On August 9, 1945, another atomic bomb was dropped, on Nagasaki.  Since the 16^th century Nagasaki was the heart of Japanese Catholicism; it was called the “Rome of Japan.”  It had been the site of torture and crucifixion for thousands of Japanese Catholics who refused to give up their faith. The bomb detonated over the heart of the Catholic community.  It killed 75,000 as well as two-thirds of the Catholic population.  A Catholic survivor, Tagashi Nagai, spent his final years writing, pleading for reconciliation and peace.  “Don’t be conformed to this age!  Be transfigured by renewal of your minds!”

In Gal 2:19-20 St Paul tells us the awesome, transfiguring dignity that comes from our baptism and ongoing immersion in Christ’s sacramental life: “I have been crucified with Christ and so I live, but it’s no longer merely me, but Christ who lives in me.  Insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.”  Is this transfiguring mystery becoming more my lived reality every day?