While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white”
Luke 9:29
One of the activities we are invited to increase as part of the discipline of Lent is prayer. However, reflection upon this can lead to a classical conundrum: if God already knows everything and has a perfect course of action plotted out, then what is the point of praying? We certainly are not going to bring something new to the divine attention by doing so, nor does it seem likely that we are going to cause some change of the divine plans. Yet often our prayers are propelled by some definite desire for change—for someone to get well, or a situation to improve, or perhaps just to be happier in general. But does it really do any good?
Jesus himself prayed continually, and in this Second Sunday of Lent Luke relates for us an event of mysterious power which suddenly bursts forth from a moment of meditative communication between Father and Incarnate Son. This is the Transfiguration, and what transpires is a glorification of Christ’s humanity, a prayerful prefiguring of the coming Easter Resurrection. This speaks to a truth spelled out by C.S. Lewis, who wrestled with this question of the purpose of praying to the all-knowing and all-powerful God: “I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.”
Like any good parent, God likes to hear from His human children, and seeks to share life with us in conversation and communication. This sharing of life might not induce God to change what He does, but it always has the potential to change what we are, to introduce a seed of transformation into a soul designed to receive eternal treasures. May this Lent be a time for us to lean into the life of prayer with renewed vigor, assured that it will never fail to move us toward the transfiguring salvation who is our Savior!
Family Faith Formation 