By Kevin Burke, LSW

The great Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus on August 6th can often be over-looked at a time when many families are distracted with travel and vacation.   

The blinding light of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor served to strengthen the apostles prior to their time of confusion, anxiety and testing. 

Perhaps in a similar way, the amazing scientific revelations associated with the Shroud of Turin, are unfolding in our day to strengthen believers, and bring new converts to faith in Jesus Christ.

A Thousand Suns

The Shroud of Turin is a burial shroud, a single piece of cloth bearing a front and back image of a crucified man.  The Shroud has been venerated since 1355 as the burial cloth of Jesus.

Scientific investigation of the image began 1898 when photographs revealed the image itself was a photographic negative.  But it was not until 1978 that modern science was able to dive deeper to reveal that the blinding light that transfigured Christ on Mount Tabor, also transfigured the burial cloth of Jesus at the time of His resurrection:

From The Magis Center:

…the 1978 Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) investigations confirmed the image was not formed by dyes, chemicals, vapors, or scorching and was not formed by brush strokes…

[Researcher John Jackson] deduced that vacuum UV radiation is the only possible explanation for the image’s formation. First, in order to turn linen into a perfectly photographically sensitive material you need light radiation. However, it must be without any accompanying heat radiation.

The formation of the Shroud’s image would take several billion watts of light radiation, which exceeds the maximum output of any source of UV radiation known today  If the accompanying heat energy had been present, the cloth would have vaporized in less than 1/40 billionth of a second. [1]

The Passion of the Church

This scientific analysis confirms the power of the Divine that raised the body of Jesus from the dead, and the historical fact of the resurrection.

We can also see the developments which began in 1898 with the photographic negatives of the Shroud, as a charitable infusion of faith at a time when the Church of Christ, and all Judeo-Christians believers, were about to enter a century of persecution.   The early and mid-20^th century featured a massive attack upon the Jewish people, the Catholic Church and all Christians in the rise of atheistic communism and Nazism. 

In our day, internal scandals within the Catholic Church have attacked the moral and spiritual authority that Jesus invested in His Church.  Many believers are cynical and shaken by so many Bishops covering up, and enabling this horrific abuse that attacked God’s precious children, minors and young adults. 

Faithful Catholics are disillusioned today with the failure of our spiritual leaders to take a stronger stand against the human sacrifice of innocent children in abortion centers, and the impact on their parents. 

 Rather than press forward with humility and confidence in Christ to take down the gates of Satan’s kingdom, some Church leaders seems to have made a tenuous peace with this kingdom of darkness.   

 Catholic politicians in our nation’s highest offices betray their Lord and His Church as they push forward radical abortion rights legislation and the agendas of the new sexual revolution, featuring gender confusion and mutilation of young bodies and souls.

Standing Firm in Faith

No matter how dark it gets in your personal life, in the Church, in our nation and world, let the manifestation of God’s Glory in Christ be an anchor that sets you firmly in His peace.  Be confident in His ultimate victory over the forces of darkness.

Meditate on the account of the Transfiguration.  Place yourself in the story with Peter, James, and John.  Stand before the transfigured Christ and let His light penetrate deeply into your heart and soul. Visit the Magis Center and learn more about the Shroud of Turin. 

 Stand firm in your faith.  As Jesus said to his Apostles on Mount Tabor, “don’t be afraid.”   The full revelation of Jesus to the world is coming. 

 Some approved and pending apparitions of our Blessed Mother Mary suggest this could be soon; the exact timing remains in the Father’s Providence.

 “Yes, I am coming soon.  Amen, come Lord Jesus!”  (Rev. 22:20)

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[Here’s an Original music video about the journey of Peter the Fisherman to Mount Tabor to witness the Transfiguration of Jesus.]

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[1] You can explore an in-depth analysis of the Shroud with great images and info from the Magis Center, here.