This is Cardinal Francis George. I invite you to join me for the next two minutes to reflect

with Father Robert Barron on the Word of God, which is the Word on Fire. Word on Fire Catholic

Ministries is a non-profit ministry at the forefront of Catholic evangelization, using

new media to spread the faith and every continent. Father Barron challenges us to open our hearts

to the Word on Fire, which is God's Word of Love for each of us. If our hearts are open,

the Lord can change and transform us so that we might speak with love about the one who

is love. The global benefactors of Word on Fire with the support of the Archdiocese of

Chicago now present Word on Fire. Peace be with you. Friends, what is it about the story

of the transfiguration that is just so compelling? It's like a play or a movie that we can watch

over and over again and still derive new insights. Notice how the church stubbornly returns

us to this scene, convinced that we can never fully exhaust its meaning. I want to take

it today as an occasion to reflect on the nature of prayer. During Lent, you know, the church

asks us to do three things. To pray, to fast, and to give ons. Let's focus today on prayer.

Studies show that prayer is very common. It's a very popular activity in our country. Here's

a funny detail. Even those who profess no belief in God still pray. That's how deeply

ingrained prayer is in us. But what precisely is prayer? Or better, what ought it to be?

I think this story of the transfiguration is extremely instructive in regard to answering

those questions. Let's take it now, step by step. We hear that Jesus took Peter, James

and John with him, up the mountain to pray. Now, as you know, mountains are standard biblical

places of encounter with God. Encounter with the Yahweh who was imagined as living in the

sky, so the higher you go, the closer you come to God. Now, again, we don't have to

literalize this, but we should unpack its symbolic sense. In order to commune with God, friends,

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