Dear Fitch,<\/p>\n
Discouragement has no place in the life of a Christian.\u00a0 Period.\u00a0 It\u2019s a sure sign of the presence of the Evil One tweaking your self love.\u00a0 It comes from thinking you\u2019re so great \u2013 too great to fall or fail.\u00a0 It comes from thinking that you ought to be able to fulfill God\u2019s plan for your life by your own efforts alone.\u00a0 What an insult!\u00a0 As if Christ only came to earth just in case someone would need a bit of assistance in a job they were perfectly capable of performing by themselves.\u00a0 No, my confused young nephew, don\u2019t be a schmendrik, be a Christian.\u00a0 Today\u2019s Feast should help get you back on track.<\/p>\n
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all narrate this event, when Jesus climbed Mt Tabor to pray, bringing Peter, James, and John with him.\u00a0 And he was transfigured before them, such that his face and clothes shone brighter than the sun, and Moses and Elijah appeared with him, and they all spoke about his coming days of Glory in Jerusalem (his Passion).\u00a0 Peter and the other two disciples were dazed, amazed, and confused by the beauty, the power, the majesty of this their buddy Rabbi.\u00a0 It was a revelation to see him in his glory \u2013 at least a little bit \u2013 a revelation that they would go back to again and again later in their lives, when things got tough, when opposition threatened to paralyze the embryonic Church \u2013 in other words, when they felt the temptation to discouragement.\u00a0 In those moments, recalling the Transfiguration reminded them that Christ, their leader, their friend, their guide, was the Son of God.\u00a0 That with him on their side, they had nothing to fear.<\/p>\n
Well, my misanthropic relative, you need to meditate on this Gospel scene (see Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9).\u00a0 It is the power of Christ, the reality of his Lordship that will give you the supernatural boost you need to leave behind your wallowing self-pity-parties.\u00a0 You aren\u2019t alone; the results of your efforts aren\u2019t up solely to you; you just have to do your best \u2013 He will do all the rest (if you let him).<\/p>\n
Your loving uncle,<\/p>\n
Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Fitch, Discouragement has no place in the life of a Christian.\u00a0 Period.\u00a0 It\u2019s a sure sign of the presence of the Evil One tweaking your self love.\u00a0 It comes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[3736,3843,4451,6602,5626],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy","tag-discouragement","tag-glory-of-god","tag-self-centeredness","tag-self-pity","tag-transfiguration"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n