Second week of Lent

“About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” Luke 9:28-31

The story of the transfiguration is often read during Lent.
What strikes me about these verses, as with so many others by the Apostles, is the amount of time Jesus spent in prayer and meditation during his ministry among us.
At first I was surprised by a headline in a local paper that talked about the Church urging people to curb their use of text messages or computers during Lent.
Most people I know in Ottawa have a BlackBerry and it’s hard to imagine them putting those aside for 40 days.
But then the article went on to refer to a message by the Pope on YouTube in January where he warned against “obsessive” use of technology that “may isolate individuals from real social interaction while also disrupting the patterns of rest, silence and reflection that are necessary for healthy human development”.
It seemed to me that the message of the curb on text messaging might have been lost in its dissemination.
As odd as the request might sound on first brush, it makes sense in that rather than giving up desert for Lent, for example, this is a call to give time for prayer and meditation – consulting with God – during this transformative period.