Second Sunday of Lent

Today's Mass Readings

Each Lent, we hear about the Transfiguration. It is a sign of hope in the glory to come in the Resurrection despite the Cross. Yet, there is much more to draw from it. This particular account from Luke begins as so many of his do: with prayer. And given that prayer is one of the traditional Lenten practices, we ought to turn to Christ’s Transfiguration to learn about it.

The passage begins with Jesus taking his inner circle up the mountain specifically to pray. In ancient understanding, God was above us, and to be near God was to go up. But this simple beginning makes fundamental claims for prayer:

1. Prayer deserves time,
2. Prayer needs purposeful space, and
3. Prayer involves stepping out of mundane experience to encounter God.

When someone asked the Trappist monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton how to improve his prayer life, he replied: “Take the time.”

Generally where we pray makes a difference too – there is no place God is not, and yet we attribute function to places. A quiet room of your house, nature, even your car can be purposeful space. However, I think that for Catholics the place par excellence is church, especially before the Blessed Sacrament. It doesn’t take a degree in theological anthropology to know that we need a place for the sacred to break into our everyday life because prayer is where we step into the infinite that is God’s presence.

We know too that prayer is not just private but communal. So Jesus goes with his friends to pray, and not just them, but saints of old are present and sharing this communion too! And this dimension of the Church’s embodiment as Church sheds light on what happens next at the Transfiguration. We see that people come to pray together in support; that to varying degrees they have powerful, mystical experiences; and even one of them says something pretty dim-witted…

We know that celebrating Eucharist is not just fellowship. Something happens here that can’t happen elsewhere, nor without the Church gathered. And like Peter, there are plenty of people around us who are distracting, don’t get it, and let gifts of prayer pass them by. But, we need them and they need us! In the monastery, we say that there are monks who are saints – the ones who inspire and make life sweet – and there are also monks who are saint–makers – those who make you heroic in charity! Yes, we even need these Peters at prayer….

We might be tempted after certain gifts in prayer to want to own God, or at least make our experience a trophy – this would be Peter desiring to build tents and stay forever. But just when we think we have a handle on God He will call us to go deeper in prayer. So this is why Christ and His disciples come down the mountain: we have to return in Mission. There are those who need to see the light, and they can only see if we are giving what we have because of prayer. You can’t give what you don’t have. Let us, then, pray this Lent with newfound urgency.

Reflection Question: What do you find most difficult about making time for prayer, being in communal prayer, and sharing the fruits of your prayer with others?

Reflection by Fr. Pachomius Meade, OSB