“While he was praying, his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” Well, that would certainly get your attention, wouldn’t it. You join your dear friend and mentor, Jesus, as he goes up a mountain to pray. He has often gone apart to pray – up a mountain, into the desert – but it’s always been alone. This time, he has invited you, and two other of his closest companions, to join him. And then, like Moses up on Mount Sinai, he begins to glow and shine. But, let’s not get lost in this vision of a transfigured Jesus; let’s remember why Jesus went up to the mountain in the first place – to pray. The gospels frequently speak of Jesus spending time in prayer. Last week, we heard that he spent 40 days in prayer before beginning his public ministry. We also read that he prayed before selecting his disciples, before he gave his most important lesson – the Beatitudes – before he set his path to Jerusalem and before his crucifixion. So, why would Jesus pray? It was clearly to commune with God – after all, that’s what prayer is. From the times that we see the Gospels relate his going off to pray, it was so that he could listen carefully to the Father, to learn the Father’s will for him, and to ask for the strength of faith to do the Father’s will and to prepare himself for whatever lay ahead of him. You can easily understand why Jesus taught his disciples to pray with the words that we will say very shortly: “thy will be done, thy kingdom come.” That was Jesus’ daily prayer, I’m sure; it should be ours, as well.
Lent is a time for us to focus, once again, on the three ways to grow in our faith: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Last week, we learned about the importance of fasting and recognizing that we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Today, we learn about the importance of prayer. In our first reading, we hear of Abraham in prayer, when God promises Abraham – a wandering shepherd – his own land as his possession. And, even though both he and his wife were elderly and beyond child-bearing age, he is also told that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. And, Abraham, who also prayed regularly, put his faith in God.
The reading from Paul’s letter to the Philippians encourages us to keep our faith and remain strong in the face of the temptations of the world. So that we will not become preoccupied with earthly things, Paul reminds us that our “citizenship is in heaven,” and it is faith in Jesus and our conforming our lives to his teachings that will bring us to our eternal reward. It is through prayer that we are reminded of our eternal destiny and are given the strength to conform our will to God’s. It was true for Abraham, for Jesus and for Paul and it is true for us.
Frequent prayer is necessary to draw us into communion with God. Today’s Gospel gives us a beautiful glimpse into what perfect communion will be like. We will see Jesus in his glory. Like him, we will walk with saints and prophets. We will hear the voice of God speaking directly to us. We will be transfigured, made whole and perfect, as God always intended us to be. The Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ’s glorious coming, when he will “change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body,” as Paul tells us in today’s second reading.
Just as we hear an account of our Lord’s temptation in the desert on the first Sunday of every Lent to give us encouragement in our times of temptation, we hear the reading of the Transfiguration on the second Sunday of every Lent to encourage us in our prayer life. Like our Lord, like the apostles, like Abraham and Paul, we will all be challenged as we face the hardships that will be part of our lives. And, those hardships are not accidental – they are all part of God’s plan for us. But, if we put our faith and trust in God – as Abraham, and Paul and all the apostles did – we will be brought to the Promised Land: heaven. And, as we spend time in prayer, our faith will grow. Let us reflect on this and renew our Lenten dedication to prayer so that this Lent will bring us even more deeply in communion with God and prepare us to share in our Lord’s glory forever!