Lent: Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving

By Paul Ashton, Psy.D., D.Min.
Consultant to the VIRTUS_^® Programs

"The exhortation that the Lord speaks to us through the prophet Joel is loud and clear: "Return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). Why must we return to God? Because something is wrong in us, in society, in the Church—and we need to change, to turn things around, to repent! Once again Lent comes to make its prophetic appeal, to remind us that it is possible to realize something new within ourselves and around us, simply because God is faithful, continues to be full of goodness and mercy, and is always ready to forgive and start over from scratch. With this filial confidence, let us set out on our way!
—Pope Francis, Ash Wednesday Homily 2014 

We come to another Ash Wednesday always in the nick of time each year—like a cool glass of water when we are parched. The ashes of this Wednesday remind us not so much of death, but of an opportunity for a new beginning like our Baptism when we were welcomed as Children of God. Lent is all about remembering our Baptismal call—its promises and our responsibilities.    

We are fortunate to have in our Church the fullness of what "Welcome" truly means. The fullness of who we are as Catholics is modeled in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Many parishes are blessed to have Catechumens and Candidates walking through this process of initiation and full reception into the Church. In it is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to witness the intensity and joy of this process, and how much liberation comes from knowing and accepting the Word of God into our hearts. The journey of Lent fosters learning, deepens Faith, and strengthens prayer life. Those who seek to be welcomed to full communion with us are not alone—we journey with them. We show them welcome by our own prayer, sacrifice and fasting.

Lent is a time for retreat away from the ordinary hustle and bustle of our lives. It is a time of peace, quiet and reflection. It is a time of pruning and sharing of our gifts and blessedness. When I directed RCIA groups in parishes, I would always have the symbol of desert sand (garnered the previous summer from a local beach, but it got the point across) present in the environments of our worship space, and each RCIA member received a glass vial of this sand. They were asked to carry it around with them careful not to break it, to remind them of Jesus' desert experience and our own prayer and sacrifice. Our team asked them to ponder the three works of Lent, using the sand as a gentle reminder. We all did this together, and the parishioners always seemed to welcome the unity of prayer with those who were to celebrate the sacraments on Easter.

"The first element is the prayer. Prayer is the strength of the Christian and of every believing person. In the weakness and fragility of our life, we can turn to God with the confidence of children and enter into communion with Him. In the face of so many wounds that hurt us and that could harden the heart, we are called to dive into the sea of prayer, which is the sea of God’s boundless love, to enjoy its tenderness. Lent is a time of prayer, a more intense, more diligent prayer, [one] more able to take care of the needs of the brethren, to intercede before God for the many situations of poverty and suffering."

"The second element of the Lenten journey is fasting. We must be careful not to make a formal fasting, or one that in truth “satisfies” us because it makes us feel as though we have all in order. Fasting makes sense if it really affects our security, and also if a benefit to others comes from it, if it helps us to grow in the spirit of the Good Samaritan, who bends down to his brother in need and takes care of him. Fasting involves choosing a sober life, which does not waste, which does not “discard”. Fasting helps us to train the heart to essentiality and sharing. It is a sign of awareness and responsibility in the face of injustices, abuses, especially towards the poor and the little ones, and is a sign of our trust in God and His providence."

"The third element is almsgiving: it is a sign of gratuity because alms are given to someone from whom you would not expect to receive anything in return. Gratuity should be one of the characteristics of a Christian, who, aware of having received everything from God freely, that is without any merit, learns to give to others freely. Today often gratuity is not part of everyday life, where everything is bought and sold. Everything is calculation and measurement. Almsgiving helps us to live the gratuitousness of the gift, which is freedom from the obsession with possessing things, [freedom from] the fear of losing what one has, from the sadness of those who do not want to share their well-being with others."

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