What People are Commenting
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Transfiguration, Psychic & Angry Toddler
Was Christ Insecure during His Transfiguration?
Fr. Tony Kadavil in his widely syndicated parish scripture commentaries, asserts the following about The Transfiguration of Our Lord:
‘The objective: The primary purpose of Jesus’ Transfiguration was to allow him to consult His Heavenly Father and ascertain His plan for His Son’s suffering, death and Resurrection.’
This strikes me as problematic for the following reasons:
Jesus had infused knowledge of his forthcoming suffering throughout His entire life and ministry. His infused knowledge was readily apparent even at the age of 12 when He answered questions in The Temple.
To say that He needed to consult with God the Father to discover the divine plan of redemption is to deny His Divinity. It infers that The Transfiguration was something done to Jesus by His Father, and not something of which Jesus was capable of doing in and of Himself.
Am I wrong and is he right?
Here is the link to his commentaries which parish priests ‘cut and paste’ into their newsletters.
Yours in Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
N.M.
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TIA responds:
Dear N.M.,
We believe that the interpretation by Fr. Kadavil on the Transfiguration of Our Lord is not sound.
The common teaching of the Church is that the primary cause for Christ’s Transfiguration was to show that He was God and the Messiah (Cf. Cornelius a Lapide, Commentaria in Scripturam Sacram, In Mattheum, 17:2; Paris: Vivès, 1877, vol.15, pp. 382-388).
Both the Son and the Father knew perfectly well that the Passion would come, as well as how and when it would come. Christ did not have “a plan” to execute during the Passion. He passively suffered the Passion caused by a traitor apostle, by the apostasy of the Jews and by the cruelty of the Romans. He was not the agent of the Passion, as the idea of having “a plan” suggests. He was the patient /victim of the Passion.
Therefore, your reasoning seems to us entirely correct.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
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Mercola on the Slippery Slope
As you know, I rely upon natural supplements to support my health. The Dr. Mercola Brand is one that I have especially liked for its quality and results, however, faced with disturbing new information on a disastrous change in the company's direction instigated against Catholicism by Dr. Mercola himself, upon the business advice of a channeled demon seeking to liberate humanity, I cannot in conscience support the Mercola enterprise.
It was yesterday that I received this alert with this link from a friend. I am in turn alerting you. As a consequence, I immediately cancelled my subscription to Dr. Mercola brand products and unsubscribed entirely from Mercola emails.
Yours, in Jesus and Mary,
E.Z., Ph.D.
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Dealing with an Angry Toddler
Thank you for all of your work. It has been such a help in my life and a source of clear Catholic teaching in the midst of so much confusion. I am especially grateful for Dr. Marian Horvat’s works throughout the years.
I am seeking good advice on how to deal with my 3-year-old son who has a short temper and has outbursts of anger. He does not share like his sibling and cousins and will meltdown if anyone touches “his things.” He has become very sensitive and cries and screams when he does not get his way.
I understand that, at 3 years old, he still lacks reason and has maintained his innocence. But I want to make sure I prevent any seeds of sinful anger and pride from taking root in him.
Corporeal punishment seems to work at times but I am not seeing much progress. I know that I, as the father, must lead by example and become virtuous myself. How can I foster the virtues of meekness, humility of heart, and patience in my child?
S.W.
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TIA responds:
Dear M.L.,
We are glad to hear that you have benefitted from our writings and commend you for your efforts to be a good Catholic father to your son.
In dealing with your three year old, discipline is necessary. It is good to hear that you believe in corporal punishment, but you must be certain that you are punishing your son consistently. Consistently here means coherently. It should always be a reason for the punishment so that he can realize that he should not misbehave. You should always avoid having a temperamental outburst of anger when punishing. He would perceive this and instead of being directed to the right path, he can be psychologically hurt.
Some suggestions follow:
- If your son does not wish to share his toys or screams when others touch them, he might not be allowed to play with them.
- When he explodes moved by revolt, he might be sent to a corner of the room or a quiet place where he has nothing to amuse himself with until he changes his mood.
- When he behaves badly, the rest of the family might also be required to ignore the boy until he returns to a good position.
It is also not too early to start explaining to your son in simple terms that he should be good to make Our Lord happy. You can tell him when he is being selfish or angry that he is making Our Lord very sad or that he is hurting Our Lady by his behavior.
Children are capable of understanding much more than most people imagine. Parents should instill from an early age a desire for them to do good in order to please God and for the love of Our Lord and Our Lady.
Some children will be more difficult to correct, but with patience and perseverance on the part of the parents, the children are bound to make progress.
A good practice after disciplining your child could be to take him before a statue of Our Lord or Our Lady and help him to apologize to them in very simple words or with a short prayer.
We hope that these suggestions may help you.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
Posted February 29, 2024
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The opinions expressed in this section - What People Are Commenting - do not necessarily express those of TIA
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I'm C.M. and I read and reference your website quite often for its many outstanding resources.
I saw that you recently posted a new page with substantial information on the KGB Russian Orthodox Church. You also mentioned that you hadn't had the time to scrutinize the authors/contributors from the Fitzpatrick website. I'm still working on this, myself, but I thought I should warn you that there are, shall we say, a few "hum dingers" regarding their views on certain topics.
This last hyperlink will take you to an article they have, illustrating their bizarre position on the Fatima apparitions. It also references a book that claims Pope St. Pius X to be an antipope and basically conflates the entire apparition with Islam and goddess worship.
So, my preliminary conclusion is that this website may have useful materials to help dissuade people from the Eastern Heterodox cult. I suspect we must exercise the Gift of Counsel when it comes to utilizing the remainder of that website.
Kind regards, God Bless, and Ave Maria,
C.M.