The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 97: Climb the Mountain

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

In the mystery of the Transfiguration, there’s an invitation to climb the mountain with Jesus. However, in our vocations and states of life, it can be hard to drop everything and go climb a mountain to witness God. Fr. Mark-Mary offers an answer, drawing from  St. Anastasius of Sinai, reminding us that we don’t have to climb the whole mountain today. We can just take the next step. 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 Mary with Franciscan Friars. The new one 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 97. 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 this podcast is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for the podcast and also recordings of the full Rosary. 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 scriptures, same reflections and beautiful full page images of the sacred art we'll be reflecting on. Today we'll be meditating upon and praying with the fourth luminous mystery, the Transfiguration, enriched by a writing from Saint Anastasius of Sinai from his work, Homily on the Transfiguration. from his work, Homily on the Transfiguration. The emphasis of our prayer and meditation today will be, Come, let us climb the mountain of the Lord. A little quick introduction and background to our saint, to our author today, St. Anastasius of Sinai.

We don't have his details, there's specific confirmed of biographical details about him as we've had about some of our other saints and these doctors of the church we've had readings from. We do know that he lived in the seventh century, I think died a little bit after the seventh century, so that's the 600s, died probably in the early 700s. And he founded a group of monks who led a very ascetical life, so a strict life of penance, actually at Mount Sinai, which is why he has the title of Sinai. And like many of our saints that we've had writings from to this point, he spent a good deal of his time combating heresy. It's a good reminder that those of us who are living now are the heirs of clear teaching and clarity about who God is and who Jesus is. Something of particular note and interest about

our saint today, Saint Anastasius, is that he is one of the first popular saints to defend and have clarity about the teaching on guardian angels. Saint Anastasius does not have the title Doctor of the Church, but he knows what he is talking about. And so, we're going to have a bit of an extended reading from Saint Anastasius on the Transfiguration. I think it's too good. We're going to have about two or three paragraphs. I know it's a little bit longer, but I think it's worth the whole reading. So here is our reading from St. Anastasius of Sinai on the Transfiguration.

These are the divine prodigies behind the present festival. What we celebrate here on this mountain now is for us to a saving mystery. This sacred initiation into the mystery of Christ, this public solemnity gathers us together so that we might come inside the ineffable sanctuary and might enter the place of mysteries along with those chosen ones who were inspired to speak God's words. Let us listen to the divine, most sacred voice as it seems to invite us from the peak of the mountain above us, inviting us with strong words of persuasion and saying, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, on the day of the Lord, in the place

of the Lord, in the house of our God. Our hope is that bathed in a vision of Him flooded with light, we might be changed for the better and joined together as one, and that grasping hold of the light in light we might cry out, How fearful is this place! This is nothing other than the house of God, This is the gate of heaven. Let us run forward boldly and brightly then, Let us enter into the cloud. So then let each of us who has received God in his heart, Who has been transfigured into that divine form, Say in our joy,

It is good for us to be here, where everything is full of light, where there is joy and good spirits and exultation, where everything in our hearts is peaceful and calm and free from conflict, where God is to be seen. Here in the heart, he makes his dwelling with the Father. Here he comes close to us and says, Today salvation has come to this house. The end of the reading. Thanks be to God. The emphasis of our meditation today will be,

Come, let us climb the mountain of the Lord. St. Anastasius, he begins our reading today with a very important reminder. What we celebrate here on this mountain is for us too, a saving mystery. Who is on to say other such lines, similar lines such as, so that we might come inside the ineffable sanctuary, enter the place of the mysteries.

Let us run forward boldly and brightly. Let us enter into the cloud." Like, yes, yes, and yes, I want that. Let's do it. But my friend, St. Anastasius, how do I do this? Show me how. Like I'm in my farmhouse, right? Or I'm on the 13th floor of a New York City little apartment,

my house in the suburbs. there appears to be no obvious heavenly mountain to climb or glorious cloud to enter into. Like what, what the heck, what do I do? And that's the question. That's the question, right? How do we enter into this ineffable sanctuary and this glorious cloud? For St. Anastasius of Sinai, the answer was to actually move to a mountain, to set up residence on Mount Sinai, and to take it quite literally.

But is there a way for a housewife, for a college student, for an accountant to do this well, or is it just for desert monks? My proposal, which I'm sure you've guessed, is that for all of us there is an invitation to climb the mountain of the Lord, to experience this place of intimacy with God. Here's the answer how in the words of the psalmist. This is from Psalm 24. Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord and stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false." The Catholic answer to these most lofty, at some blime heights of mysticism

and also the most complex of human struggles, to be honest, the answer is often received as kind of quite annoying because it's so straightforward and simple. The answer is this. Follow Jesus. When Jesus says, come, follow me, come, let us climb the mountain of the Lord. We just say, yes, we follow Jesus. The invitation is to a daily ongoing conversion. So how do we climb the mountain of the Lord? How do we enter into this ineffable sanctuary?

We follow Jesus. It's as simple as that. The more we leave behind sin, like worldly greed, like these attachments, impurity, et cetera, the higher we go up. At the same time, the more we grow in prayer, the more we prioritize it and practice it,

the higher we go up the mountain. And whether or not we have an experience in this lifetime of glory and lightning and theophany, well, that's up to the Lord. But can we have confidence that we'll experience more light? By light, I mean some clarity and truth, really knowing who we are, knowing who God is. Can we have confidence that we'll experience more joy, have more hope and peace? Yeah, 100%. Christian mysticism, which is like the heights of spirituality,

for us, it's very boots on the ground. Like we're just not angels. We don't fly up the mountain of holiness and prayer and glory. We climb it day by day, little by little with our daily fiats or our yeses to the Lord with our daily choices to say no to temptation, our daily prayers, reading of the scripture, works of charity. This is how we continue to put one foot in front of the other and climb the mountain of the Lord.

So as we pray today with the transfiguration of Jesus, I'm going to invite you to kind of pray and imagine this. Imagine you're standing at the base of the mountain. Or perhaps you've climbed the mountain a little bit. Allow him to come to meet you wherever you are. We know at least in theory, we've just read about what's at the top of the mountain of the Lord, like there everything is full of light.

There there is joy and good spirits and exultation, where everything in our hearts is peaceful and calm, where God is to be seen, right? These are the words of St. Anastasius. So we know what's up there. Now talk to him about your desire to go to this place. Maybe this is a burning desire or maybe you don't feel anything. Okay, if you don't feel anything, it feels like abstract.

Go ahead and talk to Jesus about that. And allow him to really take it in. Like see that He really hears you. Maybe in your prayer, He asks you a few questions and answer Him. But for today, I'm going to propose that in the end, as we're praying with the fourth glorious mystery, the Transfiguration, that the conversation is always going to end the same. Jesus looks at you with love and He says, come follow Me. Let us climb the mountain together.

Brothers and sisters, you can't climb the whole mountain today. But with Jesus' help, we can take the next best step. My proposal for how we can right here and now make the next best step is concluding here with prayer. So let's go ahead and remain in this place in prayer as we finish today by praying one decade of the Most Holy Rosary. And now with Mary 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, 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. Thanks 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 y'all.