep people

from coming to know the authentic words of Francis, which are actually profoundly deep and beautiful. The real St. Francis is just so much more inspiring than the sort of the wall quote, the inspirational quote, St. Francis. One of my favorites of the authentic words of Francis, it comes from one of his writings. And basically there was a superior, so like a friar who's in charge of other friars, in

charge of a friary, who was asking permission to leave the friary because he felt sort of in quotes, called to the mountain. He felt called to go to the mountain to dedicate his life to the hermitage, which we call like sort of the place where you go, again, you go set apart and you just go and you pray. Dedication to the mountaintop and the contemplative life. St. Francis knew the man, knew the situation, and he responded basically by saying,

hey, remain in the friary, love the brothers, and let it be greater than a hermitage. Because what St. Francis recognized is that this other friar, he wasn't really being moved by an authentic call to the contemplative life. He was trying to run away from some of the complications and the difficulties of community life and of his responsibilities sort of amongst the world, down the mountain.

And I think part of the reason why Francis was able to recognize this is he himself felt a similar tension. For a period of time, he was in real deep discernment between dedicating his life to contemplation on the mountain versus sort of laboring and preaching the gospel amongst sort of the masses. And part of what was operating in, you know, the heart of St. Francis was an authentic and a real desire for the contemplative life.

But also, and less so than the other friar, kind of from the previous story, but also tied up in it was just some of the suffering that he, kind of from the previous story, but also tied up in it was just some of the suffering that he had experienced living amongst the brothers. But through prayer and through the sort of the guidance of some of his most trustworthy advisors, Francis understood that Jesus was calling him to come down the mountain and like Jesus to preach the gospel amongst the people. And I think what happened in the life of St. Francis is what St. Augustine is sort of seen happening here in the life of Peter as well.

Right, Augustine writes, Come down, Peter, you are desiring to rest on the mount. Come down, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort withal, longsuffering and doctrine, endure, labor hard, bear your measure of torture that you may possess what is meant by the white raiment of the Lord through the brightness and beauty of an upright laboring and charity. Yes, yes, Peter, the mountain is beautiful. But like our Lord, come down the mountain. And notice the life of Jesus, like certainly Jesus visited the mountaintop, but he didn't tabernacle there. He didn't set up his tent there.

And I think it's noteworthy that some people are certainly called to this contemplative life, but the vast majority of us aren't. We are called to be transfigured through the brightness and beauty of persevering in a life of charity, a holy life in the world. And I really love Augustine's lines there. It's like, the fount of life came down to experience thirst. The bread of life came down to experience hunger. Like, we're called to come down to share in the life

that Jesus himself shared. But yes, we need to visit the mountain from time to time. We need dedicated time of prayer in our lives. But also, and for most of the audience here, like what's most important is to trust that God is forming us in the midst of our daily lives and labors. Like, it doesn't necessarily look bright and beautiful, but it is in fact bright and beautiful. And through the daily hardships and labors and fidelity to our call and our state in life,

we are in fact being transfigured. We are in fact being made more and more into the image and the likeness of God. I really love the image of like forging a sword, of forming a sword, like that's a steel, it needs to be held in the fire. And as the fire itself becomes sort of hot and it becomes malleable, then it's removed from the fire and it's hit with a hammer, right, to form it.

Prayer, the mountaintop, prayer is bringing ourselves close to the fire and it's hit with the hammer, right, to form it. Prayer, the mountaintop, prayer is bringing ourselves close to the fire. But the daily sufferings of life are like the hammer strokes, that which actually form us. And so we need both. Like if we're not in relationship with God, we're not going to be made formable, you know, like the hammer strokes are going to come. But they just hurt us without forming us. At the same time, if we're only praying and we're not coming back into sort of real life,

we're going to lack some of those difficulties, some of the struggles, some of the hammer strokes, which refine us and form us. So we need both. Yes, we need daily prayer, but also like trust that all of that stuff that's happening sort of in the grind, right? In our daily life and our daily labors, like all of that is that's happening sort of in the grind, right, in our daily life and our daily labors.

Like all of that is forming us ultimately into the image of God. A last little image is our kind of insider offering here is often young people, once they're grown up and they have jobs and major responsibilities, maybe children, they might look back on the prayer of their youth, particularly prayer and maybe their early, their college years or as a young adult. And they look at the prayer and how they were able to go to pray so much more like frequently. And when they were there, they had such greater focus. But now in the midst of their daily responsibilities and tiredness, they just maybe have less time for it.

It's harder to get there. And when they do get there, it doesn't feel as sort of free, because they're bringing in all the anxieties and the concerns with them. For those of you who are in that state, and I think a lot of sort of parents of young kids can really feel like they're in that state, or those who are carrying a lot of heavy responsibilities in the world. Like, trust that God is working here.

And actually in a more like deep and beautiful way than he was before you had all of these commitments. Like, before, you know, you had a bit of a mountaintop experience, and now with Jesus, you've come down the mountain, and it's kind of dirty and messy and there's a lot going on. But like trust, trust that God is at work there. Trust that like Peter and like Saint Francis, you have been called to be sanctified through these daily hardships and the

struggles. So persevere in prayer, but also trust that He who has called you to this state is also able to sanctify you in this state. So now as we pray, just let us ask for renewed trust in the work of grace in our daily lives. Let us trust in the Lord who has invited us down the mountain into the daily sufferings and difficulties of our state of life, but let us also be filled with the hope that the Lord is in the midst of it making us new and transferring us ourselves. And now with Mary let us pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive

us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Jesus, holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Jesus, holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners. the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,

Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Alright, thanks so much for joining me and praying with me today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. Alright, Poco Poco friends.

God bless all.