The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 197: Mystery of Light

Episode Date: July 16, 2025

We’re invited to faithfulness in prayer and a journey to the mountaintop in the Transfiguration. Returning to this mystery, Fr. Mark-Mary meditates on the theme of Jesus’ revelation of himself, our contemplation on the mountaintop, and our reading from St. Anastasius of Sinai. As we pray our decade of the rosary, Fr. Mark-Mary leads us into a mountaintop experience, and then as we descend, invites us to bring this grace to 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.

I'm Father Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast where through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 197. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit AscensionPress.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 pray each month and it's a great way to track

your progress. The best place to listen to the podcast is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full Rosary with myself and other friars on behalf of myself and the whole team here at Ascension. We wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's helped support this podcast financially. Your support is so appreciated and helps us to reach as many people as possible. And if you haven't already, please consider supporting us at ascensionpress.com forward slash support. Today we will be meditating upon and praying with the fourth

Today we will be meditating upon and praying with the fourth Ominous Mystery, the Transfiguration. Alright, so the Transfiguration is, in the words of Pope John Paul II, the mystery of light par excellence. To get our bearings as a reminder about the Transfiguration and what it is fulfilling, we were looking at the Transfiguration account in the Gospel of Matthew. That's Matthew chapter 17, verses 1 through 13. And we were reflecting on this Gospel by calling to mind what we come across in Exodus chapter 24, verses 12 and 15. That to the Israelites, the glory of God looked like a consuming fire

on the top of the mountain. And Moses, he entered the cloud and he went up into the mountain and he stayed there for 40 days and 40 nights. It was there on top of Mount Sinai that he received the Ten Commandments, the two stone tablets. And then after conversing with God, like in His glory, Moses' own face would shine bright. It would be so kind of radiant that he would cover his face. So there are some similarities between Mount Sinai, what we experience there, and what

we experience at the Mount of the Transfiguration. We see the glory of God. We see the cloud. We see the light. We see Moses. But right, Moses' face, like it's shown, reflecting as like a response to the encounter with the glory of God. Jesus is transfigured, if you will, from within. He Himself is the light. He Himself has the glory of God. Jesus is transfigured, if you will, from within. He himself is the light. He himself has the glory within him. And so, he doesn't just like shine bright. It's not just like his face is like sun kissed. He is in fact the sun. And in the mountain transfiguration, we see Elijah and we see Moses. And then, right at the end, we see only Jesus.

And that Jesus himself is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. The prophets have fulfilled their mission. And the time of Jesus has been reigned in where he is the lawgiver. He is the fulfillment of the law. He's the fulfillment of all the prophecies. They were all pointing to Him. So the transfiguration, it all points to it, all brings us to Jesus.

And we've seen this theme throughout the Luminous Mysteries, the revelation of Jesus, that Jesus is the kingdom. And we're drawn to Him. So it's all about Jesus. that Jesus is the kingdom. And we are drawn to Him. So, it's all about Jesus. So now, I'll talk about a couple of episodes. One is kind of the episode that has to do with, it's kind of like what I call the homily episodes. And then one for the Transfiguration, which was based off of the writings of Saint Anastasius of Sinai.

which was based off of the writings of Saint Anastasius of Sinai. We looked at kind of the context of the revelation of Jesus and the transfiguration on the mountaintop. That the mountaintop is this place away, it's a place separate, it's a place apart. It's a place of a bit of solitude, of stepping back from many worldly comforts. And I shared this reflection on the difference between the first time I saw the stars on the mountaintop versus the experience of all the bright and shining lights at Times Square in New York City. And in the middle of Times Square, not only are you not likely to look all the way up, if you do look up into the sky, like what you see is kind of darkness. The light pollution makes it impossible for you to even see the stars.

And so there's this limiting experience, this experience of the world that is quite worldly and lacks depth. First is when you see the stars, you're moved with awe and wonder. You're put into the context of the vastness of the universe and the greatness of God. And I think that it's not by accident that God reveals himself again and again in salvation history and here at the transfiguration on the top of a mountain.

And there's this invitation within this to step away, if you will, to kind of have a healthy distance from excessive worldliness and distraction, is what can happen is eventually, not are we physically in Times Square, but Times Square can be in our own minds, making it hard for us to see the truths of our faith, which for me, like shine like stars in the sky. But this journey, right, this journey to be with the Lord on the mountain, it's a journey that's not necessarily made overnight, but little by little, step by step.

And that's the encouragement from the writing of St. Anastasius of Sinai. It's just this reminder that we don't have to climb the whole mountain today. We can take it step by step, poco a poco, if you will. And then lastly, as we look at the icon for the transfiguration, if you remember, there's part of the icon where, like, Peter, James, and John are going up the mountain with Jesus, and then there's part of the icon where they're going down the mountain with Jesus. And this is a reflection of the gospel calendar, that Jesus took these three apostles up the mountain, but not just to remain at the mountain, not to stay there forever, but to receive what they needed,

to receive the experience of the Lord, His glory, His grace, that would strengthen them for going back down the mountain. And then in our lives, I do believe that Jesus is going to invite us to both. He's going to invite us to these mountain top experiences, particularly through prayer. So now we'll let our affection, our attention to be drawn to Jesus alone, the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. We'll allow some of the noise, some of the light pollution, if you will, in our own minds to settle. To be open to this invitation of Jesus to climb the mountain with Him, to take some

steps away, not just in this moment, but in our daily routines. We receive the encouragement that this journey we're making up the mountain with the Lord is made poco a poco, little by little. And we ask for the grace in this moment to experience the Lord, His goodness, His glory. To receive, if you will, from the Lord by encountering His goodness, His glory, our daily bread, the strength we need, the courage we need to persevere as He invites us back down the mountain. Now as we pray, I ask this question for you. What is the grace being offered?

The truth being revealed? That you are invited to receive. How can you respond? What is the grace that you would like to request at the service of this response? I'm sorry. And then rejoice. Give thanks to the Lord for this time of prayer. For this, if you will, mountaintop, experience, for the grace given in life shared, as He invites us back down the mountain. 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. 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. 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. Thank you so much for joining me and praying with me today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. Poco Poco friends.

God bless you all.