Catechesis Notes for Week — Summer Stories from the Gospel of Luke—In the Transfiguration of Our Lord we see clearly that the Suffering Servant is none other than the eternal Son of God, as the glory of His divine nature, and the future glory that we shall partake of, is revealed in His human nature.  Our continuous readings from Luke are interrupted with the celebration of the Nativity of John the Baptist, the forerunner to the Messiah who was born to be the minister to prepare the way for Jesus’ coming. In a Boy Is Healed we see that the call of the Gospel delivers us from the kingdom of Satan and the forces of darkness. At the heart of Satan’s kingdom is the wickedness of a perverse generation that rejects all that Christ has done for us. To counter this perversity, Jesus again predicts His suffering and death because His work alone is our salvation. Those who humbly receive the Gospel by faith are the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. The highest worship of Christ is to receive, believe, and trust in what He has done for us in love. The call of the Gospel brings forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, and eternal life to sinners. This is why we follow Him, even through suffering and death. The call of the Gospel, “Follow Me” not only carries with it the power of the Spirit to bring us to faith in Christ, but it also enables us to bear up under the same rejection, persecution, suffering and death that Jesus faced. We have no such strength of our own, but the Gospel gives us this strength, making us faithful and fit for the kingdom of God. CP250622