Here is the litany for Transfiguration Sunday, Year B, which I wrote in 2018. I still like it a lot.

I looked up the dictionary definition of transfiguration: "a complete change of form or appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state" (citation). Over the years I've come to interpret most of the actions and experiences of Christ as invitations. E.g. Jesus resurrects; we are invited into resurrection. Jesus is embodied; we are invited to embrace our embodiment. Jesus heals; we are invited into healing. Jesus is baptized; we are invited into baptism. Jesus undergoes transfiguration; we are invited to undergo transfiguration, etc.

Speaking of baptism, I've also come to understand baptism as a precursor to the transfiguration; almost as though baptism is a ritual signaling our consent to the ongoing process of transfiguration. Every culture has its rituals of symbolic purification in preparation for transformation and higher spiritual awareness. I had never noticed this connection until I started learning more about other spiritual traditions.

This week's gospel text comes from Mark 9. Jesus's baptism is recounted in Mark 1. The life of Christ is full of these kinds of symbols, laced with layers of meaning. Embodiment > purification > transfiguration > death > resurrection > ascension. They are both actual and symbolic, inviting us to perceive our own lives in this multidimensional way.

And here we are at Lent's doorway, with this opportunity to ask ourselves: What rituals of purification do I need to engage in to prepare for and give consent to a higher way of being, a personal transfiguration?

Lent: a time of fasting, preparation, re-focusing. It begins, in the church calendar, with this picture, the example, of what we, too, are to become: the image of Christ shining gloriously, full of embodied light. He is fully become; he is his own true self - even before Good Friday. Even before resurrection. He even tells the disciples that they don’t have to die physically in order to see the kingdom of God come in power (Mark 9:1)! And we are invited to follow that path toward “a complete change of form...into a more spiritual state,” even as we live these homely, challenging lives here on earth.

God, we celebrate the transfiguration of Christ -
Christ, shining gloriously with heaven’s light (1),
Embodying his True Self, even while on earth.
He is fully Become, fully realized.

And, as always, his path is our path.
We are invited into everything Christ does.
He is calling us, also, into transfiguration,
Into the embodiment of our highest spiritual selves. 

As Christ is embodied Love, so we are embodied Love.
As he heals his community, so we heal our communities.
As he is baptized and purified, so we are baptized and purified.
As he is bestowed with Divine acceptance, so we are accepted.
As he is filled with Divine light, so we are filled.
As he shines with heaven's glory, so we shine.

This path is both mysterious and plain;
Both spiritual and physical,
Both simple and profound,
Both lover and beloved.

Help us now, oh God, to do whatever is required
To prepare and purify ourselves,
To give consent to receive,
And act to take hold
Of this dazzling Becoming,
This realization of our true, glorious selves.

Amen

1. Mark 9:2,3

Photo by mostafa meraji on Unsplash

Litany posted with permission