NEWS & VIEWS
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      CASTEL GANDOLFO, AUG 6 (ZENIT).- Before celebrating Mass on Friday at 7:30 a.m., John Paul II remembered Paul VI, on the 21st anniversary of his death.

      August 6 was the Feast of the Transfiguration, when Jesus Christ appeared in glory on Mount Tabor, conversing with Moses and Elijah, in the presence of the apostles Peter, James and John. The Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ has been celebrated from earliest times, starting in the East and spreading westward. In 1457, Pope Calixtus III extended it to the whole of Christendom, to commemorate the victory of Christians in Belgrade over Mohammed II, conqueror of Constantinople and enemy of Christianity. The news of the victory arrived in Rome on August 6.

      On this day in 1978, Pope Paul VI prepared an address he was unable to deliver. Part of the text of the Pontiff, who closed Vatican Council II and directed its implementation, read as follows: "Today's solemnity sheds a brilliant light on our daily life and carries our mind to the immortal destiny that overshadows this fact."

      "Yes," John Paul II said, remembering Pope Montini, "we are made for eternity, and eternity begins now, because the Lord is among us, and he lives with and in his Church."

      "But, like the disciples, we also must come down from Tabor to daily life, where the ups and downs of life challenge our faith. We have contemplated on the mount, but on the streets of life, we are asked to tirelessly proclaim the Gospel that enlightens believers' steps," the Holy Father concluded. ZE99080504

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