Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving – Without One The Other Fails

I am in awe of the wisdom of the Church, which is really the Spirit of God guiding the movement of the Body of Christ. The Liturgical seasons, for instance, and the readings of the Mass throughout the year, and the teachings for each season seem to be so apt for the time, and in a beautiful way, help us keep moving ahead in our walk with the Lord. We are now in the season of Lent. This is the time when we are stripped down to the bare basics, to the stark reality of where we originated from and where we are headed. Ashes to ashes…..

The call to us during Lent is to return to the Lord, to humble ourselves, to recognize our nothingness, and acknowledge our deep dependence on God. We are asked to be diligent in the three arms of our Lenten observance, prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Prayer is our communion with God, and to me is the upward movement of our being. Fasting is the disciplining of self, and I see it as an inward movement of our being. Almsgiving is a reaching out to others, and an outward movement of our being.

Rather than being linear, I see these Lenten practices as being circular and intertwined; the upward, inward and outward, all drawing from and giving back to each other and each one being indispensable to and strengthened by the working of the other.

Prayer aligns our hearts to the will of the Father. Fasting teaches us that it is God who is our provider. Almsgiving helps us to give to others what God has given us.

Prayer, fasting, almsgiving – the three Lenten practices that help us to focus on the one purpose of our life which is to offer true worship to the Lord, and they are also the expression of the worship that we offer to our Lord and God. The upward, the inward, the outward. Faith in motion.