Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Once again, we are getting ready to enter into the Lenten season to celebrate the passion, death, resurrection and ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Usually for Lent, we try to give up something (like movies, sweets, social media, etc.) or we add something to our prayer & spiritual life (like reading the Bible more or spending more time in Adoration or Mass). The three traditional pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Prayer: - Lent is a time to pray a little more than our daily usual prayers to strengthen our relationship with God.
More Ways to Pray - Stations of the Cross Consider Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings - a popular Lenten devotion. The 14 stations, focus on specific events of Jesus’ last day, beginning with His condemnation. The stations are commonly used as a mini pilgrimage as the individual moves from station to station. At each station, the individual recalls and meditates on a specific event from Christ’s last day. Specific prayers are recited, then the individual moves to the next station until all 14 are complete.
Fasting and abstinence: - Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59.
When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.
Almsgiving: - When we think of almsgiving we think of donating money. Almsgiving encompasses our time and talent given freely to be Jesus in disguise. Jesus identified himself with our poorest brothers and sisters. The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy are actions we can perform that extend God’s compassion and mercy to those in need. “Faith finds expression in concrete everyday actions meant to help our neighbors in body and spirit,” said Pope Francis.
We are not called to do only one, but all three pillars to prepare our hearts for Christ on Easter. The whole Church prepares for the celebration and together, along with those who are preparing to enter the Church at the Easter Vigil, we try to live more faithfully to God’s call to be merciful, loving, and compassionate to those around us. Our acts of love through sacrifice and prayer are a tangible witness of God’s love to those around us.
Have a Blessed Lent,
God Bless you all,
Fr. John Samuel
