Solomon seems untouchable: wisdom like water, a temple rising in glory, a kingdom at peace. Yet his story turns tragic as multiplied loves divide his heart and altars to lesser gods eclipse devotion—until the kingdom itself begins to tear. This reflection looks at why gifted people still fall, how private drift becomes communal ruin, and why Solomon’s legacy is finally not achievement but mercy: the God who remains faithful when we do not—and invites us to return, undivided, to the One who loves us still.
Read MoreThursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
When we reflect on this particular Gospel scene, we tend to focus on Peter’s confession of faith and the Lord’s response to it. But I think there is something interesting at the very beginning—when the Lord asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” What is the word on the street?
The disciples offer various answers. But, in a way, I believe this part of the Gospel serves as a warning: do not listen to the crowd. There are many opinions out there, and most of them are wrong. Faith is not something determined by opinion or consensus. It is not shaped by the majority view or the prevailing cultural sentiment. Rather, faith is something revealed directly by God. That is what the Church teaches us. She calls faith an infused virtue—“infused” meaning that it must be given by God. He places it directly into the minds and hearts of the faithful.
Read MoreTransfiguration of the Lord
The Fathers of the Church see in the Transfiguration a prefiguring of the Resurrection. That is, when Jesus radiates light and his clothes become dazzling, what we behold in that moment is the world recreated after the Resurrection—a world God is going to give us in the life of heaven. And that is important, because what he is doing for three of his disciples—Peter, James, and John—is strengthening them. Knowing the journey to Jerusalem is beginning and that all these terrible events are about to unfold, he gives them a glimpse of glory to give them hope, the strength to keep going—even in the face of what is to come—so they might make it to the Resurrection.
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